Pacific Alliance Real Estate boosts Shanghai team

Wei Song has joined Pacific Alliance Real Estate, part of Hong Kong-based alternative-investment manager Pacific Alliance Group, as a managing director in Shanghai.

Reporting to Patrick Boot, managing director at Pacific Alliance Real Estate in Shanghai, Wei will focus on developing the group's property footprint in Greater China.

Chris Gradel, managing partner at Pacific Alliance Group, says Wei's arrival will allow the firm to capitalise in particular on opportunities in residential and retail development,

Before the move last month, Wei was senior vice-president at Equity International, a privately held real estate investment firm, responsible for originating and executing investments in China.

Prior to that, he was president of the Anjia Group, a Chinese mortgage-brokerage company, which later became one of the largest originators of mortgages in Shanghai.

Wei's appointment follows other moves to expand last year, including the opening of a Japan office in mid-2009 and the bolstering of the distressed-debt team in Hong Kong in the third quarter.

Founded in 2002, Pacific Alliance Group manages funds covering private equity, hedge funds, distressed assets and real estate. The company has over 140 staff across offices including Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo.