Sherman Kwek takes on CEO role at CDL

Singapore

SHERMAN Kwek, the elder son of City Developments Ltd's (CDL) executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng, has assumed the mantle at the Singapore-listed property giant as the chief executive officer.

The younger Mr Kwek, who is 41 years old, took on his current role on Jan 1. He was earlier appointed as CEO-designate on Aug 11 last year, a day after previous CEO Grant Kelley tendered his resignation. Mr Kelley has moved to Australia and taken on a new role as CEO at ASX-listed Vicinity Centres, a real estate investment trust company based in Melbourne.

The management change at CDL is coming at a time when the Singapore property market is on an uptrend, which has seen CDL shares hitting a nine-year closing high of S$13.00 in October 2017. The stock was last traded at S$12.86 on Thursday.

Like some other developers, CDL has ventured beyond Singapore shores and ramped up its overseas diversification strategy in recent years.

After not securing a land parcel here in 2016, CDL snapped up two plots last year. One is located at Tampines Ave 10, acquired under the government land sales (GLS) programme, while the other is Amber Park, a site secured through the private collective sales market. CDL has also partnered Hong Kong-listed Chinese developer Logan Properties twice in the bidding of GLS sites.

The Kwek/Quek family, which controls the diversified Hong Leong Group, a conglomerate with interests ranging from finance to property, have various family members holding strategic roles in the member companies. Mr Kwek Leng Beng has remained executive chairman of CDL since 1995.

CDL had said that a succession plan was put in place since April 2016 to ensure continuity of leadership within the senior management team.

Mr Sherman Kwek has also been executive chairman of CDL China Ltd since April 2016. As deputy CEO of CDL from April 2016 to August 2017, he led the sourcing of new investment opportunities and drove the growth of the group's international portfolio. He also assisted in the management of CDL's Singapore operations. Prior to this, Mr Sherman Kwek was chief investment officer of CDL and CEO of CDL China Ltd, when he set up a presence for the group in Japan and Australia and spearheaded the expansion into China for the past seven years.

Succession planning also appears to be in motion at Singapore's largest private property company Far East Organization. Jonathan Ng, the eldest son of CEO Philip Ng, has assumed the role of executive director (CEO's office) since Aug 1, 2017 - from his previous role as director (special projects, CEO office). In his late 20s, Mr Jonathan Ng now oversees the property sales business group, corporate affairs and customer service.

As of Nov 1, 2017, Augustine Tan relinquished his role as executive director for property sales and corporate affairs and assumed the role of executive director for property services division.

Earlier on, Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, the youngest son of Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, became group CEO of Singapore-listed Frasers Centrepoint Ltd on Oct 1, 2016 when he was 38.