M&G hires ex-Goldman veteran for new role
M&G Real Estate has appointed Goldman Sachs executive Ng Chiang Ling in the newly created role of director of acquisitions, as the property fund manager expands its investment activities in Asia.
Based in Singapore, Ng started at M&G early this month, joining from Goldman after 15 years at its merchant banking division, where she focused on acquiring assets for property funds in the region.
In her new role, Ng oversees M&G’s property acquisition activities in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia, where it owns five properties across the three markets. Ng reports to Scott Girard, Asia chief executive at M&G Real Estate.
Plans are in place to secure more assets "at attractive pricing to diversify risk and improve the consistency of portfolio returns", says Girard.
Ng’s pan-regional experience – which includes nine years in Japan – compliments the firm’s existing operations in Tokyo and Seoul, he adds.
"Our Asia property strategy is actively pursuing investment opportunities in Japan, Seoul and Hong Kong," Girard tells AsianInvestor.
Its primary target property sectors are retail and office in Japan, logistics in Seoul and industrial assets in Hong Kong. The firm will also evaluate opportunities in Australian logistics, which Girard describes as "a sector that offers good value".
Ng is the latest addition to M&G’s Asia asset acquisition team, which has grown over the past year.
In October, Ryu Hye-sik was appointed to head its South Korean business to oversee deal-sourcing capabilities in the country from Seoul. He joined from Hyundai Securities, where he oversaw project financing, loan structuring and the acquisition of real estate assets.
Shin Dong-yeol also joined the Seoul office last year as assistant manager, while Kensuke Nakahara was appointed as a senior manager based in Tokyo.
Bolstering local teams helps to strengthen M&G’s deal origination and investment decisions, says Girard.
The firm’s Asia operation, which spans offices in Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo, manages $1.75 billion in AUM. It is part of London-based M&G Real Estate, which oversees £17 billion ($28.2 billion) globally. M&G is a subsidiary of UK insurance group Prudential.
Separately, M&G Real Estate has named a new global chief investment officer, Tony Brown, to replace Martin Moore, who was chairman and CIO until he retired in June last year.
Brown joined from property group Lend Lease, where he was most recently managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with responsibility for £2 billion of real estate and £2.5 billion of infrastructure assets.