Asia Pacific Market Outlook

Mr John Lim is the Chairman of JL Family Office. He is also the Senior Advisor and Non-executive Director of ESR Cayman Limited and serves as a Non-executive Director of ARA Asset Management (Fortune) Limited, ARA Trust Management (Suntec) Limited, ARA Asset Management (Prosperity) Limited and Hui Xian Asset Management Limited.

Mr Lim is Chairman of the Asia Pacific Real Assets Association (APREA) and the Consultative Committee to the Department of Real Estate, National University of Singapore. He is also a Patron of the Securities Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS) and a Council Member of Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Mr Lim co-founded ARA Asset Management in 2002 and was its Group CEO for 18 years and Deputy Chairman from February 2021 to January 2022.

Mr Lim has over 40 years of experience in the real estate industry and has received many notable corporate awards. These include the PERE Global Awards 2020 and 2016 Industry Figure of the Year: Asia, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of the Year Singapore 2012 and the Outstanding CEO of the Year 2011 at the Singapore Business Awards 2012. Mr Lim, along with the Board of Directors of ARA, was a recipient of the prestigious Best Managed Board (Gold) Award at the Singapore Corporate Awards 2012. In 2017, he was conferred the Public Service Medal (PBM) by the President of Singapore in recognition of his contributions to the community.

Mr Lim holds a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honours) in Mechanical Engineering, a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering, as well as a Diploma in Business Administration, each from the National University of Singapore.

With over 20 years’ experience in the real estate industry, across both the public and private sectors, David specializes in delivering market[1]leading real estate capital markets data, research, analytics and strategies to clients.

Real Capital Analytics is the global leader in the collection, reporting and analysis of real estate transactions, with hubs in New York, San Jose, London, Singapore and Sydney. David manages the business in Asia Pacific looking at real estate markets from India to New Zealand and providing up to the minute market information as well as macro trend and strategy insights to clients at the local, regional and global level. David’s expertise lies in the movement of capital across borders and between regions. His 20 years of experience is truly global having lived and worked within the real estate industry in London, San Francisco, Vancouver, Sydney and now Singapore.

IVY MIN is the Account Director for Alternative Investments at SS&C Intralinks. She oversees accounts across 6 countries and maintains strong relationships with Private Equity Firms, Hedge Funds, and Venture Capitalists.

Ivy has spent time across Australia, China, and most recently, Singapore where she worked with fund managers in the alternatives space on placement and marketing projects. She has been recognized for pushing the boundaries and shortening the sales (fundraising) cycle.

Patrick is CEO of Private Equity Alternative Assets at CapitaLand Investment (CLI), responsible for driving the growth of CLI’s private equity business in alternative assets such as digital infrastructure, renewable energy, transition and sustainability investments, private credit and other investment strategies that will expand CLI’s unlisted funds business.

Prior to joining CLI in 2021, Patrick was Managing Partner and Head of Asia at Brookfield Asset Management (BAM), overseeing Brookfield’s investment and asset management activities in Asia across real estate, infrastructure, renewable energy and private equity. Over the course of his 12-year career with BAM, Patrick also served as Chief Financial Officer of Brookfield’s global construction company and Managing Director of an Australian natural gas transmission and distribution portfolio. He also previously held senior positions in the infrastructure financing and development sector in Canada.

Patrick has over 20 years of investment and operational experience in alternative assets across North America and Asia Pacific.

Patrick holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant (Canada) and Certified Professional Accountant (United States).

Tak is co-head of Asia Pacific Private Investing and head of Asia Pacific Real Estate within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He is a member of the Asia Pacific Management Committee and the Asset Management Real Estate Investment Committee.

Tak joined Goldman Sachs in Tokyo in 1998 as one of the founding members of Asian Special Situations Group (ASSG). He transferred to the Merchant Banking Division in 2009 and returned to ASSG in 2011, as head of Japan. In 2012, Tak led the build out of the Australia and New Zealand ASSG business. He became head of ASSG in 2018 and assumed his current role in 2019. Tak was named managing director in 2005 and partner in 2008.

Ambika Goel is a Managing Director in the Real Estate Group and is based in Singapore. Ms. Goel is involved in Blackstone Real Estate’s capital raising, investor relations and business development across Asia.

Before joining Blackstone in 2020, Ms. Goel spent nine years at GLP focusing on fund management, investor relations and capital markets. Prior to that, she was a Portfolio Manager and Co-Founder of Land & Buildings – a real estate hedge fund based in Greenwich, CT. Ms. Goel began her career in New York at Citigroup Investment Research and was ranked #1 Retail REIT Analyst by the Greenwich Survey in 2007.

Ms. Goel received a BS in Economics with a double concentration in Finance and Accounting from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and is a CFA Charterholder. She also Co-Chairs Urban Land Institute Singapore’s NEXT Committee.

Anshul Jain heads Cushman and Wakefield, India and South East Asia and is responsible for developing and driving the business growth strategy in this sub-region. He has over 26 years of experience spanning the entire real estate services spectrum including commercial leasing, capital markets, tenant advisory and property and facility management. Well-versed on trends and issues impacting the real estate industry, Anshul has advised and delivered solutions to investors, developers and occupiers across the region and Europe to optimize their real estate objectives.

George Agethen is responsible for the investment and asset-management strategies outlined in the Ivanhoé Cambridge’s annual business and strategic plans. He works closely with the Asset Management, Growth Markets team and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to put in place and consolidate strategic partnerships for major projects being developed in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr. Agethen has extensive experience in our industry, and more specifically in the Asian real estate market. Before joining Ivanhoé Cambridge in 2015, he was Senior Executive Director and Head of Alternative Investments at Ping An Trust, a subsidiary of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd., a public company. In his past position, he was responsible for establishing a multi-asset real estate portfolio which invests globally. He served also as Executive Director for HREI (a joint venture between Harvest Funds Management and Grosvenor Group) and as Head of business development and capital-raising for Harvest Capital Partners, China’s leading real estate fund managers. He was previously Vice President, Private Capital Markets, Real Estate, for Macquarie Capital in Asia. He also spent several years in the real estate sector in Australia.

Mr. Agethen holds bachelor’s degrees in commerce and in law and a master’s degree in commerce, specializing in Finance, from University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Mr. Agethen is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and is a Jury Member for the MIPIM Asia Awards. Over the course of his career, George has lived in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and China. He speaks fluent English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

Rushabh Desai heads the Asia-Pacific region at Allianz Real Estate. He is a voting member of the Allianz Real Estate Global Executive Committee, as well as the Allianz Real Estate Global Equity Investment Committee. Under his leadership Allianz Real Estate has established a USD 6+ billion portfolio in the region and most recently raised its maiden 3rd party investment platform.

For Allianz Real Estate the main areas of focus include direct and indirect private real estate equity investments, as well as senior lending across key markets such as Japan, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, India and Southeast Asia.

Rushabh joined Allianz Real Estate in 2016 bringing with him 13 years of diverse global experience. Prior to joining the company, he held different positions at GE Capital Real Estate Asia-Pacific, where he increased leadership and management responsibilities. During his tenure, Rushabh assumed roles such as Head of Strategy & Planning, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Business Development, gaining experience across a range of equity and debt assets and across all major markets in the region.

Rushabh is ULI Global Governing Trustee. He graduated from St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata, India and completed an MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai, India.

Niel Thassim is a Managing Partner and the Head of Asia Pacific and Middle East for Brookfield’s Private Funds, based in Singapore. In this role, Mr. Thassim is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with leading investment partners in the region. He is also the CEO of Brookfield Singapore Pte Ltd.

Prior to joining Brookfield, Mr. Thassim served as Managing Director and the Asia Pacific Head of Deutsche Bank’s Real Estate investment management business (RREEF). Previously, he held senior roles within RREEF and Deutsche Bank in Australia, London and Singapore. Prior to this, he held executive positions with Coopers & Lybrand, Bankers Trust, Credit Suisse First Boston and Colonial First State Investments in Australia and the UK.

Mr. Thassim has over 27 years of finance, accounting and real estate investment management experience. He graduated from the University of Sydney, Australia, with a Bachelor of Economics degree, holds a Master of Applied Finance Degree from Macquarie University, Australia, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia.

He also serves as a Board Member of the National University of Singapore Institute of Real Estate Studies, ANREV and the Singapore chapter of Urban Land Institute.

Martin Siah is managing director, head of Asia Pacific Real Estate, Gaming and Leisure, head of South East Asia Global Corporate and Investment Banking, as well as the Singapore Country Head at Bank of America. He has more than 20 years of leadership experience in investment and commercial banking in Asia Pacific with a focus on real estate, business trusts, transport and logistics, stock exchanges and capital markets. He has structured and lead-executed numerous first in kind S-REITS including cross border REITS and business trusts.

Prior to joining the firm, Martin was head of Greater China and South East Asia Commercial Real Estate and led the Commercial Real Estate Equity and Advisory franchise at Standard Chartered Bank. Previously, he spent 10 years at UBS Investment Bank where he was head of South East Asia Real Estate Investment Banking and Corporate Finance. He has served as key liaison with regulatory authorities in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, especially with regard to real estate investment trusts code and business trusts.

Martin is a board member of the Capital Markets and Financial Advisory Services (CMFAS) Examinations Board in Singapore and the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association Singapore Chapter. He holds a Master of Philosophy in Finance from Cambridge University. He is a fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and a Malaysian Commonwealth Scholar.

Jeffrey Perlman is a Managing Director, Head of Asia-Pacific Real Estate and Southeast Asia and a member of the firm’s Executive Management Group at Warburg Pincus. Mr. Perlman leads the firm’s Real Estate efforts across the greater Asia-Pacific region in addition to Warburg Pincus’ private equity investments in Southeast Asia. He currently serves as the Chairman of ESR Cayman Limited (1821.HK) and also serves on the Board of Directors for ESR Cayman Limited, ESR Fund Management (ESR REIT), ARA Asset Management Holdings, Gojek, Lodgis Hospitality Holdings, Mofang Apartments, NWP Retail, Trax Technology Solutions, Online Pajak, Momo, Weave Co-Living Cayman Limited, Asia Self Storage, Circles Asia Cayman Limited and Princeton Digital Group Limited.

Prior to joining Warburg Pincus in 2006, he worked in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group at Credit Suisse. Mr. Perlman received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (B.B.A.) from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

An active advocate for green building and sustainability for over two decades, Esther has been instrumental in establishing CDL’s leadership in sustainability. It is ranked top real estate company on the 2021 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. It became the first real estate conglomerate in Southeast Asia to sign the World Green Building Council’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings in February 2021. Key ESG initiatives she has spearheaded include publishing the first sustainability report in Singapore in 2008; issuing the first green bond by a Singaporean company in 2017 and building an integrated sustainability reporting framework since 2015.

A forerunner in embracing the UN SDGs, Esther was conferred 2018 SDG Pioneer for Green Infrastructure and A Low Carbon Economy by the UN Global Compact. She is a signatory for the UNGC Caring for Climate network and an executive council member of the UN ESCAP Sustainable Business Network. She sits on the boards or advisory platforms of several organisations, including World Green Building Council, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), GRESB Asian Real Estate Benchmark Committee and UNEP FI Real Estate Work Group. She’s a vice-chair of World Green Building Council Corporate Advisory Borad; chairperson of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association’s Sustainability and ESG Committee; co-chair of the Urban Land Institute Singapore’s Sustainability Product Council and is the vice-chairperson of the Singapore Institute of Directors’ ESG Committee.

Recognising that youth engagement and female empowerment is crucial for sustainable development, she founded the Women4Green network in 2017 and the Youth4Climate initiative in 2018.

More recently at COP26, Esther was the only speaker from the Asian real estate sector at the Built Environment Leaders Panel. She also initiated a partnership with Singapore Youth for Climate Action and launched the Keep Calm and Love Our Planet campaign with a view to promote positive thinking and collaborative climate action amongst youths in the global race to net zero.

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.