Standard Life Investments (SLI) has appointed a new CEO and real estate team to its Singapore office as part of its Asia Pacific growth strategy, the asset manager said in a statement on Wednesday.
Choon Wah Wong joins from Partners Group to lead the business as chief executive and head of Asia Pacific real estate. He will oversee the management of global property portfolios in the region and develop new business opportunities. Wong reports to Mike Hannigan, head of international real estate, based in Edinburgh.
Tervinder Chal is also a new hire, and heads up Asia Pacific real estate finance and operations. Ted Roy, deputy fund manager, has relocated to Singapore from the company’s Edinburgh headquarters and is responsible for property acquisitions in the region, and Jason Lam, associate investment director in the Asia wholesale sales team will move from Hong Kong later this year.
“Building presence on the ground in Singapore allows us to be closer to investors and gain deeper insight into regional markets,” Rod Paris, group CIO said in the statement.
SLI manages $20.7bn of assets in property assets throughout the world, including over 650 direct real estate assets in 15 countries.
“Standard Life Investments has a long term commitment to Asia Pacific, the opening of our Tokyo and Singapore offices this year are significant milestones of our global growth journey,” added a spokesperson.
However, the firm is waiting for approval of its application for a Capital Markets Services Licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Meanwhile, Mark Baker, an emerging market debt fund manager, relocated to Hong Kong from the London office. He will work on deepening the team’s research and coverage into Asian emerging markets, the firm noted.
“Adding emerging market debt and real estate fund management expertise to Asia Pacific is an important step to deepen our insight into the regional markets and further extend our global investment capability,” said the spokesperson.
