Rush Desai to Step Down as Head of Asia Pacific for Allianz Real Estate

After building Allianz Real Estate into one of Asia Pacific’s most active investors, Rushabh Desai is leaving the property investment division of the European insurance heavyweight to pursue other interests, according to the Munich-based firm.

“After more than five years, Rush has decided to leave his position at Allianz Real Estate. As a close colleague for many years, Rush will be missed,” said Francois Trausch, global chief executive of Allianz Real Estate. “He has played a considerable role in Allianz Real Estate’s incredible business expansion in Asia Pacific and leaves behind a strong legacy.”

Trausch, who worked with Desai at GE Real Estate before recruiting him to found Allianz’s Asia real estate operation in 2016, expressed confidence that his departing co-worker would continue to excel as he prepares for his next challenge. “I have known Rush for over a decade and given his entrepreneurial skills and tenacity he will have an enriching career ahead,” Trausch said.

Desai is leaving Allianz Real Estate after having built the firm’s assets under management in the region to €8.1 billion ($8.83 billion) or the equivalent of 10 percent of its global property portfolio. In December, Allianz Real Estate announced that it had formed a $2 billion Japan multifamily investment fund with Ivanhoe Cambridge as its second strategy managing third-party capital in Asia Pacific.

Invest Alongside Allianz

“I am very proud of what we have achieved together in Asia Pacific and will always eagerly cheer on its continued success,” Desai said. “I am incredibly grateful to Allianz Real Estate and Francois Trausch for the opportunity to lead the business in Asia Pacific and be part of the global leadership team. I am leaving as an improved professional and a better investor.”

Allianz said Desai will remain with the company through the summer while a global search is conducted to identify a replacement.

While Allianz first made its mark in the region by backing funds managed by established players in the region such as Gaw Capital and Alpha Investment Partners, by 2018 it was already making direct acquisitions such as its purchase of a $196 million Beijing office project from Kailong and Goldman Sachs in July of that year.

In 2020 the firm set up Allianz Real Estate Asia-Pacific Core I (AREAP Core I), its first fund managing third-party capital in the region, with South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) joining the $2.3 billion strategy under the company’s Invest Alongside Allianz programme.

December’s venture with Ivanhoe Cambridge, Allianz Real Estate Asia-Pacific Japan Multi-Family Fund I (AREAP JMF I), aims to acquire newly completed multifamily residential assets in the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.

Including the two strategies, Allianz Real Estate has now raised €1.6 billion in third-party capital in the region and over the past five years has deployed over €6.7 billion on behalf of Allianz clients.

In 2017 the firm had $800 million in assets under management in the region, with more than 80 percent of that total invested indirectly through third-party managed funds. By the end of 2021, Allianz Real Estates’s APAC assets under management had grown to $9.2 billion, according to company figures, with more than half of that invested directly.

Allianz representatives stressed that the company’s existing initiatives in Asia Pacific would continue as it moves forward under new leadership.

“Our business in Asia Pacific is now maturing,” Trausch said. “We have achieved the necessary diversification for Allianz and going forward will focus on further expanding our Invest Alongside Allianz strategy.”

Regional Team in Place

In his five and a half years with Allianz Real Estate, Desai has built the team from three staff to 36 people and established offices for the company in Tokyo and Shanghai, in addition to its regional base in Singapore.

From the Singapore regional headquarters, Danny Phuan has led acquisitions in Asia Pacific for Allianz Real Estate since joining the firm in 2019, while Alicia Li looks after fundraising in her role as head of business development in the region.

Also based in Singapore is Ng Chiang Wei, who is in charge of portfolio management for the company’s Asia business after joining Allianz Real Estate in 2019, and Suat Ghee Ong heads asset management across the region.

Just last year the firm brought on board former JP Morgan executive Daisuke Noguchi as head of its Japan business, where Allianz Real Estate has committed nearly one-fifth of its assets under management in the region to build-to-rent residential assets in Asia’s second-largest economy.