TAN-EU bolsters ranks with double hire

The Hong Kong-based private equity real estate firm has made two hires including former Invesco fund manager Vivian Tsai as its head of funds management

Hong Kong-based private equity real estate firm TAN-EU Capital has made two hires, including one from global asset manager Invesco Real Estate.

The firm, led by founder Rachel Renucci-Tan, has appointed former Invesco fund manager Vivian Tsai as an executive director and head of funds management.

In this senior role, Tsai will be responsible for underwriting and evaluating all the firm’s investments in addition to managing its fund, SOTAN China Real Estate I, in areas of reporting, governance, risk management and controls. In addition, she take the lead in managing investor relations, capital raisings and other areas of business development, according to a note on her hire seen by PERE.

According to the note, during Tsai’s 13-year career, she has transacted more than $800 million of deals for funds and separate accounts in markets including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, Korea and Japan.

She worked for Invesco and the property investment management business of US insurance giant AIG, the Asian platform of which was acquired by Invesco, for seven years. Her emphasis there was on investments via opportunistic strategies. Invesco currently is fundraising for both core and opportunistic strategies. While the core strategy has received capital commitments from is institutional investors, Invesco is yet to announce capital closings for its opportunistic strategy. Before AIG, Tsai also worked for Merrill Lynch and Lone Star.

TAN-EU also has hired Anna Huen as an assistant vice president from private equity firm Walton Street. Huen also previously worked at Pramerica Real Estate Investors, the real estate investment management arm of US insurer Prudential.

The hires come at a time of growth for TAN-EU Capital which is more than 40 percent invested on the $400 million SOTAN fund, a club-fund it manages jointly with SOCAM Development, a unit of Hong Kong property company Shui On Land. Following a maiden investment in a development in Wuqing in 2012, the firm invested in a larger development in Nanjing last year. Both have large residential components.

The firm also played a key role in resolving the troubled Trophy Property Development fund, a $1 billion development fund originally raised by Hong Kong hedge fund manager Winnington Capital in 2008. The fund ran into difficulties when it became apparent that the developments it was invested in would overrun their original schedules and cost more money than originally anticipated to complete.

After extensive negotiation between the fund’s major stakeholders and advisors, including TAN-EU, the fund was restructured and its management spun out of Winnington. TAN-EU continues to advise Shui On, which is the developer of the fund’s developments on matters concerning the fund.