Singaporean trusts feature in this week’s edition of People in the News, with a pair of industrial and business space REIT managers getting new leadership. Hong Kong has also seen some high-profile personnel moves, as a retail maven heads up a boutique consultancy and a property veteran joins a flexible office firm. And if you keep reading, there are a couple of job changes further north on the mainland.
Donald Han has been named as chief executive officer of Sabana Real Estate Investment Management, the manager of Singapore-listed Sabana Shariah Compliant Industrial REIT. The property veteran joins the real estate investment trust following a strategic review prompted by complaints about the manager’s performance, and replaces Aw Wei Been, who has been acting CEO since the end of 2017. Han previously served as Managing Director at property consultancy Chesterton Singapore since August 2013, after a stint at rival consulting firm HSR Property Group. Prior to that, he was Managing Director at global brokerage Cushman & Wakefield, where he worked for over 14 years.
William Tay Wee Leong has been appointed Executive Director and Chief Executive of Ascendas Funds Management, the manager of Singapore-listed Ascendas REIT, with effect from February 1. Tay currently serves as Deputy CEO, Singapore and South-East Asia, and CEO, South Korea of Ascendas-Singbridge Group. The executive brings with him a successful background in real estate investment and management including leading and growing cross-border teams at the Singaporean business space developer with more than S$20 billion of assets under management. Former Ascendas Funds Management CEO Chia Nam Toon resigned last October.
Virginia Chang has been promoted to Vice President of Ping An Real Estate Central China, based in Wuhan and Shanghai. Chang joined the property division of the Chinese insurance giant in 2013, and was promoted to Executive Director last May. In her new role starting this month, she focusses on business development and investment management, involving land investment in central Chinese cities, mergers and acquisitions, development financing and corporate governance.
Ying (Spencer) Wang has joined Chongbang Group as Senior Investment Officer, based in Shanghai. In his new role at the Shanghai-headquartered property firm, Wang specialises in investment and development covering office, retail and mixed-use properties. Wang previously served as an associate at developer Chiwayland International Limited, where he worked on real estate and education investment in China, the US and Australia, including raising funds for apartment development projects.
Theodore Gen Knipfing is now Managing Partner of Plus Curiosity, Ltd, based in Hong Kong. The boutique retail-focussed consultancy advises international retailers, regional developers and global private equity firms. Knipfing was previously Chief Operating Officer at Hong Kong-based Husband Retail Consulting, after holding a variety of leadership roles on the Asia Pacific retail teams of Cushman & Wakefield and Apple, across Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Trevor Harris has joined The Instant Group as Regional Project Director (APAC), based in Hong Kong. The London-headquartered firm advises clients from startups to global organisations on their workspace needs, with a focus on flexible offices. The property and facilities executive most recently served as Regional Head of Workspace for Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered Bank since mid-2015, after holding a succession of senior roles in operations, facilities management and consultancy at The American Club Hong Kong, JLL, and EC Harris in Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia.
If you know of other Asia real estate professionals changing their jobs, getting promoted or just doing something exciting, please contact us here at Mingtiandi.
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