Asia Pacific Market Outlook

Sue leads the Business Services and Portfolio Management team at KLIA Aeropolis, the centralised development arm of Malaysia Airports, the nation’s airport operator and economic developer across 39 airports. In this capacity, Sue manages a portfolio exceeding RM1 billion in cumulative annual value, encompassing industrial and commercial real assets serving over 90 international and local operators.

Sue has 18 years of diversified experience in real estate, airport city development and financial services. Her expertise spans strategic business planning, investors engagement and execution of deal transactions. Prior to joining Malaysia Airports, she held positions in various government investment promotion agencies, where she led research efforts and provided advisory targeting investors from the US, Europe, and Asia. She began her career in the banking sector at JP Morgan and Maybank Group.

Sue holds a BSc Accounting & Finance degree from University of London, in association with The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

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.

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.

Katia Daude Gonçalves is the Country Manager for Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets and a member of the World Bank Group (WBG). She is based in the WBG’s Singapore offices. She works closely with regional investment and advisory teams to help drive cross‐border investments and capital mobilization between Singapore‐based companies and financial institutions in emerging markets and developing economies around the world, while playing a critical role in building IFC's nascent presence and portfolios in Malaysia and Brunei. A Mozambican/Portuguese national, Ms. Daude Gonçalves joined IFC in 2009 and previously served as IFC's Resident Representative for Mozambique. She began her career at Banco Internacional de Mozambique Investimento, the country's first fully fledged investment bank. She also a master’s degree in Development Finance from the University of Manchester.

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. 

Mr Chia Ngiang Hong joined CDL in 1981 and has more than 40 years of experience in the real estate industry in Singapore and the region. A much- respected industry veteran, Mr Chia is the Immediate Past President of the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore, Board Member of the Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies, Honorary Advisor and Past President of the Singapore Green Building Council, and Council Member of the Singapore Business Federation, the Apex Business Chamber.

He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Surveyors and Valuers and was formerly Advisory Committee Chairman of the NUS School of Design and Environment. He sits on various committees of the Building and Construction Authority and other agencies.

Beyond his contributions to the building and construction industry, Mr Chia is also active in community and grassroots activities and was awarded the PBM and BBM National Day Awards.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Estate Management (Honours) from the University of Singapore and a Master in Business Administration (Distinction) from the University of Hull, UK.

Jeremy Choy is Managing Director, APAC Value Add and China Special Situations at CapitaLand Investment (CLI). In this role, he works with investment management professionals in CLI’s private equity real estate business to drive fund performance from acquisition through disposition.

With over 20 years of experience in the real estate industry across the Asia Pacific, Jeremy has successfully executed transactions exceeding US$10 billion in various asset types.

Before joining CLI, Jeremy held the position of Managing Director at Surbana Jurong where he led the establishment of the Group’s investment arm, Surbana Jurong Capital. Prior to this, he was with BlackRock, serving as Head of Real Estate for Greater China and Head of Capital Transactions for Southeast Asia. In this role he was responsible for managing investment management activities in Greater China, and acquisition and divestment activities in Southeast Asia. Jeremy was based in Shanghai from 2013 to 2017. Before this, Jeremy also served as the Head of Capital Transactions (Asia Pacific) where he was responsible for all acquisition and divestment activities for two separate fund mandates in the region.

Jeremy's service with BlackRock dates back to 2006, including his tenure with MGPA, which Blackrock acquired in 2013. Starting in a fund management role for MGPA's opportunistic fund series, he progressed to become Managing Director for Southeast Asia and later assumed the role of Project Director for the US$4.3 billion Asia Square development in Singapore. As Project Director, Jeremy led a multi-faceted development and asset management team to deliver the property’s development plan, and successfully led the divestment of the Asia Square development.

Prior to MGPA, Jeremy served as a Research Officer at Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, contributing to property market policy analysis, research, and government land sales. He also spent two years at a property consultancy, where he initiated a successful pan-Asia real estate research forecasting service business.

Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Economics from the National University of Singapore.

Josephine Yip is Vice-President, Investments & Asset Management at Ivanhoé Cambridge, a real estate subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. She is responsible for designing and executing investment and asset-management strategies in the Asia-Pacific region. She has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate industry covering investments, asset management and portfolio management across varied sectors and countries in Asia-Pacific.

Before joining Ivanhoé Cambridge, she was SVP, Portfolio Management at Alpha Investment Partners where she led portfolio management and capital raising activities. She was also formerly VP, Investment Management at GIC, covering Australia, South-east Asia, India and Korea over a 12-year stint. She has a wide-ranging and versatile investment track record and is well-versed in portfolio deals.

Joachim Kehr is a Partner and Portfolio & Regional Head Asia-Pacific at CenterSquare Investment Management. Joachim joined CenterSquare in 2011 and is based in Singapore. He is Regional Portfolio Manager for CenterSquare’s listed real estate securities funds, having previously held primary coverage of real estate equities in China, Japan and Australia. Joachim brings close to two decades of investment management experience to his role. He holds a master’s degree in Economics from Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Prior to joining the firm, Joachim was a member of BNP Paribas Asset Management’s listed real estate team, based in Amsterdam and Singapore.

Priyank is a real estate private equity professional with extensive experience on the real estate capital markets in Asia. With a proven track record of delivering successful platforms for investors, he has a deep understanding of the region's real estate landscape and the unique challenges and opportunities it presents which resonates with his current role to lead strategic business development initiatives for RAVA Partners across Asia Pacific. He is also responsible for fund management at Logicap which is a subsidiary company for logistics initiatives for the firm.

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. Currently responsible for the growth of Yardi Systems in Asia Pacific, Bernie lives in Hong Kong and is a qualified accountant and economist.

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. He has over 60 publications to his name, and extensive public speaking experience. He is actively working with several charities focused on the marine environment and child education in Hong Kong and China.

Mr Andy Lim is Group CEO of the JL Family Office (JLFO) and is responsible for sourcing, structuring, negotiating, and executing the investments of JLFO. Under his leadership, JLFO currently has investments in the real estate and private equity & venture capital sectors across the globe.

Mr Lim is also the founder of The Land Managers Holdings Pte Ltd (TLM), an institutionally managed boutique real estate investment firm under JLFO. With assets under management of approximately S$250m, TLM focuses on value-added and development real estate in gateway cities globally, particularly in Singapore, Greater China and Europe, across all asset classes.

Mr Lim has over 10 years of experience in the real estate sector and was a key member in the set-up of Straits Real Estate Pte. Ltd. (SRE), a S$950m joint venture between JLFO and The Straits Trading Company Limited in 2013. At SRE, he was Director of Business Development from 2013 to 2018, responsible for developing and implementing growth opportunities and investments for the company as well as all legal and operational matters.

He leads JLFO’s philanthropic efforts through the Lim Hoon Foundation Limited (LHF), with the aim to give back to society in a holistic and sustainable manner. He is a director of the Dyslexic Association of Singapore, where he has funded S$280,100 to establish the 360° Pact in support of post-secondary students with dyslexia. He has also led LHF to award bursaries and scholarships to underprivileged students from primary to tertiary levels, including a S$4m endowment (inclusive of a S$1 million matching grant by the Singapore Government) with Singapore Management University (SMU) to establish the JLFO-LHF Scholarship for SMU undergraduates. He also set up 64 Club Street, a social impact hub with a mission to create and curate initiatives to bring about positive change in the community. For his efforts in the philanthropic space, Forbes named him one of Asia’s 2022 Heroes of Philanthropy. As an active member of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he serves as a member of its Youth Business Affairs Committee.

Mr Lim began his career as a lawyer in Allen & Gledhill LLP (A&G) in 2010 and left as a Senior Associate in 2014. During his tenure, he was involved in establishing and listing real estate investment trusts, real estate business trusts, direct and indirect property acquisitions, divestments of real estate, master lease-back transactions and property joint development and development projects.

As Head of M&A and Strategy, James overseas all aspects of M&A and Corporate Development within the group including its real estate portfolio. IMC has a real estate portfolio of more than 6m sqm cutting across industrial, commercial and hospitality assets across Asia. James also leads IMC Ventures, the corporate venture arm of IMC.

Prior to joining IMC, James was with YCH Group, where he spearheaded YCH’s joint ventures and M&As across the group. He also led the group’s acquisition of warehouses across Asia Pacific and managed 15 logistic assets across 7 countries.

James has more than 23 years of experience across various fields including private banking, private equity, and investment banking in institutions like DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, Oppenheimer Investments, and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services. Whilst at Oppenheimer Investments, James was the Head of Asia for 5 years and was instrumental in starting and growing the business for the group in Asia. He has successfully closed Project Finance deals more than US500mn across various industries like infrastructure, consumer goods and real estate. In addition, James also ran a family office which invested in healthcare, consumer goods, aged care, engineering, renewable energy, and childcare.

James graduated with a Masters in Business Administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting and Corporate Finance from University of Western Australia. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (Australia). James also sits on the Board of Management of SPD (Formally known as Society for Physically Disabled) and has been an independent
director of a listed entity.

Established in 2002, Jean Yip Holdings is a luxury real estate developer of premium boutique properties. A wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Jean Yip Group, Jean Yip Holding is an expansion into the lifestyle and real estate domain, specialising in developing and managing quality residential, commercial, and industrial properties in prime areas of Singapore.

• Approximate Real Estate AUM: $800 million
• Geographic Presence: Singapore, Japan, Australia, and United Kingdom
• Recent Developments: $60 million acquisitions in Osaka, Japan

Daniel’s accomplishments with acquisition-side transactions spans more than two decades and in excess of S$2 billion in
markets from Asia Pacific and Middle East to Europe, placing him best to appreciate the considerations of asset owners.

Apart from real estate acquisitions, Daniel was instrumental in the IPO of SGX-listed Soilbuild Business Space Trust and led the setting up and growing of Soilbuild’s investment footprint in Myanmar, and the company’s foray into UK.

His experience in real estate extends to driving the transformation of a conventional building company to embrace new technologies in its construction techniques.