As the region gets back to work after an Easter holiday, a number of top professionals at Asia’s real estate firms will be still settling into new desks. Leading this week’s roster of property executives and investors finding new professional homes is a new regional head for one of Canada’s biggest pension fund managers, and Singapore’s CapitaLand Group will have to shift into a different gear in its drive to go digital, as the development giant’s top tech decision maker leaves for greener pastures. Read on for all these moves and more.
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has announced that former Khazanah Nasional Berhad executive Ben Chan will be joining the Canadian pension fund manager in Hong Kong as Regional Managing Director for Asia Pacific, effective June 1. The University of New South Wales graduate has over 28 years of international investing experience and served as Co-Head of Investments at Khazanah Nasional Berhad where he led investment activities in China for the Malaysian government investment fund.
Ng Kok Siong has resigned from his post as Group Chief Digital Officer for CapitaLand in Singapore, according to an announcement by the real estate firm. Ng is leaving his post in June after only taking on his new responsibilities at the beginning of January of this year. The Nanyang Technological University graduate has been with CapitaLand since 2005 and served as the group’s Chief Corporate Development Officer until the end of last year. Ng, who is said to be leaving to pursue “other personal and professional interests” also had experience as CFO of CapitaMalls Asia.
Former CBRE executive Sam Lai has joined Savills in Guangzhou, where he is now a Senior Director with the property consultancy’s commercial leasing department. Lai took on his new role at Savills last month after nearly 13 years with CBRE in Guangzhou, where he served most recently as a Senior Director with their commercial transactions team. Lai made his namecard switch at the same time that his former boss at CBRE, Alvin Lau, was appointed head of Savills office in Guangzhou.
Andy Sze Ming Lau has been promoted to Principal at Octa Capital Partners in Hong Kong, after serving for more than three years as an Investment Manager with the real estate private equity firm. The University College London graduate also spent five years with accounting firm PwC in Hong Kong before joining Brian Swing and Edward Choy’s real estate investment firm in the same year that it was founded in 2014.
Shirley Zuo has joined European pharmaceutical giant Sanofi as an Asset Management Director, based in Shanghai. Zuo takes on her role with Sanofi after nearly five years with automotive supplier Continental, where she served as Corporate Real Estate Manager. The graduate of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics also has experience with the former DTZ, now part of Cushman and Wakefield, where she served before joining Continental in 2013.
Tom (Yiding) Zhang has joined the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in the United Arab Emirates, as an Associate with the sovereign wealth fund’s real estate investment team. Zhang took on his new role this month after less than two years with the real estate investment team at Bank of China Investment in Hong Kong. The graduate of the Sloan School of Management at MIT also has experience with China Vanke in Shenzhen.
Blair Patton has joined CBRE in Beijing as a Senior Manager with the property agency’s Retail Advisory & Transaction Services team. Patton took on his role with CBRE after nearly three years with Hong Kong developer Parkview Green in Beijing, where he served most recently as a Senior Supervisor with the leasing and strategy team for the Chyao Fu Development. The Texas A&M graduate also has experience as a project engineer in the United States.
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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