Real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield added to its team facilitating big investment deals in Asia last week when it brought in former ARA and JP Morgan executive Justina Fan to help run its capital markets team in the region.
According to an internal email seen by Mingtiandi, Fan’s new role calls on her to focus on capital advisory mandates across Asia with responsibility for sourcing capital for principal investors, assisting in the establishment of joint ventures and club structures, and serving investors on asset disposition.
Asset Management Veteran Could Provide an Edge on the Mainland
Fan’s official title in her new position is Regional Executive Director, Capital Markets, Asia Pacific and she will continue to be based in Hong Kong.
The graduate of Shanghai’s well-regarded Jiao Tong University also holds an MBA from MIT, as well as a degree from the Ontario College of Art and Design.
Before joining Cushman & Wakefield, Fan had served as an Executive Director with JP Morgan Asset Management in its Global Real Assets division, as well as working at Li Ka-shing’s ARA Asset Management as CEO of the firm’s China RMB Fund.
In the internal email, John Stinson, Cushman’s Executive Managing Director for its Capital Markets division in Asia Pacific commented that Fan, “will be invaluable in achieving our vision to expand our footprint as we seek to offer a wide range of services to our core client base.”
The company noted in particular how Fan’s experience with ARA’s RMB fund would give her top level access to mainland investors and government officials.
Capital Markets Competition Heating Up
Fan’s hire is the second high level pick up for Cushman & Wakefield’s capital markets team after the real estate services firm brought over Mark Suchy from CBRE in July to run the team in eastern China. CBRE in turn hired Richard Kirke from Colliers to run its Asia capital markets team just last month.
Advising and assisting on investment deals is a potentially lucrative business for the real estate agencies with millions of dollars in commissions available for successful brokerages. However, the winner-takes-all nature of the business, along with the web of relationships necessary for success, means close competition for talent.
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