A pan-continental move leads this week’s review of personnel updates from around Asia’s real estate industry with a veteran fund manager taking on fresh responsibilities in a new hemisphere. Also making the list is a resignation at a Tokyo-listed hotel REIT and a new director at a Hong Kong-listed developer.
George Agethen announced on LinkedIn this past week that he is now taking on the Latin American real estate portfolio at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ). That responsibility is in addition to the veteran’s role as managing director for Asia Pacific real estate with the government pension fund manager for the Canadian province of Quebec. The new role comes as Ivanhoe Cambridge, where Agethen served as co-head of Asia Pacific until this month, is merged into CDPQ and ceases to operate as an independent unit of the fund.
Japan Hotel REIT announced on 20 November that Hisashi Furukawa is resigning from his role as director and senior advisor of the Tokyo-listed trust with effect from 18 December. The announcement comes around 10 months after Furukawa stepped down as president and chief executive of the hospitality trust in February of this year after serving in the roles since 2014, when he joined the firm.
WeWork India announced this past week that Jitendra Mohandas Virwani, chairman and managing director of Embassy Group, which controls the shared workspace provider’s India business, is transitioning to a non-executive chairman role at the company from his current spot leading the board of directors. As part of the transition, Virwani’s son, Karan Virwani, has been named managing director of the company, in addition to his existing role of chief executive.
US private equity firm DigitalBridge said on 18 November that it has appointed Yoshiaki Fujimori as senior executive advisor to the company. Now chairman of Oracle for Japan, Fujimori is expected to harness his four decades of experience to support DigitalBridge’s expansion in Japan, as the company once known as Colony Capital continues to boost its digital infrastructure bets in Asia Pacific.
Mainland developer Redsun Properties Group informed the Hong Kong stock exchange on 20 November that it has appointed Hu Fang as an executive director on its board, with effect from that same day. Now 54, Hu currently serves as chief risk control officer of the company, after joining Redsun in 2013. The chartered accountant also has previous experience with Hong Kong-listed Ma’anshan Iron & Steel and with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical.
Leon Foo has joined the investment and asset management team at Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MPACT), according to a LinkedIn update. After previously serving as part of the asset management team for Mapletree Investment’s student housing division, Foo will focus on Japan commercial assets in his new role, while also looking after the broader northern Asia portfolio for the Singapore-listed REIT.
Won-Ki Kim has joined Singapore-based investment manager Lighthouse Canton as head of global institutional sales, according to a LinkedIn update. Kim took on his new responsibilities last month after just over a year with AIP Investment Partners in Singapore. The graduate of Seoul National University also has previous experience with Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) in Singapore and with Barclays Bank in Hong Kong.
Robert Muravez has joined JLL in Japan as a senior director with the company’s capital markets team, according to a LinkedIn update. Muravez joined the property consultancy this month after more than three years with ill-fated US lender First Republic, which was taken over by JP Morgan Chase last year. Muravez also has previous experience with Umpqua Bank and Bank of the Cascades in the US.
If you know of other Asia real estate professionals changing their jobs, getting promoted or just doing something exciting, please contact us here at Mingtiandi.
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