Asia Real Estate People in the News 2019-08-19

In this week’s edition of People in the News, the chairman of a major Shenzhen-listed developer has retired after 14 years in charge, while the chief executive officer of Asia’s biggest developer steps down from chairing the executive committee of a retail trust.

In other job changes around the region, a Singapore-backed developer in India hires a new executive director, and there are capital markets appointments for DHL and Colliers International.

Sun Cheng Ming, chairman of China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings, has retired after 14 years at the helm of developer, according to local media. Under the sixty-year-old’s leadership, the state-owned industrial specialist secured a listing on the Shenzhen stock exchange four years ago after merging with China Property Development. Sun had been appointed chairman of the subsidiary of China Merchants Group in 2015, after previously serving as chairman of China Property Development. He has been replaced by Xu Yongjun.

Henry Bott has been appointed as a chief representative in Vietnam for Swire, following two years as a portfolio manager at Hong Kong’s Taikoo Place for the UK-headquartered company. Bott previously served as Swire Properties’ digital project leader in Hong Kong between 2015 and 2017, and was also the co-founder of Swire’s Blueprint B2B tech accelerator and co-working space in Taikoo Place, which he oversaw from 2014 until 2015. The University of Nottingham graduate has spent a total of nine years at Swire with former roles in development and valuations in Hong Kong, and retail and office leasing in Beijing.

CapitaLand Group’s China president, Lucas Loh, has been appointed as a non-executive non-independent director and chairman of the executive committee of CapitaLand Retail China Trust, according to a stock exchange announcement. Loh replaces CapitaLand Group chief executive officer, Lee Chee Koon, who is stepping down to spend more time growing the group’s business following the acquisition of Ascendas-Singbridge, a S$6 billion deal that made CapitaLand Asia’s largest real estate company.

Ananta Singh Raghuvanshi has been hired as an executive director of Gurgaon-headquartered Experion Developers, which is backed by Singapore-based Experion Holdings, the property investment arm of AT Holdings. Raghuvanshi is parting ways with Dubai-based DAMAC Properties where she had served as country head for India and Nepal for ten months. Prior to her time with DAMAC, Raghuvanshi had been head of sales and marketing for DLF Home Developers for more than eight years and as Emaar MGF’s chief executive for retail leasing and residential sales in India from 2007 until 2010.

Samuel Tay has been hired as DHL Supply Chain’s head of capital markets for real estate solutions in Asia Pacific, after parting ways with UBS where he had served as a portfolio management director for Asia Pacific real estate between 2017 and 2019 and as product development director for the real estate funds division from 2015 to 2018. Prior to his time at the Swiss investment bank, Tay had spent seven years with Standard Chartered Bank as an associate director in the Southeast Asia corporate finance division between 2012 and 2015 and an associate in the investment banking real estate division from 2008 to 2012.

Jason Yan Qing has joined Colliers International in Shanghai as an executive director for capital markets after leaving CBRE where he had been a senior director in capital markets for four years. Prior to his time at CBRE, Qing had been a director in JLL’s capital markets division for three years and a senior manager at Ascendas REIT in Beijing between 2011 and 2012. The graduate of Nanyang Technological University had also served as a senior manager in business development at Lei Shing Hong Properties in Beijing for a year and as a senior analyst for Sage Capital Global following a four-year stint at Colliers International in Beijing as a senior manager between 2003 and 2007.

Penny Goh has been appointed as a director of the board at HSBC (Singapore) and a member of the bank’s audit and risk committees, according to an announcement by the bank. Goh is currently the co-chairman and senior partner of law firm Allen & Gledhill, where she heads up its corporate real estate practice. She is also a non-executive director and the chair of Keppel REIT Management Limited and the lead independent director and chair of the nominating and remuneration committees of Mapletree Logistics Trust Management.

Lucia Serban has been appointed as head of marketing and communications for Savills in Singapore, after parting ways with JLL where she had been head of marketing and communications in Singapore for nearly three years. The London Metropolitan University graduate had worked for the property services company for nine years, with her other roles including Southeast Asia marketing manager, and marketing and communications manager in Asia Pacific corporate solutions. Prior to her time with JLL, Serban had served as a project officer for the National Energy Foundation in the UK and as a marketing co-ordinator for LAH Property Marketing.

Tony Picon has set up Myanmar-based Picon-Deed Property Consultants with former Myanmar Times business and property editor Stuart Deed. Picon’s new company provides research, development advisory, valuation support and commercial leasing services to local and foreign clients. The Newcastle University graduate, who has also served as the managing director of New Asia Property Consultants, had been in charge of Colliers International’s Myanmar office from 2013 until 2018.

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.