Generational change leads this week’s set of personnel moves from Asia’s real estate community with 94-year-old tycoon Wee Cho Yaw deciding to take a step back from one of the Singapore-listed companies under his leadership. Also in the news are promotions at Hines, CPPIB and Ingka Centres.
Wee Ee Lim is now chairman of Singapore Land Group, having taken over the top spot at the developer from his father, Wee Cho Yaw, who is retiring from the company, according to an announcement to the Singapore stock exchange. While the elder Wee is handing over control of Singapore Land to his now 61-year-old son, the tycoon remains as chairman of its parent company, UOL.
Carlton Chen has been promoted to senior director with the capital markets group at Hines in Hong Kong, according to a LinkedIn update. Chen stepped up to his new role this month after five years with the Houston-based developer and fund manager as a director with the same team. Before joining Hines in 2018, Chen spent more than nine years with Morgan Stanley in Shanghai, where he achieved the rank of vice president.
CPPIB said late last month that it has promoted Maximillian Blagosch to senior managing director and global head of real assets with the Canadian pension fund manager. Blagosch, who first joined CPPIB in 2015, continues in his role as head of Europe with the firm and had previously served as head of direct private equity. Prior to joining CPPIB, Blagosch worked at Permira Advisors, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas.
Stephan Deville has been upgraded to development manager China and India at Ingka Centres, the real estate development division of home furnishing giant IKEA, according to an announcement on LinkedIn this past week. Deville had the new role added to his cart after four years as president of the real estate group for China at Ingka, based in Shanghai. He has now been with the IKEA group of companies since 2007.
David Tran has moved up to director at Actis in Singapore, according to a LinkedIn update. Tran’s new role comes more than four years after he joined in the UK fund manager, where he has worked as a principal focused on real estate investment in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam. Before joining Actis in 2018 the graduate of Nanyang Technological University spent more than eight years with Standard Chartered in Singapore.
DWS said on 2 March that it has promoted Eva Huang to chief executive of its DWS Far Eastern unit in Taiwan. Huang will report to Vanessa Wang, head of the client coverage division for Asia Pacific with the asset management division of Deutsche Bank, and has now been with DWS since 2015. In addition to leading the Taiwan business, Huang is assuming regional leadership for digital initiatives such as tokenisation and embedded asset management for the company.
Colliers said on 1 March that it has hired Queenie Ng as a senior director with its office services team in Hong Kong. Ng, who joins Colliers from CBRE, has more than 20 years of experience with office leasing in Hong Kong, and will report to Fiona Ngan, head of office services for Hong Kong. Ng is now tasked with leveraging her experience with lease renewals, structuring and rent reviews to grow Colliers’ office leasing business, targetting clients in the banking and finance sector.
Knight Frank said this past week that it has hired Kyle Li as director and head of office strategy and solutions in its Shenzhen office. Li joins the property consultancy from competitor Savills as Knight Frank ramps up its office leasing efforts in the city bordering Hong Kong. Joining Knight Frank alongside Li are five other new members of the office leasing team, including Kathy Hu, who joins as an associate director.
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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