PREI confirms Laughlin Asia head appointment

The appointment by Pramerica Real Estate Investors (PREI) Asia of Morgan Laughlin as its next head has been confirmed by the company.

PERE revealed Laughlin was to join the company owned by Pramerica Investment Management, the asset management arm of financial services giant Prudential Financial, back in November, one month after he resigned from his position as head of Asia for London-based rival Grosvenor Fund Management.

His move is part of a wider senior executive shift which also sees his predecessor Victoria Shigehira Sharpe move upstairs into a role aimed at developing relationships with some of Pramerica Investment Management’s biggest clients through a bespoke department called Global Institutional Relationship Group.

Allen Smith, chief executive officer of PREI, pinpointed Laughlin’s experience in real estate debt, direct investing, with investors and in management as key reasons for his arrival. He said: “His well-rounded background will help to expand our business as we seek to offer our clients strong investment opportunities in the region, and strengthen our ability to provide Asian investors access to investments around the world.”

In PREI, Laughlin moves to a relatively larger platform. Since it started investing in Asia, PREI has built up a business that managed approximately $8 billion in gross assets or $4.5 billion in net assets under management as at December. These are in Japan, Korea, China, India, Australia and in Southeast Asia. The assets are managed from offices in Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Hong Kong and Sydney.

In addition to previously working for Grosvenor, Laughlin also previously worked for RBS, the UK bank, RREEF, the real estate investment management arm of investment bank Deutsche Bank, the former bank Bankers Trust Company and asset management business Paine Webber.