2021 Asia Pacific REITs and Infrastructure Trusts Conference

Sigrid is the Chief Executive Officer of Asia Pacific Real Assets Association (APREA). Based in Singapore, she is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction, initiatives and operations of the association across Asia Pacific. Under her leadership, APREA repositioned to an industry trade group focusing on real estate and infrastructure.

Sigrid joined APREA’s executive team in January 2019.

Prior to APREA, she served as Managing Director of Asia Pacific Research and Advisory Services of Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) from 2010 through 2018, where she was responsible for research, thought leadership, strategy formulation and client management.  Before relocating to Singapore, she was based in Washington, D.C. and led C&W’s U.S. research group in the Mid-Atlantic region, overseeing all aspects of market research activities in the Washington, DC; Virginia; Suburban Maryland, Baltimore; and Philadelphia areas. Prior to joining C&W, Sigrid served as a Senior Economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In that position, she developed NAR’s office, warehouse, retail, multi-family housing, and international research programs.

A recognized expert in global economic, public policy and real estate issues, Sigrid is a frequent speaker at industry events.  Her commentary on commercial and residential real estate markets is also regularly featured in a wide array of global publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg, New York Times and Reuters. Additionally, she has made several television appearances on financial networks and radio such as CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, National Public Radio and Channel News Asia.

Sigrid holds a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and a Master’s degree in Economics from Pennsylvania State University. She is a member of several civic groups including the Rotary Club of Raffles City in Singapore, where she has served in various leadership positions, and serves in the Executive Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Society of Singapore.

Kim leads the Listed Real Estate team at CPPIB.

Prior to joining CPP Investments in 2018, she was Global Head of Real Estate Equities Research at UBS. Based in Hong Kong, where she was responsible for formulating and presenting the UBS global real estate view. Kim covered listed real estate for UBS for more than 22 years, leading top-rated real estate equities research teams in Australia, Europe and Asia. Before that, Kim worked in fund management at Armstrong Jones Management Ltd., where she was responsible for managing the company’s Property Securities Fund.

Kim holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Sydney, Australia. She is a CFA charterholder.

He Bhairav has a varied experience in advising Indian and multinational groups in the area of Real Estate, Infrastructure and Private Equity. He has over 20 years of post-qualification experience in transaction and tax advisory services. Over the last 17 years his focus has been Real Estate.

Bhairav has also advised Real Estate companies on complex projects involving investment structuring and group restructuring. Given his experience, he has been extensively involved in the REIT / InvIT discussions in the industry and regulators as well. He has handled diverse assignments in the transaction and corporate restructuring space, involving:

• developing real estate fund structures and consummating their investments
• Redevelopment Projects (including SRA’s & Society re-development projects)
• Infra space such as bid structuring, private equity funding, re-structuring for Singapore BT listing M & A and Inbound advisory

Bhairav is a graduate in Commerce from the University of Mumbai and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India since 2002. He regularly speaks on Real Estate related topics before various forums, and contributes articles, interviews to several newspapers, magazines and business news channels.

With 30+ years’ experience dedicated to real estate and technology, Bernie is a leader in digital transformation in real estate and using data to create a more competitive and collaborative environment. Currently responsible for the growth of Yardi Systems in Asia Pacific, Bernie lives in Hong Kong and is a qualified accountant and economist.

He supports real estate clients with Retail, Commercial, Industrial, Residential and Mixed-Use assets, helping them to grow their operations, create efficiencies, and gain better insight into their business. His expertise includes asset and investment management, private equity, operations improvement, program and project management, finance, technology implementation and compliance.

Bernie has led large-scale technology projects, as well as led and supported Proptech start-ups, across Australia, the USA, Middle East, Asia and Europe. He has over 60 publications to his name, and extensive public speaking experience. He is actively working with several charities focused on the marine environment and child education in Hong Kong and China.

Ruchir has 17 years of experience advising clients primarily on private equity, PIPE, M&A and structured finance transactions. With background in fund formation and tax, he has been involved in developing the first generation of asset-specific tax optimized investment platforms and managed accounts. He has advised on some of the largest transactions and fundraises, acting for leading global financial sponsors, SWFs and other institutional investors.

He has specialism in financial services (BFSI), infrastructure, real estate and technology sectors. He offers integrated and holistic advice from a legal, regulatory and cross-border tax perspective. Ruchir led the corporate transactions group at Nishith Desai Associates where he worked for 14 years, following which he set up and headed the Mumbai office of Touchstone Partners (formerly Platinum Partners). Ruchir co-chairs APREA’s infrastructure and InvITs committee and actively contributes to policy advocacy to streamline the regulatory framework for global financial sponsors investing in real assets. As part of his policy advocacy efforts, he has been closely involved in the development of the SEBI REIT and InvIT Regulations.

MOST RECENT WORKS

• Advised GIC on their investment in setting up of the GIC – IRB InvIT (First unlisted Infrastructure Investment Trust) (USD 600 mn)
• Advised GIC in their investment in (i) the Reliance Tower InvIT alongside Brookfield and British Columbia Investment Management Company to acquire JIO Telecom Towers (USD 3.2 bn); and (ii) in co-investment into India Grid InvIT with KKR (USD 150 mn)
• Advised GIC in its PIPE investment into HDFC (USD 800 mn); Godrej Properties (USD 150 mn); Capital First (USD 140 mn); and Prestige Properties (USD 100 mn)
• Advised Investcorp Bank in its acquisition of IDFC’s real estate and private equity asset management businesses (AUM USD 500 mn), and in setting up their offshore fund vehicles for funding their various investment strategies
• Advised GIC in their structured debt investment into the GMR Group (USD 300 mn) and IRB Infrastructure (USD 200 mn)
• Advised Proprium Capital Partners in their mezzanine financing into Scalar Projects (one of the largest warehousing platforms in India)
• Advised Brookfield Capital on several structured debt investments and setup of their domestic pooling vehicle
• Advised Cintra INR Investments BV, a subsidiary of Ferrovial S.A., Europe’s largest infrastructure groups in their investment of ~USD 430 mn in IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited
• Advised GIC Singapore on its PIPE investment of USD 42 mn in Nazara Technologies
• Advised GIC Singapore on their pre-IPO investment in Star Health of USD 86 mn
• Advised Square Yards on its fundraise of USD 25 mn from ADM Capital in its offshore entity
• Advised Brookfield Asset Management on its investment of USD 135 mn in INDIS housing projects, a Hyderabad-based real estate firm 

RECOGNITION

• “Distinguished Practitioner,” Corporate M&A and Private Equity, Asialaw, 2021 and 2022
• “Notable Practitioner”, Corporate M&A and Private Equity, IFLR 1000, 2020
• Recognised for “Most Innovative” transactions by Financial Times, London, 2016
• Nominated as a “Deal Maker of the Year 2019”, Thomson Reuters – Asian Legal Business, 2019
• Nominated amongst the top 3 corporate lawyers in India (under 35 category), IDEX Legal Awards, 2015
• Winner of the IBA Young Lawyer Scholarship, Vancouver, 2010
• Elected Member, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors

INTERVIEWS AND PUBLICATIONS

Interview with MINT on ‘Impact of Covid-19 on the deal-making landscape’ (June 2020)

Interview with ET Now on REITs and INVITs (April 2017)

‘How will COVID-19 losses impact valuation in M&A transactions?’ (The Economic Times, May 2020)

‘Should the court restrain lenders from invoking share pledge?’ (Moneycontrol, April 2020)

‘Decoding India’s infrastructure investment trusts’ (Infrastructure Investor (PEI Publication), October 2019)

‘Pledging of Shares; Do lenders need to rethink their strategy?’ (Business Standard, March 2019)

‘Issues for offshore investment funds: To declare or not to declare’ (MINT, September 2018)

‘Evolving negotiation strategies in late stage PE investments’ (MINT, August 2017)

‘REITs: Will they be attractive enough?’ (MINT, June 2017)

‘Thin Capitalisation norms to weigh on realty offshore funding’ (ET Realty, February 2017)

‘Realty reforms to boost offshore funds’ (ET Realty, December 2016)

‘REITs- Will they now be a reality?’ (ET Realty, February 2016)

‘Externalisation: Regulatory regime forcing companies’ migration to foreign shores’ (The Economic Times, January 2014)

‘The great deception: Satyam’s accounting scandal offers salutary lessons to companies’ (Authored Cover Story, Asialaw, 2009)

Gautam qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1987 and had stints with two leading accounting and tax consultancy firms, which was followed by a long association of over 12 years with an independent practice founded by him. He joined PwC as a Partner in September 2003, and since then has held various roles including leading the India Tax and Regulatory practice between July 2015 and December 2020, prior to which he was leading the Tax and Regulatory practice in Western India and the Financial Services’ Tax and Regulatory group. He was also the Asset Management Sector leader for PwC in India. He presently leads the PwC global relationship for one of India’s largest conglomerates.

Over the years, Gautam has been working with multinational and domestic clients across a wide spectrum of services and has varied experience of over 30 years spanning multiple sectors.

Gautam is presently a member of SEBI’s Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee as well as of the SEBI HySec Committee dealing with REITs and InvITs. He is a Board member of the India Chapter of APREA, a regional Real Assets Industry Body and a member of the CII Committee on Private Equity. He has been a member of the American Chamber of Commerce, the National Direct Tax Committee of the Confederation of Indian Industry, as well as of the Expert Advisory Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Gautam holds a postgraduate degree in law and financial management and is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Saurabh wears two hats at CDPQ. In his continuing role since March 2017 as the Managing Director, Infrastructure, Saurabh is leading CDPQ’s infrastructure activities in South Asia and Middle East and is responsible for strategy development, sourcing, evaluating, executing and managing high-quality infrastructure investments, as well as developing long-term partner relationships in these regions.

In his additional role as the Managing Director of CDPQ India (since March 2022), he takes an active role in positioning CDPQ as a partner of choice across asset classes - public equities (direct and indirect), debt, private equity, and infrastructure – while representing the organization in the financial and business community, as well as with key stakeholders including the government and the regulators.

Mr. Agarwal has over 21 years of investment and technology sector experience. Before joining CDPQ in 2017, he spent over 10 years at Morgan Stanley, most recently as Executive Director at Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP), a global infrastructure fund, playing a key role in acquiring and managing fund investments. Prior to this, he was a scientific researcher in supercomputer technology at IBM Research Labs and Wipro Global R&D Center.

Mr. Agarwal holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Michigan, a Master’s in Computer Science from Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Engineering from India’s National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. He currently serves as the Managing Director on the board of CDPQ India. He also serves as a non-executive director (NED) on the boards of A) Apprava Energy, B) Maple Infra InvIT Investment Manager Private Limited and C) Maple Highway Project Management Private Limited, certain investee companies of CDPQ in India. He has previously served as NED on the Boards of several investee companies of MSIP.

Simon was a partner with Herbert Smith Freehills and KPMG. His time with KPMG included 5 years in Singapore ending in December 2018. Most of his career involved dealing with real estate transactions. He has worked with listed entities, fund managers, private equity investors, family offices and developers. In the Australian context, he was involved in the initial development of the MIT rules as an industry advocate and remained involved in their ongoing development.

He has now retired from partnership but remains a strategic consultant to KPMG, a global SWF and several proposed real estate platforms across the industrial, education, medical and debt sectors.

Alex Lau is a Managing Director at Blackstone and he oversees the Asian tax affairs for Blackstone’s Real Estate Group. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Lau worked at KPMG Hong Kong as a tax director and was responsible for advising various funds and real estate clients in Asia. Mr. Lau received a Masters of Taxation Studies from University of Auckland and is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand. Mr. Lau is fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

Alex Sun is Executive Director of Investment Banking Department of CICC, where he oversees the bank's cross-border transactions, real estate, and structured products. Prior to joining CICC, Mr. Sun was Director of Ascendas Asia Fund Management in CapitaLand where he was involved in evaluating real estate investments in Asia markets. Before joining CapitaLand, Alex was Vice President of Vanke Overseas, where he led the acquisition and asset management functions for the international business. Aoran received an M.Arch and MSRED at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He serves as Board of Directors in MITarchA, Adjunct Assistant Professor at SUTD and Visiting Lecturer at INSEAD. He is a chartered CFA and certified FRM.

Sigrid is the Chief Executive Officer of Asia Pacific Real Assets Association (APREA). Based in Singapore, she is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction, initiatives and operations of the association across Asia Pacific. Under her leadership, APREA repositioned to an industry trade group focusing on real estate and infrastructure.

Sigrid joined APREA’s executive team in January 2019.

Prior to APREA, she served as Managing Director of Asia Pacific Research and Advisory Services of Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) from 2010 through 2018, where she was responsible for research, thought leadership, strategy formulation and client management.  Before relocating to Singapore, she was based in Washington, D.C. and led C&W’s U.S. research group in the Mid-Atlantic region, overseeing all aspects of market research activities in the Washington, DC; Virginia; Suburban Maryland, Baltimore; and Philadelphia areas. Prior to joining C&W, Sigrid served as a Senior Economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In that position, she developed NAR’s office, warehouse, retail, multi-family housing, and international research programs.

A recognized expert in global economic, public policy and real estate issues, Sigrid is a frequent speaker at industry events.  Her commentary on commercial and residential real estate markets is also regularly featured in a wide array of global publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg, New York Times and Reuters. Additionally, she has made several television appearances on financial networks and radio such as CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, National Public Radio and Channel News Asia.

Sigrid holds a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and a Master’s degree in Economics from Pennsylvania State University. She is a member of several civic groups including the Rotary Club of Raffles City in Singapore, where she has served in various leadership positions, and serves in the Executive Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Society of Singapore.

Sigrid is the Chief Executive Officer of Asia Pacific Real Assets Association (APREA). Based in Singapore, she is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction, initiatives and operations of the association across Asia Pacific. Under her leadership, APREA repositioned to an industry trade group focusing on real estate and infrastructure.

Sigrid joined APREA’s executive team in January 2019.

Prior to APREA, she served as Managing Director of Asia Pacific Research and Advisory Services of Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) from 2010 through 2018, where she was responsible for research, thought leadership, strategy formulation and client management.  Before relocating to Singapore, she was based in Washington, D.C. and led C&W’s U.S. research group in the Mid-Atlantic region, overseeing all aspects of market research activities in the Washington, DC; Virginia; Suburban Maryland, Baltimore; and Philadelphia areas. Prior to joining C&W, Sigrid served as a Senior Economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In that position, she developed NAR’s office, warehouse, retail, multi-family housing, and international research programs.

A recognized expert in global economic, public policy and real estate issues, Sigrid is a frequent speaker at industry events.  Her commentary on commercial and residential real estate markets is also regularly featured in a wide array of global publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg, New York Times and Reuters. Additionally, she has made several television appearances on financial networks and radio such as CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, National Public Radio and Channel News Asia.

Sigrid holds a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and a Master’s degree in Economics from Pennsylvania State University. She is a member of several civic groups including the Rotary Club of Raffles City in Singapore, where she has served in various leadership positions, and serves in the Executive Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Society of Singapore.

Appointed as Director in 2016 and re-designated as Executive Director in February 2019, Mr. Stuart Gibson has been the co-CEO of our Group since January 2016 and was also a co-founder and CEO of the Redwood group. Mr. Gibson is responsible for overseeing ESR’s overall operations and business development. He 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.

Ms. Wong is the Chief Executive Officer of Champion Real Estate Investment Trust, overseeing its strategic development as well as asset management and enhancement. She also spearheads the team to seek for growth opportunities, formulate acquisition and investment strategies and monitor the capital structure of the Trust, including the planning and overseeing of capital raising activities from the market. 

Ms. Wong has over 15 years’ experience in local and overseas financial industry. Prior to joining the Trust, she worked at Citigroup and J.P. Morgan's investment banking division to offer strategic advices to a number of blue chip corporates and Hong Kong real estate companies. She has also executed numerous landmark IPOs, capital markets fund-raisings and strategic M&A transactions.

Ms. Wong graduated from University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) - Ross School of Business with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. She was honoured with the titles of Best CEO by FinanceAsia in 2020; Best IR by CEO by the Hong Kong Investor Relations Association in 2017, 2018 and 2019; Directors Of the Year Awards 2018 – Listed Companies Executive Director by the Hong Kong Institute of Directors in 2018; and Asia’s Best CEO by Corporate Governance Asia in 2017, 2018 and 2019. She is the Chairperson of Asia Pacific Real Estate Association Hong Kong chapter and a Fellow member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

William Leung, Senior Vice President, is Head of Asia Pacific Real Estate and a portfolio manager for global real estate securities portfolios. He has 25years of investment experience. Prior to joining the firm in 2012, Mr. Leung was with RREEF Real Estate/Deutsche Bank for 12 years, where he was lead portfolio manager of the Asia real estate securities team. Previously, he was a research analyst with Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific. Mr. Leung has an MBA from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology and a BA from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is based in Hong Kong.

Mr. Harsh Shah is the Chief Executive Officer and Whole-time Director on Board for IndiGrid, the largest listed yield platform for operational energy assets in India with majority interest held by KKR. He has an extensive track record of building large infrastructure platforms and raising private and public capital across infrastructure sector in India and global markets. He has been instrumental in building India's first power sector investment trust - India Grid Trust (IndiGrid), from concept to US $ 2 Bn listed platform working with regulators, investors and developers. He is also a member of the SEBI Advisory Committee for InvITs and REITs and chairs working group on InvITs and REITs at financial markets committee at CII.

Previously, Mr. Shah served as the Chief Financial Officer at Sterlite Power Transmission Limited. Prior to joining Sterlite, he has worked with Larsen & Toubro Limited, L&T Infrastructure Finance Company Limited and Procter & Gamble International Operations Pte. Limited.

Mr. Shah holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the National University of Singapore and a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Nirma Institute of Technology, Gujarat University.

Peter joined Alter Domus from the Macquarie Group where he was Associate Director, MIRA Australia Agriculture & Real Estate.

During his time at Macquarie which began in 2008, Peter was Head of Agriculture Funds Finance with over $1b Funds under management in addition to being Head of Finance for Real Estate Banking.Possessing over 15 years of experience in the financial sector, Peter began his career with KPMG as a senior auditor before progressing to numerous financial management positions with Custom Fleet Australia and Westfield Limited.

Peter has a Bachelor of Commerce degree with majors in Accounting and Finance from the University of South Wales.
Peter completed the ICAA Professional Year program and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia.

Charmaine Cheuk is Managing Director, North Asia at CohnReznick Hong Kong Limited. She leads the firm’s Hong Kong office, and is engaged in advisory services for real estate and private equity clients across Asia Pacific.

Charmaine has over 20 years of diversified financial, real estate, and technology experience across the U.S. and Asia Pacific. She has worked for some of the most widely-recognized and respected global organizations through all phases of the investment lifecycle - financial underwriting, asset and portfolio management, valuation, fund finance and operations. She has extensive knowledge of operational processes, real estate technology, system implementation and data management.

Before joining CohnReznick, Charmaine held diverse functional roles regionally across Asia, most recently as Head of Fund Operations Asia at AEW. Prior to AEW, she spent over 8 years at CBRE/CBRE Global Investors through its merger with ING Real Estate Investment Management. Before joining ING, she was a Vice President at Lehman Brothers in the Private Equity Real Estate division.

Charmaine holds an M.S. in Finance from NYU Stern School of Business and HK University of Science & Technology. She is proficient in English, Japanese and Chinese.

An Chen co-heads the AEW Asia Pacific Real Estate Securities Team and serves as Portfolio Manager with responsibility for the construction of the Asia Pacific component of AEW’s global property securities portfolios. She also serves as a member of the Global Securities Allocation Committee (GSAC) which assesses global allocation adjustments of the global property securities portfolios. She joined AEW in 2010 and is based in AEW’s Singapore office. An’s industry experience dates back to 2006 and includes roles at Prudential Asset Management in both Singapore and Hong Kong, where she served as a portfolio manager and equity analyst for Asia Pacific ex Japan Real Estate and an equity analyst for the utilities sector. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from King’s College in London and is a CFA® charter holder. Ms. Chen is fluent in Mandarin.

Ms Karen Lee was appointed as the CEO of the Manager of ARA LOGOS Logistics Trust on 15 August 2020. Prior to her current appointment, Ms Lee was the Head of Asset and Investment Management for LOGOS SE Asia Pte Ltd where she was instrumental in the asset management strategic planning for LOGOS’ South East Asia business and growing the Singapore portfolio.

Ms Lee has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate industry covering industrial real estate development, asset and investment management, business development, leasing, marketing and property management. Prior to joining LOGOS, Ms Lee was Head of Singapore Portfolio and Asset Management of Ascendas Funds Management (S) Pte Ltd, the manager of Ascendas REIT (A-REIT). During her stint with Ascendas Funds Management (S) Pte Ltd, Ms Lee was responsible for formulating and executing strategic asset management strategies as well as overseeing the performance of A-REIT’s S$9 billion AUM Singapore portfolio.

Ms Lee holds a Bachelor of Science (Economics) (Hons) degree and a Master of Science (Real Estate) from the National University of Singapore.

Dr. Calvin Lee Kwan is currently Head of Sustainability at Link Asset Management Limited, manager of one of the world’s largest retail focused real estate investment trusts. He oversees the execution of a world-class corporate sustainability program, encompassing strategy, operational efficiency, culture development, thought leadership and policy advocacy. He is also responsible for translating and communicating these efforts to the growing body of ESG-focused investors globally, positioning Link as a sustainable and responsible investment.

Innovation is Dr Kwan's passion. He has been a pioneer of sustainable finance, issuing Hong Kong’s first green bond in 2016, followed by the global real estate sector’s first benchmark sized convertible green bond in 2019. He connects Link's long term ESG performance with financial incentives in the form of sustainability linked loans.

Dr. Kwan is a member of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s (UNEPFI) Investment Commission, and co-chair of its Property Working Group. He is responsible for steering the group’s efforts on contemporary global business issues including developing TCFD-compliant reporting methodologies, measuring positive impact and COVID-response risks and opportunities.

As an adjunct associate professor at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, he nurtures future generations of sustainability professionals, teaching post-graduate courses in environmental policy, corporate sustainability and directs a business sustainability focused research group in the Division of Environment

Dr. Kwan earned a BS in Business Administration and Biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside, Master and Doctorate degrees in Environmental Science and Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, an EMBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern and HKUST and is currently completing a JD at Chinese University Hong Kong.

Sigrid is the Chief Executive Officer of Asia Pacific Real Assets Association (APREA). Based in Singapore, she is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction, initiatives and operations of the association across Asia Pacific. Under her leadership, APREA repositioned to an industry trade group focusing on real estate and infrastructure.

Sigrid joined APREA’s executive team in January 2019.

Prior to APREA, she served as Managing Director of Asia Pacific Research and Advisory Services of Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) from 2010 through 2018, where she was responsible for research, thought leadership, strategy formulation and client management.  Before relocating to Singapore, she was based in Washington, D.C. and led C&W’s U.S. research group in the Mid-Atlantic region, overseeing all aspects of market research activities in the Washington, DC; Virginia; Suburban Maryland, Baltimore; and Philadelphia areas. Prior to joining C&W, Sigrid served as a Senior Economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In that position, she developed NAR’s office, warehouse, retail, multi-family housing, and international research programs.

A recognized expert in global economic, public policy and real estate issues, Sigrid is a frequent speaker at industry events.  Her commentary on commercial and residential real estate markets is also regularly featured in a wide array of global publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg, New York Times and Reuters. Additionally, she has made several television appearances on financial networks and radio such as CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, National Public Radio and Channel News Asia.

Sigrid holds a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and a Master’s degree in Economics from Pennsylvania State University. She is a member of several civic groups including the Rotary Club of Raffles City in Singapore, where she has served in various leadership positions, and serves in the Executive Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Society of Singapore.