Knight Frank Expands Capital Advisory Team in Singapore

Knight Frank’s Singapore office has brought on board a former Lendlease executive and imported a director from its London operation, as the UK-based property consultancy expands its capital markets team in the region.

The London-based property consultancy announced this week that it has brought on board Alice Crowley from Lendlease as a director with its international capital team for Asia Pacific, where she began assisting Asian investors with their investment strategies last month.

Simon Mathews relocated from London to the Lion City this month as Knight Frank’s new director for debt advisory, with a focus on sourcing innovative funding solutions for clients in Australia as rising interest rates help drive private credit solutions.

“These roles significantly strengthen our global capital markets capabilities,” Neil Brookes, global head of capital markets at Knight Frank, said in a statement on Monday. “This further reinforces our commitment to building scale as a leading global investment network of advisors, offering unparalleled insight and access to international capital markets.”

Beefing Up in City-State

The company positions the new appointments as part of an effort to enhance the firm’s capital markets capabilities globally and provide clients with solutions to their financing requirements.

“This further reinforces our commitment to building scale as a leading global investment network of advisors, offering unparalleled insight and access to international capital markets,” Brookes said.

Crowley, who joined the team in December, brings more than a decade of experience in APAC real estate with over four years as a development manager at Lendlease working on projects including the ongoing S$3 billion ($2.2 billion) redevelopment of Singtel’s headquarters in the Orchard area.

She also spent four years at Australian property firm GPT Group before joining Lendlease.

Mathews is bringing with him to Singapore 10 years of experience in debt advisory, development and investment in London to help source offshore private lending solutions for capital market transactions in Australia.

“The increasing demand for equity introductions and capital partnering among Australian investors creates a unique opportunity for the Global Capital Markets team,” Knight Frank said in the statement.

The new additions to the team come on the heels of Knight Frank hiring veteran investment broker Galven Tan in November to lead its Singapore operations as CEO, a spot which had been open since September 2022.

Building on Berkadia Alliance

Down Under, Knight Frank appointed Ben Schubert as its head of capital advisory for Australia, where he will lead the growth of the business involving capital raising, recapitalisations, partnering and debt advisory, in addition to his current role leading the institutional sales team.

Schubert will now be in charge of facilitating the flow of capital from Asia Pacific into Australia while continuing to be based in Sydney.

The Western Sydney University graduate has over 20 years of experience in the industry, including nearly four years at GPT Group, just under two years at JLL and more than seven years at Colliers.

“This collaboration strengthens Knight Frank’s ability to guide clients through all stages of their transactions, exploring funding options across the entire capital stack,” the consultancy said.