As at end-June, its India portfolio has S$7.4 billion in funds under management

 

CAPITALAND Investment : 9CI 0% (CLI) aims to more than double its funds under management (FUM) in India in the next four years, as the global real asset manager remains optimistic on the country&rsquo s economic growth.

 

On Wednesday (Sep 4), CLI said that the increase would contribute to the group&rsquo s global target of achieving S$200 billion in FUM by 2028. As at end-June, its India portfolio has S$7.4 billion in FUM.

 

CLI debuted in India&rsquo s business parks space 30 years ago and it now has more than 40 IT and business parks, industrial, logistics, lodging and data centre assets in its portfolio.

 

Group chief executive officer Lee Chee Koon highlighted that India has been one of its fastest-growing markets, where its investments have trebled in the last seven years.

 

He also expects that demand for quality real assets from global corporations and institutional investors will grow. This comes as India&rsquo s gross domestic product is projected to grow 7 per cent this year, and the country is on track to becoming the world&rsquo s third-largest economy in the next five years, said Lee.

 

CLI also noted that it plans to grow and diversify its income streams by entering into new business segments in India, such as renewable energy and real estate private credit.

 

Real estate private credit is garnering interest from institutional investors, said the group. Buoyed by the rising demand for residential construction finance, the debt market in Indian real estate has a potential US$170 billion financing opportunity between 2024 and 2026, noted CLI.

 

Sanjeev Dasgupta, CEO of CLI India, said that the group will drive growth through its listed CapitaLand India Trust (Clint) and private funds, such as CapitaLand India Growth Fund 2.

 

Looking ahead, CLI said that it wants to expand its business and IT parks, as well as logistics and industrial portfolios in India.

 

For its business and IT parks portfolio, CLI added that it will undertake forward purchase acquisitions and secure prime assets to ensure a robust pipeline. It will also raise third-party capital through new private funds, as well as enter into joint development and joint ventures with capital partners, along with commercial management partnerships.

 

Amid rising demand for high-quality logistics and industrial infrastructure, CLI plans to grow its logistics and industrial portfolio by seeding new private funds and through Clint.

 

CLI, which currently owns 16 industrial and logistics assets in India, said that it will do so by signing joint development agreements and entering into joint venture partnerships.

 

Additionally, Dasgupta said the group is positive on growing opportunities for data centre funds as India becomes a digital economy.

 

The real asset manager entered India&rsquo s data centre market in 2021 amid rising demand for data. It is developing four data centres across cities such as Mumbai and Chennai. Its data centres in Navi Mumbai and Hyderabad are slated to start operations in 2025.

 

Lastly, CLI also said it wants to expand its lodging portfolio &ndash The Ascott &ndash to 5,000 rooms across 15 properties in India.

 

Kevin Goh, the CEO of CapitaLand Investment&rsquo s lodging business, has bought $250,000 in principal amount of CapitaLand Ascott Trust HMN -0.55% &rsquo s (CLAS) perpetual securities (perps).

 

The perps were bought via the market on Aug 30.

 

Following the purchase, Goh has $250,000 worth of debentures held in CLAS.

 

DBS Trustee, the trustee of the REIT, issued $150 million worth of subordinated perps on Aug 7 under the REIT&rsquo s $2 billion multicurrency debt issuance programme. The perps carried a coupon rate of 4.6% per annum. They were listed and quoted on the Singapore Exchange S68 0.18% Securities Trading Limited (SGX-ST) on Aug 8.

Group chief strategy officer Ervin Yeo has taken over Chong&rsquo s portfolio, in his new role as chief executive officer (commercial management) for China and South-east Asia

CAPITALAND Investment : 9CI +1.12%&rsquo s (CLI) chief executive officer of retail and workspace (Singapore and Malaysia) Chris Chong is stepping down after more than six years with the group.

 

Announcing his departure on LinkedIn on Friday (Aug 30), Chong said: &ldquo It has been a pleasure working with the teams at CapitaLand through the various challenges during Covid-19, and the celebrations when we achieve milestones and greater heights with CapitaLand Investment.&rdquo  

 

When contacted by The Business Times, Chong said that he will be taking a career break.

 

Since Aug 1, group chief strategy officer Ervin Yeo has taken over Chong&rsquo s portfolio, in his new role as CEO (commercial management) for China and South-east Asia. 

 

Yeo will be responsible for CLI&rsquo s commercial and asset-management business across China and South-east Asia, which includes integrated developments, retail, offices, business parks and logistics. He will continue to serve as CLI&rsquo s group chief strategy officer. 

 

Yeo has been with CapitaLand since 2015, where he took on roles including that of senior vice-president of special projects and managing director for South-east Asia at The Ascott Ltd.

 

Chong previously served as CEO of Orchard Turn Developments, the joint venture company between CapitaLand and Sun Hung Kai Properties which operates the Ion Orchard mall.

 

He became head of CapitaLand&rsquo s retail division in 2019, and, in 2021, the group&rsquo s workspace business was added to his portfolio. Chong also sat on the board of Jewel, Changi Airport&rsquo s showcase retail project jointly run by Changi Airport Group and CapitaLand Development.  

 

Before joining CapitaLand, Chong was head of asset management for Starhill Global Reit from 2013 to 2018. He previously held senior positions in the Singapore Economic Development Board and LVMH in Paris, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

 

Under Chong&rsquo s leadership, CapitaLand was the first mall operator to enter the metaverse through its virtual experience CapitaVerse.  

 

Chong also recently oversaw the signing of several third-party management contracts for retail as CapitaLand Investment reorganised its fee income-related businesses in 2023 into four verticals as part of its asset-light strategy aimed at increasing recurring fee income. 

 

The four verticals are commercial management, listed-funds management, lodging management and private-funds management. 

 

One of those contracts was for the management of Kallang Wave Mall and the retail spaces in the Singapore Sports Hub from April 2024.

 

Recently, CapitaLand also inked a third-party management contract for what Chong would only say was &ldquo an iconic retail asset&rdquo in Singapore. 

 

A CapitaLand Investment spokesman said: &ldquo We are grateful to Chris Chong for his significant contributions and leadership. Chris has expanded our fee-income business and fortified our commercial management platform by securing new third-party contracts.&rdquo

 

CapitaLand Investment&rsquo s commercial management vertical was the largest contributor to its fee-related business revenue in the first half of 2024, contributing S$185 million, or almost one-third, to the S$561 million earned. 

 

It was also the fastest-growing vertical, increasing 22 per cent from the same period in the previous year, driven by improved asset performance and management-fee restructuring. 

 

As at H1 2024, CapitaLand Investment had S$134 billion in assets under management (AUM), of which 14 per cent are in retail and 12 per cent are in office.

 

Lodging assets form the largest share of the pie at 35 per cent, followed by new economy assets at 22 per cent and integrated developments which account for 17 per cent of AUM. 

 

The group&rsquo s retail assets in Singapore achieved positive rental reversion in H1, with shopper traffic growing by 2.6 per cent despite a 2.5 per cent fall in tenant sales year on year.

 

Office occupancy remained tight at 98 per cent, with rents renewing at higher rates.