Lendlease Picks Former CapitaLand Exec as Investment MD in Singapore

Gan Chong Min has joined Lendlease as managing director of investment management for Asia, as the Aussie property giant makes its third senior appointment in the region in as many months.

Gan has joined the ASX-listed company’s Singapore leadership team after parting ways recently with CapitaLand China where he had served as the firm’s managing director of fund management.

In his new role, Gan reports directly to Lendlease’s Singapore managing director and chief investment officer, Ng Hsueh Ling.

“With a track record of managing high-value real estate funds and large-scale integrated mixed-use assets, Chong Min is well suited to lead our regional investment management business in its next phase of growth,” said Ng.

Driving Value from Singapore and Malaysia Assets

Gan leads Lendlease’s investment management business across Asia, managing performance of assets held under the company’s private equity funds and joint ventures, which at the end of 2019 amounted to 23 percent of the A$35.2 billion ($23 billion) in its global portfolio.

The Aussie firm’s Singapore assets consist of Paya Lebar Quarter, a commercial and residential development it undertook as a 30:70 joint venture with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, as well as the Jem retail and office complex, and the Parkway Parade shopping mall.

Gan also has ultimate responsibility for the investment performance of the Setia City Mall in Malaysia.

Lendlease’s newly appointed managing director of investment management for Asia replaces Kelvin Chow, who has taken on the role of chief executive officer of Lendlease Global Commercial REIT, which raised gross proceeds of S$1.03 billion ($730 billion) worldwide through its IPO in October last year.

Prior to joining Lendlease, the University of Michigan graduate had been based in Shanghai where he served as CapitaLand China’s fund management chief. Gan held that role for over nine and a half years, after having spent two and a half years as the Singapore real estate firm’s general manager overseeing investments and land acquisitions for the 609,000 square metre (6.6 million square foot) Loft residential development in Chengdu.

Strengthening the Asia Team

Gan’s appointment completes a hat-trick of hires for Lendlease in the region since March of this year, as the firm expands in Asia.

Just last month, Lendlease brought on board former Ikea executive Hui Ding as its new managing director for China, with the development specialist tasked with growing the firm’s China business, including taking over plans to build A$2 billion in retirement villages by 2023.

A month before Ding’s appointment, Lendlease hired former Global Switch managing director Sam Lee to head up its data centre platform in Asia Pacific.

Lee is leading Lendlease Data Centre Partners, a $1 billion joint venture the company formed last year with an undisclosed institutional partner said to be Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC to develop a data centre platform in Asia Pacific.