M&G adds Asia acquisitions head

M&G Real Estate, the real estate investment arm of UK insurer Prudential, has appointed a director for acquisitions in Asia.

Starting at the firm this month Ng Chiang Ling has assumed a newly created role for M&G in the region based in Singapore. She is to oversee M&G’s real estate acquisition activities in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia, and will report directly to Scott Girard, M&G’s head of Asia.

Ng’s role is expected to complement M&G’s existing capabilities in the North Asian markets of Korea and Japan. Last year, the firm hired four professionals to cover those two markets, namely HyeSik Ryu and DongYeol Shin in Seoul, and Katsuhiro Ishikawa and Kensuke Nakahara in Tokyo. With Ng’s hire, M&G’s real estate team in Asia now stands at 30 professionals.

“With the addition of Chiang Ling to the team, we are well positioned to capitalize on the investment and acquisition opportunities which are available in the core real estate markets across Asia and Australia,” Girard said in the statement. The additions to the Asia team have been focused on “deal origination and investment decision making,” he added.

Ng brings 15 years of real estate investment experience to her new role, including nine years in Japan. Before joining M&G, Ng was most recently a managing director in the merchant banking division of Goldman Sachs, where she focused her time on acquiring assets for real estate funds in the region.

M&G already owns five assets in the three real estate markets that Ng will be overseeing. These are held in its $1.2 billion open-ended Asia core fund. The fund is fully invested at this point, but is expected to start seeking new capital commitments soon, PERE reported earlier.

Two weeks ago, M&G also announced the appointment of a global chief investment officer, who joined M&G from Australia’s Lend Lease. With approximately £17 billion (€21 billion; $28 billion) assets under management globally, M&G – formerly known as PRUPIM – only has $1.75 billion of that in Asia. The firm highlighted Ng’s hire and the opening of its Japan and Korea offices as part of a global diversification push.