David Fassbender Promoted to Deputy Head of APAC at PGIM Real Estate

Just over a year after being named head of Japan, David Fassbender has taken another step up at PGIM Real Estate, with the company promoting him to deputy head of Asia Pacific with effect from Tuesday.

In a statement, the property division of Prudential Financial’s investment management business positioned the personnel change as a way to deepen its leadership ship while setting the company up for future growth.

“David has demonstrated exceptional leadership over the years, with a track record in delivering excellent outcomes for our Asia Pacific investment strategies,” said Benett Theseira, head of Asia Pacific at PGIM Real Estate. He added that, “David’s strong business acumen, extensive industry network and solid investment management experience will be pivotal in helping investors navigate current market uncertainty and identifying the best opportunities in high-conviction areas as we continue to expand our regional business.”

Reporting to Theseira, Fassbender will continue to act as head of Japan for PGIM Real Estate with the role of deputy APAC head having been newly created.

Two-Decade Veteran

In his new role Fassbender will oversee portfolio management strategies across Asia Pacific, with the goal of driving further growth in the region, according to the statement.

The company credits its new deputy head as having been instrumental in establishing PGIM Real Estate’s flagship Asia Pacific value-add fund series with the executive set to retain his current role as senior portfolio manager for the strategy, which is said to have completed close to $21 billion in transactions since its inception.

With PGIM Real Estate having been active on the ground in Asia Pacific for more than 30 years, Fassbender pointed to opportunities to leverage that experience on behalf of the company’s clients.

“PGIM Real Estate is in a unique position to leverage our deep investment heritage in Asia Pacific, along with our breadth of global expertise to deliver long-term value to our investors globally,” Fassbender said.

Fassbender received his latest upgrade this week after having first joined PGIM Real Estate’s  predecessor, Pramerica Real Estate, in Munich in 2002. In 2011 the University of Cambridge graduate relocated to Singapore, where he worked as head of Southeast Asia before being named head of Japan in January of last year.

Value-Add Moves

The value-add strategy which Fassbender leads has made a number of deals in the past year, including achieving a partial exit from a Singapore office project in September when it sold a pair of floors in 108 Robinson Road, near the Raffles Place financial district, at around S$3,800 ($2,969) per square foot.

In February, PGIM formed a joint venture with Proprium Capital Partner’s Anton Real Estate Partners unit to acquire 20 Bridge Street in Sydney from Hong Kong tycoon Francis Choi for A$270 million ($169.2 million) with plans to upgrade the office property.

Under its core-plus strategy, PGIM teamed up with former 8M Real Estate boss Ashish Manchharam’s Elevate Capital Group to acquire the Stamford Court commercial complex near Singapore’s City Hall for an agreed property value of S$132 million ($99.9 million) in August.

Note: this story has been updated to show that PGIM Real Estate invested in Stamford Court under its core-plus strategy. An earlier version described the investment as part of the company’s value-add strategy.