APREA Hong Kong Women Leaders’ Network Luncheon

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.

Ms Christina Hau is the Chief Executive Officer of Champion Real Estate Investment Trust, overseeing its strategic development, asset management, asset enhancement and investment opportunities. Ms Hau is a Registered Architect in Hong Kong with over 20 years of experience in the real estate industry, covering design, planning, project management and asset management of renowned world-class commercial complexes. Prior to joining the REIT Manager, Ms Hau worked at Hong Kong’s leading real estate listed companies overseeing key investment properties in Mainland China. Ms Hau graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong with degrees in Master of Architecture and Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons). She is a member of Hong Kong Institute of Architects and Vice- Chairman of Commercial Properties Research Association under China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce.

Rosanna Tang has joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2022 as the Head of Business Development Services, Hong Kong, overseeing both the research and marketing function of the firm.

Rosanna has over 18 years’ experience in the real estate markets across Hong Kong, Greater Bay Area and Asia Pacific. With her profound understanding of the property market and strong research background from both buy-side and sell-side experiences, Rosanna has led numerous pioneer thought leadership research papers and client orientated initiatives throughout her career. As a trilingual professional fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese, Rosanna is an active commentator in both global and local media, and she is also a frequent speaker for different industries and professional events.

Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, Rosanna has held senior positions as Head of Research, Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area in Colliers, and as Director in CBRE Asia Pacific Research. Rosanna has also worked in the Corporate Planning & Strategic Investment Department of Sun Hung Kai Properties, where she led research analysis for both Hong Kong and overseas property markets.

Rosanna graduated from Peking University with a Bachelor of Law degree majoring in Political and Public Administration, with a double degree in Sociology. She then went on to earn a Master of Science degree in Finance from the University of Michigan.

Sarah Cooper is Managing Director & Global Head of Real Estate Equity Sales at BofA Securities, based in Hong Kong. She is a member of the BofA Hong Kong Leadership team, and Chairman of the Hong Kong Philanthropy committee.

Sarah works closely with both the research & banking side of BofA. She has worked on transactions from markets as diverse as Russia, China, India & Indonesia, as well as being active in traditional developed markets (notably Australia, UK, Germany, Singapore, USA, HK & Japan). Sarah was a top ranked property analyst in Australia, before moving to London and then Hong Kong where she has lived for 10 years.

Sarah is ranked the #1 property specialist sales person in II & is a trusted advisor of both global & local real estate investors. Sarah is a Global Trustee for the Urban Land institute, and on the Board of the HK chapter of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association. She is the Chairman of BofA’s HK Philanthropy committee, & was previously Co-Chair of the Asian GBAM Women’s Leadership Council. She completed the Taupo Ironman in 2001, coaches mini rugby & Auskicks, & is passionate about family, travel, & cutting the volume of emails at BofA. She has been at the firm for 20 years.

• Yvette Chan is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal in Hong Kong. She brings 20 years of tax advisory experience, specialising in China and Hong Kong taxation.
• Ms. Chan has assisted her clients to undertake investments with regard to transaction structuring and devising tax efficient strategies for implementing business operations and arrangements for their initial greenfield investment or mergers & acquisitions in or outside Greater China. In addition, Ms. Chan has advised on a number of tax structuring, tax due diligence, tax modeling review, mergers & acquisitions, corporate restructuring, pre-IPO restructuring, leasing, and tax compliance projects, and specialises in the structuring of M&A and financial transactions from a tax perspective.
• Ms. Chan services clients in a wide range of industries including real estate, private equity and investment fund, infrastructure, etc.
• Yvette’s real estate fund clients include Actis real estate funds, Angelo Gordon, BlackRock, Blackstone, CPPIB, GAW Capital, Kailong, Macquarie real estate funds, Morgan Stanley real estate funds, PAG, Paladin (Country Garden), Phoenix Property Investors, Quadreal, SSG Ares, TCC Capital, etc. Yvette also advise other corporate as well as family offices with respect to their real estate operations and transactions.
• Ms. Chan has co-authored articles on Chinese taxation in the International Tax Review, Euromoney, China Tax Intelligence and Asia-Pacific Journal of Taxation. Ms. Chan has also taught internal courses and spoken at external seminars on Chinese taxation, particularly in relation to non-resident tax issues for inbound investments, as well as Chinese tax issues and considerations on outbound investments.
• Before joining A&M, Ms. Chan spent 5 years with KPMG in London and over 9 years in their Hong Kong office, most recently serving as partner in the M&A tax team.
• Ms. Chan earned a bachelor and master degree in Mathematical Sciences from the University of Oxford. She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Taxation in the United Kingdom, and the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Mr. Roberto Versace is the Chairperson of the Asia Pacific Real Assets Association (APREA) Hong Kong Chapter and a company Director of APREA, positions held since 2021. Mr. Versace is also a member of the FTSE EPRA Nareit Asia Pacific Regional Advisory Committee and an Editorial Board member of Institutional Real Estate Inc. USA.

From 2017 to September 2023, Mr. Versace was the Managing Director and the Head of Listed Real Estate Asia Pacific at APG Asset Management Asia in Hong Kong. In this role, Mr. Versace was also a member of the APG Asia Executive Leadership Management Committee, the APG Global Real Estate Management Committee, the APG Asia Pacific Real Estate Management Committee and APG’s Global People and Culture Leadership Committee.

Prior to joining APG in 2017, Roberto was the Managing Director and Lead Portfolio Manager at EII Capital Management in London. From 2010 to 2015 Roberto was the Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager for Asia at BNY Mellon Investment Management in Singapore. Prior to BNY Mellon, Roberto was the Portfolio Manager for the NYSE Listed RMR Asia Pacific Real Estate funds on behalf of RMR Advisors (Boston) based in Sydney, Australia.

Roberto holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (Chicago) and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, a Masters of Science in Global Finance at NYU Stern School of Business (New York City) and the HKUST Business School (Hong Kong), and a Bachelor of Economics from The University of Adelaide (Australia).