More Than 200 Industry Leaders to Attend Mingtiandi Hong Kong Forum on Tuesday

Over 200 senior executives from companies including Goldman Sachs, Sino Group and HSBC have signed up to attend Mingtiandi’s Hong Kong Forum on Tuesday for a full day of discussions on challenges and opportunities facing institutional real estate investors in Asia this year.

With the programme kicking off at 9:00 am at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Kowloon, attendees will witness 28 speakers giving their insights on the future of the office, rental residential and hospitality, value-add and opportunistic strategies and mainland China opportunities in the full-day forum sponsored by Yardi.

The forum also features interviews with Link REIT CEO George Hongchoy, former Grosvenor Asia head Ben Cha – who recently launched his new venture, Serakai – and a spotlight session with Warburg Pincus managing director Qiqi Zhang together with Craig To of rental housing platform VLinker.

Industry participants not able to join the programme on-location will be able to watch the first two sessions live on Mingtiandi’s MTD TV video platform, with recordings of each session to be made available on the website before Friday, 17 May. Tickets are still available at the link above or may be purchased at the door.

Offices, Lodging and Living Feature in Morning Sessions

The forum opens with a keynote panel including Gaw Capital Partners president and managing principal Kenneth Gaw, CPP Investments managing director of real estate Rebecca Lam, LaSalle Investment Management head of Greater China Claire Tang and Invesco Real Estate APAC head Calvin Chou.

Following that opening panel is a keynote interview with George Hongchoy of Link REIT, who will give an update on how Asia’s largest real estate investment trust is pushing forward with its Link REIT 3.0 strategy to expand and diversify both geographically and across sectors.

In the Future of the Office panel at 11:00 AM Neil Anderson, director and head of office with the commercial division of Hongkong Land, Don Taylor, director of office for Swire Properties, Simon Chua, an executive director with design firm Lead8 and Bernie Devine, senior regional director with real estate technology systems provider Yardi, will debate the outlook for grade A deskspace around the region.

Rounding out the morning will be a session on North Asia lodging and living with Alan Kam, founder and CEO of AB Capital Investment; Chedli Boujellabia, managing partner and CEO of Alyssa Partners; Charles Ma, managing director for China investment at Greystar and Chester Foo, head of investment for North Asia at Frasers Hospitality.

Value-Add, Mainland China in the Afternoon

The Hong Kong Forum’s afternoon segment opens with Ben Cha appearing in a keynote interview that explores the potential for his new venture before continuing with a panel on value-add and opportunistic strategies.

In the value-add and opportunistic panel, John Saunders, group chief investment officer of Link; Carol Chow, founder and chairperson of Lofter Group; Janice Yau Garton, partner at Stephenson Harwood; and Collin Lau, founder and CEO of BEI Group will look at strategies for buy-fix-and-sell in Hong Kong, while exploring opportunistic deals.

Later in the afternoon, Hubert Chak, executive director and CEO of SF REIT; Humbert Pang, managing principal and head of China at Gaw Capital Partners; Andrew Goodridge, managing partner at Asia Green Real Estate; and Benjamin Chow, head of real estate research for Asia at MSCI will look at the latest strategies for mainland China.

The interview with Warburg Pincus managing director Qiqi Zhang and Craig To, a vice president with Shanghai-based rental housing developer and operator VLinker, will explore how the two companies have built the city’s largest rental operator and the returns they have achieved.

Logistics Forum on Way in June

Following the Hong Kong Forum, Mingtiandi will be returning to its MTD TV virtual stage in June for its fifth annual APAC Logistics Forum, which will feature panel sessions on the Greater China, Japan and Korea and Australian shed sectors, plus an emerging markets panel which looks at Southeast Asia and India.

In September, Mingtiandi will return to the Lion City for a third straight year for a third straight year, with our Singapore forum this year featuring sessions on hospitality investment, logistics, India opportunities and more.

November will bring Mingtiandi to Tokyo for the first time ever, for a full-day forum focused on Asia’s second-largest economy, as Japan continues to be a top target for institutional real estate investors.