Knight Frank Singapore Names Former Soilbuild CEO to Investment Team

Knight Frank Singapore has appointed the former head of a Singapore-listed construction firm as a senior member of its investment services team in the city state, according to a press release from the company.

Daniel Ding, former CEO of Soilbuild Construction Group Holdings, will be joining Knight Frank as Head of Investment and Capital Markets for Land, Building & Global Real Estate, starting 1 January 2020, the company said.

Ding, who had spent seven years at Soilbuild before leaving in August, will be reporting directly to Knight Frank Singapore Group Managing Director Wendy Tang, and will work alongside Ian Loh, the company’s Head of Investment and Capital Markets for Land, Building and Collective Sales.

New Hire Aimed at Cross-Border Deals

“Having spent a large part of his career in the acquisition of real estate assets across various jurisdictions, we believe Daniel is well-placed to harness his understanding of the buy-side client needs and customise solutions to align the expectations of both buy and sell side parties,” Tang said in a statement.

The Knight Frank Singapore boss indicated that Ding will be tasked with establishing and leading a team focused on facilitating cross-border investments, both from Singapore into other countries, and inbound to the city-state.

Singapore’s local market has been booming in 2019 as the city’s office sector accounted for nearly $4.6 billion in acquisitions between January and June of this year, up nearly 50 percent from 2018.

Investors from Southeast Asia’s wealthiest city have also been playing a growing role in global markets, after spending around $10 billion on overseas properties during the first half of 2019.

Veteran of Soilbuild’s Overseas Ventures

Although Ding spent over seven years with Soilbuild, which is affiliated with the manager of Singapore-listed Soilbuild Business Space REIT, his stay in the company’s top position was an abbreviated one.

The 42-year-old former Mapletree and VSL executive resigned as Soilbuild Construction’s Group CEO in August of this year after being appointed to the role in April. In a declaration to the Singapore stock exchange at the time, Soilbuild indicated that Ding was leaving to pursue his personal interests.

Prior to taking on the chief executive role Ding had served for over six years as Head of Business Development and Investment for Soilbuild Group, the parent firm of Soilbuild REIT and Soilbuild Construction, after originally joining the company in 2013.

During his time at Soilbuild, Ding is credited with having helped to establish Soilbuild REIT and with leading the group’s first joint venture investment in Myanmar as well as a student housing acquisition in the UK.