InfraRed NF Adds Former Phoenix, Ping An Directors to Shanghai Team

Hong Kong-based real estate investment manager InfraRed NF has brought on board a pair of new investment directors to strengthen its team in Shanghai as the private equity real estate investment firm expands its operations in mainland China.

Ivan Fang joins the company from private equity firm Phoenix Property Investors, where he served as a project director in asset management stationed in Shanghai. In the new role, Fang will be responsible for InfraRed NF’s asset management activities for value-add investments in Shanghai, drawing on nearly 20 years of experience in real estate development and construction.

InfraRed NF is also welcoming Nicholas Jiang to boost its capabilities in sourcing new opportunities for mezzanine financing deals and local execution in Shanghai. Jiang jumps to the group from Ping An Trust where he worked as an executive director in mezzanine financing. He has also worked at HNA Group, Shui On Land and Evergrande Real Estate Group.

The company, a joint venture between the UK’s InfraRed Capital Partners and Nan Fung Group’s Vervain Resources, announced that the new hires would help it to expand on the more than $1.5 billion that it has invested in Greater China since it was established in 2006.

Pair of Execs to Grow Investment Business in China

Fang and Jiang’s “experience and local expertise will complement our already strong team and help us take advantage of the significant growth opportunities in the market as we continue to generate value for our investors and partners,” commented Stuart Jackson, CEO of InfraRed NF in a statement.

InfraRed NF is also promoting Kasey Wong, who has been with the company for five years, to vice president, in which role he will continue to manage fund raising and support with value-add origination and execution.

Adding to the flurry of personnel changes, Xiaonan Chen has also taken the role of Vice President, moving to the firm’s Hong Kong office from its London headquarters, where she worked as an investment executive on the infrastructure team.

InfraRed NF Bets on Boxes

InfraRed NF, which specialises in mezzanine financing and value-add investing in the Greater China real estate market, has invested $1.5 billion across 20 transactions since its founding in Hong Kong in 2007.

Among other things, the company is an enthusiast for the self-storage market in Greater China as the niche property sector starts to heat up. In April, InfraRed NF bought a 90 percent stake in Hong Kong self-storage provider RedBox Storage Limited for $50 million, after investing $28 million in mainland operator China Mini Storage in May of last year.

British parent firm InfraRed Capital Partners operates from offices in London, Hong Kong, New York, Seoul and Sydney, and manages over $10 billion of equity in private and listed funds, mainly for institutional investors worldwide. Two of the 17 funds it has launched are listed on the London stock exchange.

The joint venture’s other parent, Vervain, is a Hong Kong-based private group of companies with a diversified real estate business. The company established in 2004 has amassed a portfolio of commercial and residential properties across Hong Kong, London, New York, Seoul, Tokyo and Vietnam.