Australia Chapter Board

Professor Graeme Newell is Professor of Property Investment at Western Sydney University. He has over 40 years’ experience in property education and research, having received numerous research grants and his applied research has been published widely. Graeme has strong links to the property industry, both in Australia and internationally. He has been a member of APREA for many years and has done several research reports for APREA concerning Asia REITs, and the significance of real estate in Asian pension funds.

Hamish MacDonald, Managing Director, is Head and Chief Investment Officer of Asia Pacific Real Estate, leading BlackRock's real estate activities across the region. Hamish is responsible for the strategy and management of the business operations as well as the real estate funds and assets managed in the region. He is a member of the Global Value Add Real Estate Investment Committee.

Hamish's service with the firm dates back to 2007, including his years with MGPA, which was acquired by BlackRock in 2013. He originally joined the London office where he was Head of Acquisitions - UK and in 2012 he established the office in Sydney. Hamish began his career in real estate in 1999 and has been focusing on the sourcing and management of value add investment opportunities since 2007. Hamish began his career in Sydney where he was a Development Manager at the Mirvac Group and a Commercial Advisor at Colliers International.

Hamish has a BComm. with majors in Economics and Finance from the University of Sydney and is a Committee Member of the Property Council of Australia.

Mr Ho co-heads the AEW Asia Pacific Real Estate Securities team.  Mr Ho serves as Portfolio manager with responsibility for the construction of the Asia Pacific component of AEW’s global property securities portfolios. He also serves as a member of the Global Securities allocation committee. He has been based in AEW’s Singapore office since 2013 and will look to relocate to Australia in 2024. Prior to joining AEW, Mr Ho worked at Deutsche Asset Management (DWS) for over 8 years, as lead analyst and Assistant Portfolio manager on Australian listed real estate stocks. Prior to joining DWS he held positions with UBS and JPMorgan. Mr Ho holds Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Technology in Sydney and the University of Humberside in Hull, England, and has a graduate diploma in Applied Finance from the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

Thomas joined Citco in August 2021 and has over 17 years of experience in accounting and finance roles, leading best practice finance functions for a broad range of real asset funds management operations in Australia and the US.

Prior to joining Citco, Thomas worked at Brookfield Asset Management where he was a Director in the Australian Real Estate funds management business. Prior to Brookfield, Thomas held various senior finance positions including Financial Controller at Crestone Wealth Management Australia, and as Associate Director at New Forests' US timberland investment management organisation.

Thomas received a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology, Sydney. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and a Certified Public Accountant (State of Illinois).

Wissam is a corporate M&A partner with a specialist focus on the real estate industry, acting for both domestic and international clients. In particular, the establishment of incorporated and unincorporated joint ventures, consortia, capital partnerships and wholesale funds with a real asset focused investment mandate as well as on the acquisition, disposal and restructuring of real assets.