REAL ESTATE - Prudential is to open an Asia-Pacific regional office in Singapore.
The new office 鈥� a joint venture between Prudential Property Investment Managers, the UK real estate business, and fund management firm Prudential Corporation Asia 鈥� reflected 鈥渞eal interest in the region among investors overseas and closer to home鈥�, the firm said.
Spokesman Martin Moore said Prudential had invested in real estate outside the UK for the past four years, though 鈥渘ot on a strategic, long-term basis鈥�. Prudential has 拢400m invested in the region, mainly in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and, to a lesser extent, Australia.
New Singapore CEO Jonathan Allen, who up to now was head of business development for the Asia-Pacific region, will work to shift capital already invested in London to the new venture.
鈥淲e鈥檙e planning to lever our platform to do more in the region,鈥� said Moore. 鈥淭he real estate presence will boost existing local expertise in bonds and equities.鈥�
The firm chose Singapore over Hong Kong because it can share services with the existing equities team and 鈥渢he economies of locating in Singapore seemed better鈥�, said Moore.
Moore expects the team to grow to 10鈥�15 people within 12 months. 鈥淲e want to make sure it has governance, capital raising and operational strength,鈥� he said.
