APREA 2026 Market Outlook Seminar & New Year’s Party – Tokyo

Joined Daiwa Securities in 2001. Started covering the REIT sector in 2006 after serving as an analyst of the property investment market for the Daiwa Research Institute (pension management consulting).

Moved to SMBC Nikko Securities in 2010. Advises the FSA's Financial System Council as a J-REIT expert, and provides the TSE with advice on how to expand and invigorate the J-REIT market.

Extel Rank: Ranked No. 1 in the Analyst REIT category for 15 consecutive years from 2012 to 2026. ARES Certified Master. Member of the Subcommittee on Qualification Education of ARES.

Christopher Cheah is the Founder and Executive Chairman of TrustCapital. He is responsible for the strategic growth and development of the firm, which he established in 2009 as a private equity real estate platform in joint venture with David Tan Wei-Son, former CEO of CapitaCommercial Trust and CIMB Group.

TrustCapital has grown from a start-up into a regional investment manager with a strong presence in Malaysia, Australia, and Singapore. Since inception, the firm has successfully completed over RM10 billion in real estate transactions across multiple strategies.

Prior to TrustCapital, Chris was Head of Property Asia at ANZ Bank, where he specialized in cross-border real estate financial advisory, debt arranging, structuring, and risk management. Chris has over 30 years of experience in banking and real estate investment.

He is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from The University of Queensland.

Originally from Penang, Chris considers three countries home — Malaysia, Australia, and Singapore.

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.