AEW Asia adds research head to the ranks

Glyn Nelson has joined from Aberdeen Asset Management and will assist the revamped Asia division of global real estate investment manager AEW Capital Management as it looks to grow.


AEW Asia, the Asia division of global real estate investment manager AEW Capital Management, has appointed Glyn Nelson as its head of research.

Nelson has joined from Aberdeen Asset Management, the global investment manager, where he was also head of research for Asia Pacific. He has also previously held the role of head of real estate intelligence for property services firm Jones Lang LaSalle in Singapore and has worked for CBRE and DTZ, rival property services firms, also.

AEW Asia said of its new hire: “(Glyn) Nelson’s responsibilities include monitoring, evaluating and forecasting the macroeconomic environment, demographic trends and capital market conditions across the Asia Pacific region. He interprets this information for AEW’s senior professionals in order to provide decision support to the investment, asset management and portfolio management activities of AEW in the region.”

The appointment is the latest chapter in new boss David Schaefer’s growth plans for the division, which is responsible currently for approximately $2 billion of the more than $45 billion of assets managed by AEW globally. After Nelson’s arrival, Schaefer’s team stood at 17 professionals across offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul.

Schaefer assumed leadership of the division in October last year after previous managing director Peter Wittendorp and members of his team departed to form a niche management business called Silkroad Property Partners.

High on the agenda for the revamped division is a follow-up fund to AEW Asia’s AEW Value Investors Asia fund, which closed on $557 million in 2008. The sequel fund is expected to hit the marketplace early this year and has a capital raising target of approximately $500 million.