BlackRock’s appointment of a new head of Japan real estate leads this week’s roundup of personnel moves from around the region, with Hines selection of a top executive for its Korean business also getting some virtual ink. There are also new roles for executives at Blackstone, Dyson, CBRE and Vietnam’s BW Industrial.
BlackRock Real Assets has appointed Daigo Hirai as managing director and head of Japan real estate, effective this month, according to an announcement by the asset management giant this past week. In his new role, Hirai will oversee BlackRock’s real estate business in Japan, including deal sourcing, after 12 years at Blackstone, where he served most recently as a managing director in the fund manager’s Tokyo office.
Hines has promoted Hyungsub (Harry) Lee to managing director and head of its Korea business, according to a LinkedIn announcement this past week. Lee received his new rank at the developer and fund manager just over a year and half after joining Hines as a director based in Seoul. Before joining the Houston-based company in January 2021, Lee had served as head of transactions at DWS Korea, the local arm of Deutsche Bank’s asset management division. Lee’s promotion to managing director was one of four which Hines announced in Asia Pacific last week, with Australia-based Sam Bisla, Simon Nasa and Alysia Reilly also taking on larger roles.
Seong Lee has joined Blackstone in Hong Kong as a principal with the private equity firm’s institutional client solutions division, according to a LinkedIn update. Lee signed up with the Manhattan-based fund manager after two years on the investor relations team at regional investment manager PAG, where he served as a vice president. The graduate of NYU and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School also has previous experience with Blackstone’s Park Hill Group in New York.
Colin Clark has joined Dyson in Singapore as major projects lead with the manufacturer’s Dyson Estates Capital Projects division, according to a LinkedIn update. Now charged with leading capital projects for Dyson globally, Clark started his new job this month after more than five years at project management firm Merx Asia, which was acquired by Savills in January of this year, where he had served as managing director for the region.
Allen Chen has shifted to Blackstone’s DragonCor logistics platform in China, where he now serves as a senior director, according to a LinkedIn update. Chen, who is based in Shanghai, had previously served as a general manager with Blackstone’s Westlink shopping mall in the city, which the fund manager had acquired from Mapletree as part of a $1.25 billion commercial deal in 2018. Blackstone named Peter Hwang as head of its DragonCor China logistics platform just over one year ago.
Noboru Hirabayashi has joined CBRE Group as head of its capital advisors unit for Japan, according to a LinkedIn update. Based in Los Angeles, Hirabayashi joins the investment advisory unit of the property consulting firm from Diamond Realty Management America, a US unit of Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation, where he served for more than three years as a managing director. Hirabayashi also has experience with Diamond Realty in Tokyo.
Byung-ho (Anderson) Park has been promoted to deputy general manager with Koramco REITs Management and Trust in Seoul, South Korea, according to a LinkedIn update. Park is taking his step up after less than two years with the company, where he serves as part of the development and investment team. Prior to joining Koramco in 2020, Park spent four years with CBRE in Seoul as part of the advisory and transaction team.
Minh Ngoc has been named deputy director for key accounts with BW Industrial Development in Vietnam, according to a LinkedIn update. Minh Ngoc’s new role is a promotion from her previous title of assistant manager for business development with the Warburg Pincus-backed industrial developer. Based in Ho Chi Minh City, Minh Ngoc has now been with BW for just under two years after previously spending more than two years with competing industrial developer Tan Thuan Corporation in the city.
If you know of other Asia real estate professionals changing their jobs, getting promoted or just doing something exciting, please contact us here at Mingtiandi.
