APREA Back To Business Roundtable

Sigrid is the Chief Executive Officer of Asia Pacific Real Assets Association (APREA). Based in Singapore, she is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction, initiatives and operations of the association across Asia Pacific. Under her leadership, APREA repositioned to an industry trade group focusing on real estate and infrastructure.

Sigrid joined APREA’s executive team in January 2019.

Prior to APREA, she served as Managing Director of Asia Pacific Research and Advisory Services of Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) from 2010 through 2018, 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.

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 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, and serves in the Executive Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Society of Singapore.

Ashish Shah is a Director with SS&C Technologies in Singapore and leads the funds services business for Real Assets across APAC.  Ashish brings close to two-and-a-half decades of finance and operations experience in private equity, real estate, infrastructure and venture capital by way of his previous roles as the CFO / COO for various funds under the J P Morgan Partners, 3i Group plc and Xander Group Inc. umbrella. He has led and managed fund set-up and administration, treasury and cash management, investor relations and reporting, audit and taxation, and compliance and regulatory monitoring, for several funds across multiple jurisdictions including the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Jersey, Mauritius, Hong Kong, Singapore and India.  Prior to SS&C, Ashish was Partner & CFO at Iron Pillar, an India focused mid-stage tech VC fund.  Ashish is a Chartered Accountant from India and graduated from the Bombay University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting and Finance.

Chris joined Savills in 1995. As CEO, Chris manages and oversees the entire operation of South East Asia and works out of the Singapore office.

Having arrived in Asia in 1990, Chris has lived in both Hong Kong and Singapore and covered most markets and disciplines in the Asia Pacific Region. Alongside his operational responsibilities he sits on the Asia Pacific Executive Committee which determines strategic direction for the business in the region. During his time, he has played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Singapore operations in 1995, and subsequently restructured the business in 2004. Chris has also been involved in, or led numerous corporate acquisitions in South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia and strategic relationships for the group. More recently Chris has taken an active role in how technology can be leveraged within Savills and the broader industry.

Mr Ng Beng Tiong is Deputy Group CEO and Group COO of ARA Asset Management Limited. He oversees the performance of the Group’s business units globally, and is responsible for the integration of and coordination among the various divisions in the Group. Mr Ng concurrently holds the position of Executive Chairman of APM Group, and oversees the property management and MICE management business. In addition, he has oversight of the Group Corporate Division which includes corporate services, technology, analytics, governance and sustainability.

Mr Ng is a member of the ARA Group Business Development Committee which drives and coordinates all new business and product initiatives, a member of the ARA Group Investment Review Committee which oversees its global investment strategy, and Deputy Chairman of the ARA Group Digital Strategy Committee which is responsible for leading the transformation of ARA into a smart enterprise and growth into the digital marketplace. He is a member of the Investment Committee and Executive Committee of the ARA Private Funds (APAC Real Estate) division. Mr Ng is also a board member of the Group’s Infrastructure Division and ARA Private Funds (Logistics Real Estate) Division.

Prior to his appointment as Group COO, Mr Ng was CEO of ARA Private Funds from 2007 to 2019, during which he grew ARA’s private real estate funds business to become a leading fund manager in Asia Pacific. Prior to joining the ARA Group in 2007, Mr Ng was the Finance Director of Low Keng Huat (Singapore) Ltd, a property, construction and hotel group listed on the SGX-ST, from 2003 to 2007. He was a Director of Stone Forest M&A Pte. Ltd., a mergers and acquisitions advisory company from 2002 to 2003 and Director of Corporate Planning and Business Development at Labroy Marine Limited, a shipping, shipbuilding and marine engineering company listed on the SGX-ST from 1997 to 2002. Mr Ng began his career with DBS Bank Ltd in 1989, initially as a corporate banker and subsequently as an investment banker.

Mr Ng holds a Master of Engineering (Software Engineering) (First Class Honours) from Imperial College, London. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the Singapore Institute of Directors.

Rohan Sikri is Senior Partner at The Xander Group Inc. Based in Singapore, he is also Managing Director, Xander Investment Management, heads the firm’s real estate investment management program for Asia and chairs the investment committees for all Xander fund vehicles, and the credit committee for Xander Finance. He is also a member of the firm’s management committee.

Earlier, from 2005 to 2010, he co-founded and subsequently supervised Xander’s India investment program and built a US$ 1.5 billion equity investment portfolio across direct acquisitions, development partnerships, and platform joint ventures, across real estate asset classes such as office, retail, hotels, residential and industrial. The portfolio has already seen profitable exits in excess of US$ 1.4 billion. In 2010, he co-founded Xander Finance, the group's credit platform in India, where he serves as Chairman of the board. In 2014, he led the firm’s Office core plus strategy, which attracted capital largely from pension funds in Europe and the United States, and has quickly grown to ~7 MM SF, ~US$ 650MM, and is slated to scale further. In 2019 he established the firm’s first industrial real estate JV, slated to construct a $250 million warehouse/ logistics portfolio over the next 24 months. He is also a board member of Virtuous Retail South Asia Pte. Ltd., a Singapore headquartered integrated retail mall developer, owner and asset manager for India, set up in 2016 as a US $800 million JV between APG Asset Management and Xander Retail Partners.

From 1999 to 2005, Mr. Sikri was with CBRE in India, initially as part of the Strategic Consulting Group, and later as the head of the corporate finance practice for the firm. Mr. Sikri’s almost 20 years in the real estate industry, across multiple Asian markets including India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and the Middle East, in different roles, through market cycles, provides him a unique insight into identifying opportunities, market dislocations, and pricing risk.

A graduate in Commerce with Honors from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, he secured an MBA with dual specialization in Finance and Marketing from the International Management Institute. He has played national level squash, been a state-level swimmer in the 1,500-meter event and enjoys golf.