Mr Joshua Liaw was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Manager on 17 June 2023 and works with the Board to determine the strategy for Elite REIT and with the members of the management team to ensure that Elite REIT operates in accordance with the Manager’s investment strategy.
Mr Liaw has close to two decades of experience in real estate finance and fund management across the banking and real estate investment trust management sectors.
Prior to his present appointment, Mr Liaw was Executive General Manager, Finance at the manager of Lendlease Global Commercial REIT (Lendlease REIT), where he led Lendlease REIT’s investment and capital management strategy as the Chief Financial Officer. Mr Liaw was part of the team that oversaw the initial public offering of Lendlease REIT in 2019 and the transformational acquisition of Jem in 2022.
His other past roles with Lendlease include General Manager, Finance, Singapore, where he was responsible for the overall finance functions across Lendlease’s operations in Singapore, as well as Head of Treasury, Asia, where he was responsible for all debt capital management and treasury activities for Lendlease across Asia.
Mr Liaw started his career in banking, where he held various roles in Standard Chartered Bank and Citi covering real estate funds, sovereign wealth funds, real estate investment trusts and corporate developer clients.
Mr Liaw holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics (Summa cum Laude) from the Singapore Management University and a Bachelor of Business (Transport & Logistics Management) with Distinction from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
Mr Michael Tong was appointed the Chief Financial Officer of the Manager on 23 November 2023 and works with the Chief Executive Officer and the other members of the management team to formulate strategic plans for Elite REIT, in accordance with the Manager’s stated investment strategy.
Mr Tong has more than 10 years of experience in financial reporting, financial planning and analysis, project finance, consolidation, taxation, and compliance.
Prior to joining Elite REIT, Mr Tong was employed with Lendlease and was the General Manager Finance, Asia, where his core responsibilities included regional reporting, financial accounting, compliance, annual budgeting, and quarterly forecasting. Prior to joining Lendlease in 2012, he was from PwC, where he was involved in the audit of Singapore-listed corporations and multinational companies across various industries including real estate and initial public offerings.
Mr Tong holds a Bachelor of Accountancy from Nanyang Technological University. He is a Chartered Accountant (Singapore) and a member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants.
Mr Jonathan Edmunds is the Chief Investment Officer of the Manager.
Mr Edmunds has about 20 years of experience in the real estate industry, focusing on real estate investment and management across various sectors globally. Previously, he was the Investment and Asset Management Director of Elite UK Commercial Fund.
Preceding that, Mr Edmunds was the Director of the Real Estate department of AEP Investment Management Pte. Ltd., where he was responsible for the strategic investment and transaction management for their UK, Australia and Singapore mandates. He was also a lead manager of Basil Property Trust and was responsible for investments, fund acquisitions and structuring.
Mr Edmunds had previously worked in the UK and Switzerland. He was the Vice President of the Real Estate department in Beaumont Partners where he was responsible for fund raising, acquisitions, structuring, reporting, and managing the Global Student Housing and Multi-Family investment strategy. He also completed the analysis, structuring and closing of acquisitions for the company’s European and North American credit income strategies.
Prior to that, Mr Edmunds served as the Director of the Real Estate department of WW Advisors Ltd, managing a US$250 million equity mandate to acquire income-producing assets in the UK and Europe. He originated and managed the acquisition of a portfolio of assets as well as structured and arranged the debt capital, implemented interest rate hedges and managed asset performance for the portfolio.
Earlier in his career, Mr Edmunds was an associate at Lazard, a Corporate Finance Advisory firm in the UK. He started off as an Associate of Deutsche Bank AG’s Real Estate Debt Markets department. Mr Edmunds graduated from University of the West of England with a BA (Hons) Business Studies.
He also holds a Master of Arts in Property Valuation and Law from The City University in London, UK.
Ms Chai Hung Yin is the Assistant Vice President of Investor Relations for the Manager.
Ms Chai is responsible for facilitating communications and liaison with Unitholders, potential investors, analysts and the media. She formulates and drives investor engagement initiatives for Elite REIT, and provides strategic counsel and insights to senior management on investor sentiments and market conditions.
Ms Chai has over 19 years of experience in investor relations, corporate communications and journalism. Prior to joining the Manager, she spent close to four years with YTL Starhill Global REIT Management Limited, the manager of Starhill Global Real Estate Investment Trust, as the Assistant Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. During her tenure there, Ms Chai played a key role in external and internal communications as well as the process of developing the sustainability reporting framework for Elite REIT.
Prior to that, Ms Chai was a journalist with various newspapers, including the national financial broadsheet - The Business Times Singapore. During the 13 years of working in the media industry, Ms Chai wrote for a public audience in various beats, from macroeconomic news to corporate, business, investment, regional, social and health, catering key messages to different market segments.
Ms Chai holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Food Science and Technology from the National University of Singapore. Ms Chai also obtained the International Certificate in Investor Relations, jointly provided by The Investor Relations Society of United Kingdom and the Investor Relations Professionals Association (Singapore).
