Opportunities in the New Malaysia
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Founded in 1981, AEW provides real estate investment management services to investors worldwide. One of the world’s leading real estate investment advisors, AEW manages $76.0/€68.2 billion of property and securities globally. Ms. An Chen is an Assistant Portfolio Manager on AEW’s Asia Pacific real estate securities team.
Based in the Singapore office, Ms. Chen focuses on analyzing the listed real estate companies and real estate markets in the Asia Pacific region. Prior to joining AEW in 2010, Ms. Chen worked at
Prudential Asset Management in both Singapore and Hong Kong, where she served as a portfolio manager and equity analyst for the Asia Pacific ex Japan Real Estate and as an equity analyst for the Utilities sectors.
She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from King’s College in London and is a CFA charterholder. Ms. Chen is fluent in Mandarin.
Isaac graduated from the London School of Economics with a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science.
He has 13 years of work experience as investment analyst in leading domestic and international equity houses (Affin Hwang Capital, Macquarie Capital) and 2 years as investor relation manager at a Singapore-listed agribusiness group.
Isaac has active coverage on the REIT, Telecommunication and Transportation sectors. His previous coverage included the property, plantation and oil & gas sectors.
Mr. Ong is currently the Head of Equity Markets at Affin Hwang IB. Graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree majoring in accounting and finance from Monash University (Clayton campus, Australia), Mr. Ong has more than 20 years of working experience in the investment banking industry, specializing in investment research and equities related products/services.
Mr. Ong has worked at a number of investment banks in Malaysia since 1995. At Affin IB, Mr. Ong led the Research and Analytics department for six years before taking the role as Head of Equity Markets in January 2014. As Head of Research, Mr. Ong had led the overall research team’s improvement in rankings – both clients and external surveys.
In the category of equity strategy under his direct coverage, Mr. Ong had ranked well in the AsiaMoney Brokers Polls. In addition, Mr. Ong was ranked amongst the top 20 analysts in Malaysia in AsiaMoney Brokers Polls. As Head of Equity Markets, his primary focus is on building the bank’s equities related businesses as well as providing advisory role to the bank’s research and analytics team.
Based in Singapore for 20 years, Peter worked as a lawyer in the fledgling Asian REIT and real estate fund markets in the 2000’s, being involved in the first REIT listing in Singapore and then subsequent REIT listings there as well as in Malaysia.
He then served as CEO of Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA) for 8 years.
Peter now sits on a number of boards in Singapore and Malaysia (including as independent non-executive director on the board Alpha REIT), is as an advisor to an Australian investment bank on sourcing foreign capital and consults to a number of US companies in a similar capacity.
Kelvin joined Maybank Kim Eng Securities Pte Ltd as Head, Real Estate in September 2017. He has over 15 years in investment banking across Southeast Asia M&A and Capital Markets.
Prior to joining Maybank Kim Eng, Kelvin was with Bank of Singapore advising ultra high net worth clients on structuring real estate acquisitions and advising corporate finance solutions. Prior to Bank of Singapore, Kelvin spent over 5 years at Barclays Bank Singapore covering Singapore clients, Real Estate clients in Southeast Asia and leading the execution of selected transactions.
Before Barclays, Kelvin worked with Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas. During his tenure at BNP Paribas, he led the execution teams while based in London / Singapore.
Ms Arabadjieva joined Cromwell EREIT Management (the “Manager”) in September 2017 as the Head of Investor Relations and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer (“COO”) and Head of Investor Relations in September 2018.
As COO, Ms Arabadjieva is responsible for sustainability, business continuity, general office and business management and people and culture and information technology (“IT”) systems oversight. As Head of Investor relations, Ms Arabadjieva is responsible for overall investor and stakeholder engagement, marketing and communications. This includes producing regular and annual reports for the unitholders and ensuring compliance by Cromwell European REIT with the reporting requirements under the Listing Manual and legal and regulatory framework. Ms Arabadjieva is also responsible for maintaining continuous disclosure and transparent communications with the unitholders and the market.
Ms Arabadjieva is an experienced investor relations and communications professional with over 20 years of experience in Asia. Prior to joining the Manager, she was the Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications of Cambridge Industrial Trust Management Limited (now known as ESR Funds Management (S) Limited), the manager of Cambridge Industrial Trust (now known as ESR-REIT) where she oversaw the full communications portfolio of the REIT, which included investor and media relations, as well as stakeholders’ engagement.
From 2010 to 2015, Ms Arabadjieva was the Director of Investor Relations of Genting Singapore PLC, which is listed on the SGX-ST. From 2008 to 2010, she was the Head of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) of Resorts World Sentosa (wholly-owned subsidiary of Genting Singapore PLC) where she was responsible for the sales, business development and partnerships for the Resorts World Convention Centre. She was also the Director of Marketing and Communications of Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 2003 to 2007.
Ms Arabadjieva holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy (Bulgaria) and a Masters of Business Administration from INSEAD (France and Singapore).
Mr. Au joined Invesco Real Estate in July 2006 and is the Head of Asia Pacific Real Estate Research. He has over 25 years of experience in the real estate sector with sound knowledge of key markets in the Asia Pacific region.
Prior to joining Invesco Real Estate, Mr. Au was a director of research and consultancy of Savills (Hong Kong) Ltd. where he conducted various consulting projects including market studies, asset reviews and feasibility studies for institutional investors, real estate developers and listed property trusts. Before joining Savills, Mr. Au also obtained substantial experience in property valuation from the valuation departments of Chesterton Petty Ltd. and First Pacific Davies (Hong Kong) Ltd. where he conducted real estate valuation for clients for financing, litigation and taxation purposes.
Mr. Au earned a Master of Science in Financial Management degree from the University of London (United Kingdom), a Postgraduate Diploma in Surveying (Real Estate Development) from the University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong) and a Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo (Canada). He is a member of both the Asian Executive Committee and the Asian Investment Committee of Invesco Real Estate.
Azmir Merican is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of UEM Edgenta Berhad, one of the largest Asset Management & Infrastructure Solutions company in Asia with operations in 6 countries with a market capitalization of over RM2.7 billion concentrating in the Healthcare Support Services and Infrastructure. He brings along with him a wealth of cross functional experience from his background in financial advisory and as a business operator.
He started his career as an investment analyst and later worked as a manager in the financial advisory arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers. His corporate advisory experience includes dealings with corporations, multinationals and institutions involved in construction and engineering, real estate development, plantations, manufacturing, oil and gas, venture capital, fund management and stockbroking. While at CIMB Investment Bank, he was part of the team that established the bank’s private equity business and was involved in fund structuring and fund raising, investment evaluation and structuring, monitoring and execution of divestment plans.
Prior to UEM Edgenta Berhad, he was the Group Chief Operating Officer, Business Units of UEM Group Berhad. Azmir was previously the Group Chief Executive/Managing Director AWC Berhad where he led the restructuring of the engineering services and integrated facilities management company. Azmir holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (Finance) from Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University, USA and currently sits on the Board of various companies, both listed and non-listed, local and overseas, within UEM Edgenta Berhad.
Dr Chua Yang Liang is Head of Research & Strategy of ARA Private Funds, where he is responsible for monitoring, evaluating and forecasting the macroeconomic environment as well as real estate markets in Asia Pacific. Through his analysis of the macro and micro market trends, Dr Chua provides research advice and market intelligence to support the Group’s business decision-making and strategy formulation.
Prior to joining ARA, Dr Chua led the Southeast Asia research teams at Jones Lang LaSalle for over 11 years. His responsibilities included forecasting property markets, conducting market and development advisory, and providing commentaries to clients and the media on matters relating to property and urban policy issues. Dr Chua began his career in physical and strategic planning at the Urban Redevelopment Authority in Singapore.
Dr Chua holds a Bachelor of Science (Estate Management) (First Class Honours) from the National University of Singapore and a Master of City Planning and a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He is also an Adjunct with the Center for Liveable Cities, Ministry of National Development.
Professor Mahendhiran Nair is the Chief Executive Officer of Monash Malaysia R&D Sdn Bhd and Vice President (Research & Development) at Monash University Malaysia. He is also a Professor of Econometrics & Business Statistics at Monash University Malaysia.
He is a Fellow of CPA (Australia) and Fellow of Academy of Sciences Malaysia. He has published extensively on technology adoption, innovation and sustainable economic development in leading international economic journals. He has been a subject matter expert for government agencies, public policy & community organisations, and ‘think-tanks’ in the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.
Jana Sehnalova is the CEO of La Francaise Forum Securities and Global Portfolio Manager with over 19 years of real estate and equities experience.
She is currently based in the La Française Forum Securities office in Singapore and manages a global team based in Connecticut, London and Singapore.
In the past, Jana covered European, Australasian and emerging market real estate companies. Before joining Forum Securities, she worked as a Portfolio Manager and an International Analyst in the Global Real Estate Securities team at Citi Property Investors and prior to that at European Investors Inc. She holds an LLM in law (summa cum laude), from Charles University’s Faculty of Law in Prague, Czech Republic and an MBA from the University of Economics in Prague.
She participated in the MBA Exchange Program at the University of North Carolina / Kenan Flagler Business School in the US and in the Erasmus Program at the University of Law in Hamburg in Germany. Jana speaks seven languages and is the Member of the Young Leaders Circle of the Milken Institute.
Esther Wong is the Managing Director of Strategic Investment of SenseTime, overseeing SenseTime’s strategic investments. She is also a founding partner of SenseTime’s AI fund with AUM of RMB 5bn, establishing business relations with strategic partners to create a SenseTime-centered AI ecosystem.
Esther has more than 20 years of experience in investmemt and financing. She previously ran ECM in BOCOM International, leading overseas IPOs and equity placements. Previously, she was Head of Sales and Trading of Cazenove Asia whereby she was the first Chinese and first woman to hold that position. She moved to Hong Kong in 2006 to support launching of CICC’s US office, and in the process, rated as one of Greater China’s Top Institutional Sales by Asiamoney 5 years in a row.
Esther double majored in Economics and Political Science in SUNY Stony Brook. She also holds an associate’s degree in Hospitality Administration in Glion Institutes, Switzerland.
Dato’ Stewart LaBrooy is the Executive Chairman of AREA Management Sdn. Bhd. a subsidiary of AREA Advisors Pte Ltd (AREA) an appointment he has taken since his retirement as CEO and Executive Director of Axis REIT Managers Bhd (ARMB) on 31 December 2015. With a career spanning over 40 years in the industrial space, he has spent well over a decade since 2005 in heading Axis REIT and establishing REITs as an important component of the capital markets.
He was appointed Executive Director of Axis REIT on 22 March 2005 and Chief Executive Office (“CEO”) of Axis REIT since August 2008. Axis REIT was the first REIT to be listed in Malaysia and the first Shariah-compliant industrial REIT in the world. Under his leadership, Axis REIT has won several awards, among them, the APREA Best Practices Award in 2010.2011 and 2013. Axis REIT has provided its investors with total average returns in excess of 25% over the 10 years he helmed the business and still trades today at a 30% premium to NAV.
Since its inception, AREA was established as a boutique advisory firm providing advice on investing in industrial properties in Malaysia, UK, Australia and Germany. Our investor base ranged from pension funds and family offices to institutional investors and to date we have provided advice and concluded investments exceeding USD$2.5 billion.
AREA has decided to expand its advisory role to include funds management. It has since set up a company that will undertake the investment management activities (the AREA Industrial Development Fund 1 (AIDF 1) )and AREA Management Sdn Bhd (AMSB) was set up to undertake the management of the projects of the fund in Malaysia. AREA Advisors Pte Ltd was re-designated as the Funds management company.
AREA through the establishment of its Funds intends to roll-out 2-3 industrial parks of 150-400 acres each. It intends to co-invest in the development of these parks by working with strategic partners & landowners. These industrial parks will provide the Malaysian Industrial Real Estate market a paradigm shift in quality and services to its clients. In November 2015 AIDF 1 launched its first maiden project a 1,200,000 sq. ft. e-commerce hub in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
In 2017 Dato’ LaBrooy formed the world’s first unlisted Shariah compliant Education Asset based REIT which has a planned listing in 2021. He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Dato LaBrooy has been writing on a regular basis on Property and REITs for the local mainstream print and online media for the past five years or so, and is known and recognised as the “REIT Guru” in the country. He is also a prominent speaker on the subject of Industrial Estate Development and Conventional and Islamic REITs in the region, having been invited to deliver papers in Singapore, Hong Kong, Istanbul, New York, London, Saudi Arabia, Philippines and Malaysia.
He is a Board member of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA), an organization that represents and promotes the real estate asset class in the Asia Pacific region. It is the industry body for the suppliers and users of capital in the real estate sector. He served as the founding Chairman of the Malaysian REIT Managers Association (MRMA), from 2010-2015, an organization he helped set up in 2010 to give Malaysian REIT Managers a single voice for the purpose of engagement with the Regulators and Ministry of Finance.
Dato’ Stewart LaBrooy is also a director of a number of public and private companies involved in property development, services and property investment.
He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) degree and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Studies from the University of Sheffield and is a member of the Institute of Engineers, Malaysia.
Benjamin Tai, CFA, Vice President, is a senior analyst with the Global Real Asset Securities Group with 13 years of investment experience.
His responsibilities include covering real estate securities in the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to joining Blackrock, Benjamin worked at Norges Bank Investment Management in both Singapore and London as the primary analyst for Asia Pacific real estate securities.
Preceding that, Benjamin worked at UBS AG in Hong Kong as a sell side equity analyst in global listed real estate strategy, and before that at Macquarie Bank in Sydney as an analyst for the global property securities fund.
Benjamin graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of New South Wales. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder.
Skip is the Managing Director of Heitman’s Asia-Pacific Private Real Estate Equity group, a member of Heitman’s Asia-Pacific Private Equity Investment Committee, and an equity owner of the firm. He is responsible for creating the firm’s investment platform in the Asia-Pacific region and manages the regional team as it sources new real estate investments and joint venture partnerships across Asia-Pacific. Skip is also responsible for overseeing the acquisitions and asset management process for a large private equity global separate account. Since arriving in the region in 2008, he has grown the regional AUM to nearly $1 billion.
He moved to Heitman’s Hong Kong office in 2013, after spending five years in Tokyo. Prior to relocating to Tokyo, Skip was in Heitman’s London and Frankfurt offices for a total of seven years and was involved in numerous investment, joint venture, and development transactions across Central Europe and Germany. During his prior five years in the company’s Chicago headquarters, he was involved in transactions and joint ventures of all property types across the US.
Skip received his BA with honors in International Relations and his MA in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University. He received his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Skip is also a member of ANREV and ULI Asia Pacific. He is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 4 (advising on securities) and Type 9 (asset management) regulated activities as a Responsible Officer and Executive Director of Heitman International HK Ltd, which is also licensed by the SFC to conduct Type 1, 4, and 9 regulated activities.
Mr Ho Sing joined the Board of Starhill Global REIT on 20 April 2010. He is the Chief Executive Officer of the Manager. He works with the Chairman and the Board in formulating and executing strategies for Starhill Global REIT and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of Starhill Global REIT.
He has over 25 years of leadership and management experience with multinational companies in engineering, medical, infrastructure, and real estate. These included senior positions in the Singapore Technologies Group, Dornier Medical, Sembcorp Industries and Guocoland Limited. He is currently an Independent Non-Executive Director of Daiman Development Berhad, a company listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad.
Mr Ho holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas, Austin, USA. He completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University in 2002.
Graeme Torre is the Managing Director, Head of Private Real Estate, Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong. Torre also now serves on the board of APG Investments Asia Limited and APG Asset Management’s global real estate management team.
Torre oversees the company’s private real estate portfolio in Asia Pacific. . He joined APG Asset Management in Nov 2017.
Torre previously worked as Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Invesco Real Estate, leaving the US-based asset manager in March 2017. He took the role in Jan 2011 after Invesco absorbed AIG’s Asia real estate platform, where he headed Asia Real Estate from 2005.
Prior to AIG, Torre served as Head of Asia Pacific Real Estate for Henderson Global Investors, based in Singapore from Jul 1998 to Jun 2005.
Ms Koh has more than 10 years of experience in corporate finance, advisory and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Ms Koh is responsible for the sourcing, structuring and executions of acquisitions and disposals for Starhill Global REIT.
She was involved in Starhill Global REIT’s IPO and its acquisitions in Japan, Australia and Malaysia, and Japan disposals.
Prior to joining the Manager, she was with MEAG Pacific Star Asia Pte Ltd’s investments team, and spent four years with HSBC investment bank in the execution of regional M&A and advisory transactions.
Ms Koh holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Western Australia.
Mr Chia Nam Toon is Assistant Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and CEO of REITs & Business Development. He oversees the business and operations of the REITs Division and is responsible for growing existing REITs and developing new REITs across Asia, United States and Europe. Mr Chia is a member of the ARA Group Business Development Committee which drives and coordinates all new ARA business initiatives, and a member of the ARA Group Investment Review Committee which oversees the Group’s global investment strategy. He is also a Non-Executive Director of ARA Trust Management (Cache) Limited.
Mr Chia has 35 years of work experience, with more than 15 years in the real estate industry. Prior to joining ARA, he was CEO of the Manager of Ascendas REIT, one of Singapore’s largest-listed REITs, from 2016 to 2017 and was responsible for its overall management and operations. Prior to that, he was the Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Ascendas-Singbridge from 2015 to 2016, providing strategic financial leadership for the Group. Prior to the merger between Ascendas and Singbridge, he held the position of Group Assistant CEO and CFO of Ascendas Group from 2006 to 2014 and oversaw Ascendas’ corporate services functions which included Strategy Management, Communications, Legal & Corporate Secretariat, Enterprise Risk Management, Information Management and Finance.
Before joining Ascendas, Mr Chia was Chief Operating Officer and Finance Director with PEC Tech Group from 2004 to 2006. He previously held various positions with ICI Paints Asia Pacific and the ICI Group headquarters in London, Tioxide Asia Pacific, F&N Group Malaysia, KAB Group of Companies and Deloitte & Touche Malaysia.
Mr Chia holds a Diploma in Commerce from Tunku Abdul Raman College, Malaysia. He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants UK (FCCA) and a Fellow of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants.
Cheng-Soon Lau is the Managing Director – Asia Pacific at Invesco Real Estate since 2006. Established in 1983, Invesco Real Estate (IRE) manages global investments in direct real estate, real estate securities including equity and debt, infrastructure securities and master limited partnerships (MLPs).
Cheng-Soon Lau was the Managing Director of Ayala International from 2000 to 2006 for 5 years.
He graduated from the Oregon State University. He obtained his MBA from The University of Chicago – Booth School of Business (1996 to 1998)
Antony is Head of Real Estate and Government Business in Macquarie Capital’s Australian business. Antony’s corporate advisory experience spans over 24 years, specialising in advising clients on real estate related transactions covering M&A, equity and debt capital markets and structured finance.
Antony has led numerous significant real estate transactions in Australia and Asia. Antony joined Macquarie in 2004 and led the global expansion of Macquarie’s real estate advisory and capital raising business growing to a team of real estate specialists located in Australasia, UK/Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East.
He was the Managing Director –Head of Real Estate Investment Banking, Asia Pacific at JP Morgan from 1995 to 2004.
He was a Tax Consultant at Coopers & Lybrand, Sydney Australia from 1994 to 1995 for 1 year 9 months.
Antony graduated from UNSW with a Bachelor of Commerce / Bachelor of Laws. He has a Grad Diploma in Legal Practice from College of Law, University of Technology, Sydney in 1993. He also has a Grad Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Finsia – Securities Institute of Australia in 1995.
Alastair Gillespie is the co-Global Chief Investment Officer from the group of Global Real Asset Securities .
Previously, Alastair was with Principal Global Investors , where he was managing director in Singapore and Portfolio Manager of companies with responsibilities in Global Real Estate, Pacific Asia and in Australia of real estate values.
Prior to this, Alastair was a real estate securities analyst on the sale side for 11 years, culminating as co-director of real estate research in Asia at UBS AG.
Alan Miyasaki is a Senior Managing Director in the Real Estate Group and the Head of Real Estate Asia Acquisitions based in Singapore. Mr. Miyasaki is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Real Estate group’s investment activities in Asia.
Since joining Blackstone in 2001, Mr. Miyasaki has been involved in a variety of real estate transactions in both the United States and Asia. Since 2007, Mr. Miyasaki has played a key role in building Blackstone’s Real Estate business in Asia including executing investments in Greater China, India, Singapore, Japan and Australia .
Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Miyasaki was with Starwood Capital Group, where he worked in acquisitions. Mr. Miyasaki received a BS in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated cum laude.
William was appointed as Executive Director and CEO of the Manager of Ascendas Reit on 1 February 2018. Prior to his current appointment, William was the Deputy CEO of Singapore and South East Asia (SSEA) of the Ascendas-Singbridge Group. In addition to leading Ascendas-Singbridge SSEA regional teams in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, he was concurrently the CEO for South Korea, overseeing the real estate private equity funds business and investments in South Korea.
William has more than 22 years of wide-ranging experience in real estate, straddling both the public and private sectors as well as Singapore and overseas. Since joining Ascendas-Singbridge in 2007, he held various leadership positions in investment, business development, asset and fund management as well as country operations. William started his career with JTC Corporation where he spent 12 years in the development and marketing of Ready-Built Factories, Wafer Fabrication Parks and Logistics Parks, as well as strategic and corporate planning.
William holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Estate Management (Honours) from the National University of Singapore.
Gerald is the Chief Executive Officer of Aberdeen Standard Islamic Investments (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. He was previously the managing director of Aberdeen Standard Investments (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd , which he joined in 2005, shortly after which he helped to set up the company after it was awarded the first foreign-owned fund manager licence under the government’s Special Scheme
Before joining Aberdeen, Gerald was an institutional sales director covering ASEAN equities at Kim Eng Securities in Singapore, HSBC James Capel in London and BNP Paribas in London, the latter having sent him to set up the institutional broking operations of its associate, Mohaiyani Securities Sdn Bhd in Malaysia in 1990. Prior to that, Gerald served seven years as an officer in the Royal Navy, completing his commission in 1987 as a submarine navigator.
Gerald Ambrose graduated with an MA (Honours) degree in Land Economy from Pembroke College, Cambridge University.
Experienced head of research and mentor in equities, capital markets and real estate. Enjoys inspiring teams, telling great stories, spotting turning points and beating the market.
Regina Lim is the Head of Capital Markets Research, Southeast Asia at JLL, Singapore from Nov 2015 – Present
She was the Head, Singapore Equity Research and ASEAN Property Research at Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore from Mar 2010 to Jan 2015.
She was the Real Estate Analyst, Equities Research at UBS Investment Bank, Singapore from 2006 to 2010.
She did Property research, urban planning for Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore (URA) for 8 years from 1998 to 2006
Regina Lim received the Master of Engineering (MEng), Engineering, economics and management from the University of Oxford. 1994 to 1998.
Mr. Low serves as Portfolio Manager with responsibility for the construction of the Asia Pacific component of AEW’s global property securities portfolios. He also serves as a member of the Global Securities Allocation Committee.
Previously, Mr. Low was a Portfolio Manager for Asian property securities at LIM Advisors, Ltd. in Hong Kong, where he co-managed an Asian Property Long/Short Fund and a JREIT fund. With 19 years of investment management experience in the Asian equities market, he has also held positions at Prudential Asset Management, most recently as a Portfolio Manager focused on Asia Pacific equities.
Mr. Low holds a Bachelor of Business degree from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia and a CFA charterholder
Joachim Kehr is Portfolio & Regional Manager, Asia-Pacific at CenterSquare Investment Management, a real asset investment manager with over US$10 billion in assets under management. Mr. Kehr has over 10 years’ experience in real estate, having previously worked for BNP Paribas Asset Management in Amsterdam and Singapore.
He holds an MSc in Economics from Tilburg University, The Netherlands and Peking University, China.
Mr. Charles Isaac, CFA, is a Founding Partner of B&I Capital AG which specialises in listed equity REITs and is based in Zurich. He has over 20 years of experience as an Asian equities specialist.
Charles is the CEO and CIO of B&I Capital which he co-founded in 2007. B&I has grown its asset base by 35% CAGR over this period to reach USD 1.1bn in 2019. Prior to co-founding B&I Capital, Mr. Isaac was a Senior Fund Manager and Member of Senior Management at Swisscanto AG, one of the largest asset managers in Switzerland and fund manager to the Cantonal Banks.
Mr. Isaac is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), holds a MSc in Investment Management from City University Business School, London, a BA in Psychology from Newcastle University, UK, and attended Oundle school.
Yvonne Voon is a Director at Credit Suisse. Ms Voon joined the Credit Suisse Investment Banking and Capital Markets team in May 2018, where she heads the Southeast Asia Real Estate team, based in Singapore.
She has been with Credit Suisse for 13 years, where she assumed various roles in Equity Research and Equity Sales in London, Singapore and Malaysia. During her Research years, she was the Head of the Singapore Property Equity Research team, where she was also instrumental in mentoring the analysts within the Southeast Asia region in ramping up coverage. Prior to this, she was doing equity research at JPMorgan and a brief stint in local brokerage, OSK in Malaysia.
Yvonne had graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (major in Actuarial Studies) from The University of Melbourne, Australia.
With 30+ years’ experience dedicated to real estate and technology, Bernie is a leader in digital transformation in real estate, and using data to create a more competitive and collaborative environment.
He supports real estate clients with Retail, Commercial, Industrial, Residential and Mixed Use assets, helping them to grow their operations, create efficiencies, and gain better insight into their business. His expertise includes asset and investment management, private equity, operations improvement, program and project management, finance, technology implementation and compliance.
Bernie has led large-scale technology projects, as well as led and supported Proptech start-ups, across Australia, the USA, Middle East, Asia and Europe. Currently responsible for the growth of Yardi Systems in Asia, Bernie lives in Hong Kong and is a qualified accountant and economist. He has over 60 publications to his name, and extensive public speaking experience.
Cha-Ly is the Founder and CEO of Urbanmetry Sdn Bhd (previously known as Property Pricetag Sdn Bhd), a data company that cleans and analyses large amounts of city data, through its proprietary algorithms.
Trained in city planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA, Cha-Ly hopes to help governments, city planners, corporations and urban dwellers by providing insights into the city with big data.
Mahdzir is currently the Director of Securities Market and the Acting Director of Islamic Capital Market at Bursa Malaysia Berhad. He is also a member of Bursa Malaysia’s Management Committee. He joined Bursa in August 2017 and currently oversees the market and product development as well as marketing and promotion of Malaysian equities market.
Prior to joining Bursa, Mahdzir was the CEO of i-VCAP Management, a licensed Islamic fund management company, for seven years. He was previously the CIO of Valuecap Sdn Bhd., the parent company of i-VCAP, which he joined in 2003. Together with the stint in Valuecap, Mahdzir carries with him more than 23 years of working experience in fund management and capital market development activities, which include strategically leading an asset management company, marketing of investment products and services, and executing investment strategies.
Aside from his current role, Mahdzir is a Director of the Malaysian Investor Relations Association (MIRA).
Mahdzir holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in Finance from Northern Illinois University, USA.
Teng Chee Wai is the founder of Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad (Affin Hwang AM). Over the past decade, he has built the Company to be the fastest growing and only independent investment management house in Malaysia’s top three, with an excess of RM47 billion in assets under management as at 31 December 2018.
In his capacity as Managing Director / Executive Director, Teng manages the overall business and strategic direction as well as the management of the investment team. His hands-on approach sees him actively involved in investments, product development and marketing. Teng’s critical leadership and regular participation in reviewing and assessing strategies and performance has been pivotal in allowing the Company to successfully navigate the economically turbulent decade.
Teng’s investment management experience spans more than 20 years, and his key area of expertise is in managing absolute return mandates for insurance assets and investment-linked funds in both Singapore and Malaysia. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Assistant General Manager (Investment) of Overseas Assurance Corporation (OAC) and was responsible for the investment function of the Group Overseas Assurance Corporation Ltd.
Teng began his career in the financial industry as an Investment Manager with NTUC Income, Singapore. He is a Bachelor of Science graduate from the National University of Singapore and has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Actuarial Studies from City University in London.
Dato’ Jeffrey Ng is a graduate of Monash University, Melbourne with a Bachelor of Economics and completed his professional articleship in an international accounting firm in Australia before returning to Malaysia. He has more than 35 years of extensive experience in finance, corporate planning and executive management in the property and hotel industry in both Malaysia and Australia.
Prior to joining Sunway Group, Dato’ Jeffrey Ng was the former Managing Director of AP Land Berhad. He was also the former Executive Director of Sunway City Berhad, a company formerly listed on Bursa Malaysia. He has held various positions in the past, such as the President of Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (REHDA), Past Chairman of REHDA Wilayah Persekutuan (KL) Branch, Director of Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), Vice President and Secretary General of FIABCI Malaysian Chapter (International Real Estate Federation), Vice President of Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners (MAHO), Chapter Chairman of Young Presidents Organisation (YPO) Malaysian Chapter and Vice Chairman of Malaysia Australia Business Council (MABC).
Dato’ Jeffrey Ng is currently the Chairman of both the Malaysian REIT Managers Association (MRMA) and REHDA Institute as well as Chairman & Independent Non-Executive Director of United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Berhad. He is also a Member of the Board of Studies – Master of Real Estate Development, University Tunku Abdul Rahman. Professionally, he is a member of the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Chartered Accountants, Australia & New Zealand. He also holds a Capital Markets Services Representative’s Licence (CMSRL). Dato’ Jeffrey is also a member of the Appeal Board under the Federal Territory (Planning) Act 1982.
In 1999, he was conferred a fellowship by Malaysian Institute of Directors and accorded the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ by MABC in 2003. In 2008, he was advanced to fellowship member of Chartered Accountants, Australia & New Zealand. In 2009, he was conferred the patron of REHDA. Dato’ Jeffrey Ng was awarded “REHDA Personality of the Year 2015” for his contribution to the real estate industry. In 2018, he was awarded The Asset Best CEO – Property.
His directorships in other public companies are SUNREIT Capital Berhad, SUNREIT Unrated Bond Berhad, SUNREIT Perpetual Bond Berhad and Sunway Lagoon Club Berhad.
Faez Jumabhoy is Managing Director and Head of the Real Estate Sector Group covering Investment Banking, Mergers & Acquisitions, Financing and Risk for CIMB. He joined CIMB in April 2011 with more than 20 years global real estate experience covering investment advisory; debt financing; equity; debt re-structuring and recovery; asset management and property planning and development in Asia and the Middle East
He is a Master of Professional Studies (Finance & Marketing) graduate of the School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University, USA and holds a BSc in Business Administration (Finance & Quantitative Methods) from Babson College, USA.
Prior to CIMB, Faez advised on over US$20 billion in advisory, development, financing and equity transactions in over 142 markets and 32 countries across Asia and the Middle East for global clients.
Stephen Hagger is a Managing Director and the Head of Equities for Credit Suisse in Malaysia. His team has been rated number one by Institutional Investor more than fifteen times. He is also the country head for Credit Suisse in Malaysia.
Since joining Credit Suisse in 1998, Mr Hagger has at different times held the position of Head of ASEAN sales, Head of ASEAN and Pakistan Research and Head of Malaysian Research. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, he was the Managing Director and Head of Research at BZW Malaysia. He has also worked as Head of Research at Kim Eng Securities in Kuala Lumpur, in fund management with Hill Samuel Bank, Singapore and as a buy-side analyst for Robert Fleming in London. Stephen received an MBA from Durham University Business School and a Bachelor of Science degree (Agriculture) from the University of Edinburgh.
Mr Hagger has been based in Kuala Lumpur since 1992.
Sigrid is the Chief Executive Officer of Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA). Based in Singapore, she is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction, initiatives and operations of the association across Asia Pacific.
Sigrid joined APREA’s executive team in January 2019.
A recognized expert in global economic, public policy and real estate issues, Sigrid is a frequent speaker at industry events. Her commentary on commercial and residential real estate markets is also regularly featured in a wide array of global publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg, New York Times and Reuters. Additionally, she has made several television appearances on financial networks and radio such as CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, National Public Radio and Channel News Asia.
Sigrid brings to APREA more than 20 years of experience in economic and real estate research, consulting and business strategy. From 2010 through 2018, she served as Managing Director of Asia Pacific Research and Advisory Services of Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), where she was responsible for research, thought leadership, strategy formulation and client management. Before relocating to Singapore, she was based in Washington, D.C. and led C&W’s U.S. research group in the Mid- Atlantic region, overseeing all aspects of market research activities in the Washington, DC; Virginia; Suburban Maryland, Baltimore; and Philadelphia areas. Prior to joining C&W, Sigrid served as a Senior Economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In that position, she developed NAR’s office, warehouse, retail, multi-family housing, and international research programs.
Sigrid holds a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and a Master’s degree in Economics from Pennsylvania State University. She is a member of several civic groups including the Rotary Club of Raffles City in Singapore, where she has served in various leadership positions.
Omar is the Managing Director, HSBC Global Banking division. He is a qualified barrister, called to the bar at the Inner Temple in London, and holds two degrees, one in Law and one in Finance.
In his role, he leads a team of Relationship Account Managers for Large Local Corporates, Financial Institutions and Global Multinationals, along with onshore Advisory, Debt Capital Markets, Project, Infrastructure & Real Estate Finance,
He has broad experience across Asia Pacific and Europe, having worked in roles covering the UK, the Nordics, Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and now Malaysia.
His experience with HSBC includes working across each of the bank’s three core businesses: Corporate & Investment Banking, Commercial Banking and Retail Banking. He started his career within the bank’s Leveraged & Acquisition Finance division, before undertaking a variety of roles within Global Liquidity & Cash Management, Global Relationship Management, and Commercial Strategy.
Julian was born and raised in Sydney Australia, and has founded 6 companies over his 20 year career based in Asia, including social media/technology, real estate investment & development, proptech and blockchain. He has spent his life starting businesses in new markets and new industries and now focused on building platforms that adapt to the digital world and the redesigning of how we as humans perceive, create and exchange value.
Currently he is CEO of InvestaCrowd, a capital markets licensed digital securities investment platform headquartered in Singapore and the ICTX digital securities exchange.
The Singapore based entrepreneur is recognized as a leader in the proptech and blockchain space and is the first mentor for the JLL/Lendlease proptech accelerator propell and has been invited to speak at over 200+ conferences in the region.
He has a passion for constant learning by building better and alternative platforms and systems for the benefit of more not less, and being early at the forefront of change.
He maintains advisory roles with multi-family offices investing into real estate, proptech and blockchain startups through his family office 2H Capital, is an EIR (Entrepreneur in Residence) at INSEAD, and a member of ACCESS (Singapore Blockchain Cryptocurrency Assoication) and GITA (Global Initiative for Token Alliance).