Tishman Speyer hires Mackie to head Singapore office

Tishman Speyer has hired Graham Mackie as a managing director to head its new Singapore office and expand Asia operations.

The New York-based manager recently opened offices in Tokyo and Seoul and has existing presences in Asia-Pacific in China and India. Mackie will help expand the firm’s operations in Singapore as well as in Japan and Korea as part of his mandate.

Singapore is one of the region’s main business hubs and serves as the base of operations for many other firms operating in the region, senior managing director Ryan Botjer, told PERE exclusively. Botjer established Tishman Speyer’s Asian business in 2006. He said that the firm has been exploring expansion into additional Asian cities and feel that now is the right time to do so.

“Whenever there is a major dislocation, such as what we’ve experienced as a result of the pandemic, markets tend to reset and opportunities arise that hadn’t previously,” Botjer said.

Tishman Speyer mostly invests capital outside of Asia, running a series of US and European funds. The firm has partnered with numerous Asian investors on investments in the latter two regions, most recently forming a $1.5 billion separately managed account with the National Pension Service of Korea for US investments in November last year.

The firm’s Asian investments have primarily been in China and India to date. Tishman Speyer has developed almost 20 million square feet of offices, multifamily and retail in China alone over the last decade-plus.

“Tishman Speyer has earned a sterling reputation in both China and India for its portfolio of innovation-focused, mixed-use developments,” Mackie said in a release seen by PERE. “I look forward to building on that foundation as we expand into additional Asian markets.”

Mackie spent the past 14 years at UBS Asset Management where he served as head of real estate for the APAC region based in Singapore, managing its over $18 billion portfolio in the region. Before UBS, he worked at AXA Investment Management. His experience in managing assets across Japan, Australia and Singapore was a key reason for his hire. “He also has significant experience with a wide range of asset classes, which is important to us,” Botjer added.

He added that Mackie’s hire and the opening of the Singapore office are not likely to be the last of either in the region.

“Ultimately, we will go where the opportunities take us, but our initial focus will be on Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul, with Australia and other markets to follow,” Botjer said.