Who we are
Our leaders are integral to the firm’s culture of integrity, professionalism and excellence. Embodying our core values, they steer us towards achieving sustainable growth with their wealth of experience.
Driven by key pillars of investment, fund management and development, ESR offers a diverse suite of private real estate funds and REIT products that embrace every stage of the asset life cycle in the New Economy and prime commercial sectors. We also develop and manage a network of superior logistics, data centre and commercial assets across APAC’s most dynamic growth markets.
ESR believes in cultivating strong and sustainable relationships with our investors, providing regular updates and relevant information on our corporate and business developments.
Our overarching commitment to ESG is at the heart of our business practices which are underpinned by ESR’s core values and mission to build the logistics infrastructure for the new economy and create the backbone of the 21st century commerce across the APAC region.
From capital raising to green initiatives and sustainable operations, ESR has been recognised for our industry-leading efforts that set benchmarks where we operate.
ESR has transacted in excess of €14bn of assets in Europe for over 30 years. Our focus on sustainability, people-centred design and community engagement seeks to improve the business and social environments of all our stakeholders. Our highly experienced team comprising ARA Europe Private Markets and ARA Dunedin has in-house acquisition, development, finance and asset management functions.
Our European franchise is complemented by ARA Venn, a specialist investment manager focused on residential markets. With AUM and active mandates in excess of €10bn, we use our experience to identify compelling investment strategies supporting enhanced environmental and/or social outcomes – affordable housing, urban regeneration, modern living and home-finance products for under-served borrowers.
Appointed as Director in 2016 and re-designated as Executive Director in February 2019, Mr. Stuart Gibson is a co-founder of ESR and has been the co-CEO of the Group since January 2016. He was also the co-founder and CEO of the Redwood group from July 2006 until the 2016 merger. Mr. Gibson is responsible for overseeing ESR’s overall operations and business development.
Mr. Gibson has over 24 years of real estate development and investment experience in Asia, which includes 15 years in the Japanese industrial real estate sector. Mr. Gibson was formerly the country head of Prologis Japan, and former co-founder and co-CEO of AMB BlackPine, which was subsequently incorporated into Prologis. He was also the Chairman of AMB Property Corporation Japan Advisory Committee.
Appointed as Director in 2016 and re-designated as Executive Director in February 2019, Mr. Shen Jinchu, Jeffrey has been the co-CEO of ESR since June 2011 and was also a co-founder of e-Shang. He is responsible for overseeing ESR’s overall operations and business development, leading regional growth strategies, and expanding ESR’s asset and fund management platforms.
Mr. Shen has over 20 years of industrial real estate experience in China. Prior to co-founding ESR in June 2011, he was Senior Vice President at GLP Investment Management (China) Co. Ltd. (formerly Prologis China) from January 2004 to September 2010, overseeing the Eastern China area. Mr. Shen was the deputy director of DTZ Debenham Tie Leung International Property Advisers from June 2001 to December 2003. Previously, he was the assistant general manager of marketing at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone Xin Development Co., Ltd from July 1995 to November 2000. Mr. Shen was also a director of ESR-REIT Manager from January 2017 to January 2019.
Mr. Shen graduated from the Shanghai Jiaotong University in China and obtained a bachelor’s degree in technical economics. He holds an MBA from Donghua University in China.
Appointed as Independent Non-executive Director in 2022, Ms. Wei-Lin Kwee is a member of the Remuneration Committee.
Ms. Kwee is the Head of Hotels of Pontiac Land Group, a privately held real estate development and investment company. She oversees Pontiac Land Group’s hotel portfolio in Singapore, Maldives and Sydney and has been with the company since 2008. Ms. Kwee is the President of the Singapore Hotel Association which represents 85% of Singapore’s room count and 40,000 employees in Singapore. She has been appointed as a member of the Singapore Government’s Future Economy Council since April 2021 and serves as a member of its Lifestyle Committee. As a member of the Emerging Stronger Taskforce of Singapore from May 2020 to May 2021, Ms. Kwee co-led the Travel Alliance, a private public partnership that aimed to bring air travel back to Singapore after Covid border closures. Ms. Kwee has been a council member of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry since March 2022. She is also a member of the Workplace Safety and Health Council under the Singapore Ministry of Manpower. She is an International Advisory Board Member of the IE Business School, Spain. She was a 2013 Eisenhower Fellow and has been the Honorary Secretary for the Eisenhower Fellowships Singapore Society since March 2022.
Ms. Kwee graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts, Economics and International Relations in 1998 and obtained her Master of Business Administration from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2008.
Appointed as Independent Non-executive Director in 2022, Ms. Serene Nah is a member of the Audit Committee and the Nomination Committee. Ms. Nah is currently the Managing Director, Head of Asia Pacific for Digital Realty. She held roles as an Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer as well as Chief Strategy Officer of Kerry Properties Limited from Oct 2019 to Aug 2022. Prior to joining Kerry Properties Limited, Ms. Nah was the Head of Portfolio Management, Asia of SilverLake Partners, where she worked closely with portfolio company executives on value creation and Asian expansion initiatives. Her wealth of experience also includes 10 years at General Electric in finance, M&A and various transformation teams. In her last role as the Chief Financial Officer of GE Capital Greater China, she spearheaded the build out of GE’s commercial and consumer finance businesses in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Ms. Nah graduated from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, with a Bachelor degree in Business Studies and she also holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from Kellogg-HKUST Executive Master of Business Administration Program.
Appointed as Independent Non-executive Director in 2019, Ms. Liu Jingsheng is a member of the Nomination Committee.
Ms. Liu has extensive experience in the capital markets in China. She joined China International Capital Corporation Limited (“CICC”) in 1996 and was the advisory director at CICC until December 2021. Prior to this, she held various roles within the CICC group until December 2021, including the chairwoman of Investment Banking Business Committee of CICC, chairwoman and CEO of China International Capital Corporation (Singapore) Pte. Limited and the Head of the Strategic Research Department of CICC. Prior to joining CICC, Ms. Liu worked at the Department of State Planning and Regional Economy of State Planning Commission (currently known as the National Development and Reform Commission) in China.
Ms. Liu obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics from Renmin University of China in China and a master’s degree in rural development management from Khon Kaen University in Thailand.
Appointed as Independent Non-executive Director in 2019, Mr. Simon James McDonald is the chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee.
Mr. McDonald has extensive experience in real estate and management in APAC and was the head of asset management at Asia Pacific Land from February 2015 to May 2019, responsible for the day-to-day oversight of Asia Pacific Land’s asset management activities. Prior to this role, Mr. McDonald held various roles at GE Capital Real Estate, in Sydney in Australia and Tokyo in Japan from August 1997 to September 2013, including Managing Director Asia Pacific (Portfolio Strategy), Managing Director Asia Pacific (Asset Management), Managing Director Asia Pacific (Risk Management), Joint Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand, and Director (Risk Management).
Mr. McDonald obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics from The Australian National University and a master of business from the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. Mr. McDonald is a fellow member of CPA Australia, a fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia, and a member and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Appointed as Independent Non-executive Director in 2019, Mr. Brett Harold Krause is the chairman of the Remuneration Committee, a member of the Audit Committee and a member of the Nomination Committee.
Mr. Krause has extensive experience in the banking industry in Asia and in corporate management. He joined FunPlus in March 2018 where he currently serves as Chief Investment Officer. Prior to this role, Mr. Krause was the Managing Partner at PurpleSky Capital LLC, the President of JPMorgan Chase Bank (China) and held leadership roles at Citigroup, where he served as Citi Country Officer for Citibank Vietnam from 2008 to 2013. Mr. Krause has also been an independent board director for both East West Bank (China) Limited since November 2017 and Vincom Retail Joint Stock Company from September 2017 to December 2020.
Mr. Krause obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in foreign service from Georgetown University in the United States. He also holds an MBA from Columbia Business School of Columbia University in the United States.
Mr. Rajeev Veeravalli Kannan was appointed as a Non-executive Director in 2022.
Mr. Kannan has been the Managing Executive Officer of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (“SMBC”) since April 2020. He was appointed as Co-Head of Asia Pacific Division of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) as well as in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) in April 2022.
Mr. Kannan’s banking career spans over 27 years having held various leadership roles in Asia with global, regional and product responsibilities. He has a deep experience in corporate and investment banking, structured finance, principal investments and infrastructure and energy finance and is passionate about building businesses and diverse teams to drive innovation, adaptability and sustainable growth.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Kannan was Head of Corporate Banking, Asia Pacific between 2020 and 2022 and was Executive Officer and Head of Investment Banking, Asia Pacific between 2016 and 2020. Under his leadership of corporate banking and investment banking, SMBC enhanced its platform in the region, grew its client base, built SMBC into the top player in infrastructure finance and built a strong ESG Solutions Team made significant progress on sustainability and green finance. Mr. Kannan was also based in Tokyo between 2012 and 2016 with responsibility for Global Structured Finance. He was the first non-Japanese Executive Officer/ General Manager to be based in SMBC’s head office.
Mr. Kannan is also a member of Board of Directors of Clifford Capital Group of companies, Pierfront Capital Pte Ltd, and Fullerton India Credit Company Limited. He is passionate about sustainability and green finance and is a thought leader in this space. He is a member of the Advisory Board for Singapore Green Finance Centre as well as ASEAN Hub Steering Group Member for Sustainable Development Investment Partnership, a joint initiative of OECD and World Economic Forum.
Mr. Kannan started his career at ICICI Bank in Mumbai in 1994 after graduating from Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani in India with a master’s degree in management. He was conferred the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) Distinguished Fellow Award in 2019.
Appointed as Non-executive Director in 2022, Dr. Chiu Kwok Hung, Justin, is the Founding Chairman and Director of ARA Asset Management Limited, the Chairman and a Non-executive Director of ARA Asset Management (Prosperity) Limited as the manager of Prosperity REIT, and a Non-executive Director of ARA Asset Management (Fortune) Limited as the manager of Fortune REIT. Dr. Chiu joined the CK Group in 1997 and is an Executive Director and an Executive Committee Member of CK Asset Holdings Limited, heading the real estate sales, marketing and property management teams.
Dr. Chiu has more than 40 years of international experience in real estate in Hong Kong and overseas, and is one of the most respected professionals in the property industry in Asia. He is a Fellow of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a Council Member and a Fellow of The Hong Kong Institute of Directors, a Fellow of Hong Kong Institute of Real Estate Administrators, a Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of Hong Kong Baptist University Foundation, an Honorary Associate Member of Business of Trent University, Canada, a member of the Singapore Management University International Advisory Council in China, a member of the School of Business Advisory Committee and an Adjunct Professor of the School of Business of Hong Kong Baptist University and a Senior Departmental Fellow of the Department of Land Economy at University of Cambridge, the United Kingdom. He was a member of the Standing Committee of the 12th Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference of the People’s Republic of China.
Dr. Chiu holds a Doctor of Business Administration degree from Hong Kong Baptist University, and was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences, honoris causa by Hong Kong Baptist University and the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa by Trent University, Canada.
Mr. John Lim was appointed as a Non-executive Director and ESR’s Senior Advisor in 2022.
Mr. John Lim is the Chairman of JL Family Office. He also serves as a Non-executive Director of ARA Trust Management (Suntec) Limited, ARA Asset Management (Fortune) Limited, ARA Asset Management (Prosperity) Limited and Hui Xian Asset Management Limited.
Mr. Lim is Chairman of the Asia Pacific Real Assets Association (APREA) and the Consultative Committee to the Department of Real Estate, National University of Singapore. He is also a Patron of the Securities Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS) and a Council Member of Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Mr. Lim co-founded ARA Asset Management Limited in 2002 and was its Group CEO for 18 years and Deputy Chairman from February 2021 to January 2022.
Mr. Lim has over 40 years of experience in the real estate industry and has received many notable corporate awards. These include the PERE Global Awards 2020 and 2016 Industry Figure of the Year: Asia, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of the Year Singapore 2012 and the Outstanding CEO of the Year 2011 at the Singapore Business Awards 2012. Mr Lim, along with the Board of Directors of ARA, was a recipient of the prestigious Best Managed Board (Gold) Award at the Singapore Corporate Awards 2012. In 2017, he was conferred the Public Service Medal (PBM) by the President of Singapore in recognition of his contributions to the community.
Mr. Lim holds a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honours) in Mechanical Engineering, a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering, as well as a Diploma in Business Administration, each from the National University of Singapore.
Appointed as Non-executive Director in 2021, Mr. Hu Wei has over 10 years of experience in the warehousing and logistics industries. He also has management experience across different industries and sizeable businesses. He joined JD.com in 2010 and has held several positions in JD Group, including as the Human Resources Director (Southwest Region), the General Manager (Southwest Region) and the General Manager (North China) of JD Logistics. He has served as the Vice President of JD Group and CEO of JD Property since 2019. Mr. Hu graduated from Sichuan Agricultural University with a Bachelor’s degree in Land Resource Management.
Mr. Charles Alexander de Portes was re-designated as a Non-executive Director of ESR, and Chairman Emeritus of the Capital Committee in January 2021.
He was the co-founder and President of the Redwood group from July 2006 until the merger between e-Shang, ESR Singapore Pte. Ltd. (formerly known as Redwood Group Asia Pte. Ltd.) and Redwood Asian Investments Ltd. Pursuant to a merger agreement in January 2016, he was the President of the Group from January 2016 to December 2020. Appointed as a Director of ESR in January 2016 and re-designated as an Executive Director in February 2019, he was responsible for overseeing the Company’s overall private equity capital raising and operations and business development.
Mr. de Portes has over 25 years of real estate investment experience, including more than 20 years in the logistics and New Economy sectors in Asia. He was the co-founder and co-CEO of AMB BlackPine from 2003 to 2006, which was subsequently incorporated into Prologis, and was a member of the AMB Property Japan Advisory Committee from June 2006 to August 2008. He was also the Head of Acquisitions and Capital for Europe and Asia for Prologis from 1998 to 2003. Prior to this, he worked in real estate, principally in investments, at Goldman Sachs Investment Holdings (Asia) Limited from 1996 to 1998.
Mr. de Portes was a decorated US Army Captain and graduated from the Johns Hopkins University where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in International Political Economy (Dean’s List). He also holds an MBA from INSEAD, France and is fluent in English, French and Spanish.
Appointed as Director in 2011 and re-designated as Non-executive Director in February 2019, Mr. Jeffrey David Perlman was appointed as Chairman of ESR in May 2019. He is also a member of the Remuneration Committee.
Mr. Perlman is a Managing Director, Head of Asia Pacific Real Estate and Southeast Asia, and a member of the Executive Management Group at Warburg Pincus. He leads Warburg Pincus’ investments in Southeast Asia in addition to the firm’s real estate efforts across the greater APAC region. Mr. Perlman currently also serves on the Board of Directors for ESR-LOGOS Funds Management (S) Limited (ESR-LOGOS REIT) (formerly known as ESR Funds Management (S) Limited) , ARA Asset Management Holdings, BW Industrial Development JSC, Gojek, Lodgis Hospitality Holdings, Mofang Apartments, Nova Property Investment, NWP Retail, Trax Technology Solutions, Online Pajak, Momo, Weave Co-Living Cayman Limited, Asia Self Storage, Circles Asia Cayman Limited, and Princeton Digital Group Limited. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus in 2006, Mr. Perlman worked in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group at Credit Suisse.
Mr. Perlman obtained a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.