Asia Pacific Investors’ Connection Forum

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.

A sustainability practitioner for over two decades, Esther published the first sustainability report in Singapore in 2008 and issued the first green bond by a Singapore company in 2017. Conferred the 2018 SDG Pioneer for Green Infrastructure and A Low Carbon Economy by the UN Global Compact, and named amongst 25 Trailblazing Women against Climate Change by Reuters in 2023 as well as the inaugural TIME100 Climate Leaders in Business 2023 list, Esther sits on the boards or advisory platforms of international organizations including:

• World Economic Forum Nature-Positive Cities Global Commission
• World Green Building Council Corporate Advisory Board Chairperson
• Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
• UN PRI Real Estate Advisory Committee
• UN ESCAP Sustainable Business Network Executive Council
• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Supervisory Board
• Urban Land Institute (ULI) Randall Lewis Center Advisory Board for Sustainability in Real Estate and ULI Asia Pacific Net Zero Council
• Asia Pacific Real Assets Association (APREA) Board of Directors and Chair of ESG Committee
• GRESB Foundation Board

She founded Women4Green and Youth4Climate networks to empower women and youths to champion climate action and sustainable development.

Rushabh Desai heads the Asia-Pacific region at Allianz Real Estate. He is a voting member of the Allianz Real Estate Global Executive Committee, as well as the Allianz Real Estate Global Equity Investment Committee. Under his leadership Allianz Real Estate has established a USD 6+ billion portfolio in the region and most recently raised its maiden 3rd party investment platform.

For Allianz Real Estate the main areas of focus include direct and indirect private real estate equity investments, as well as senior lending across key markets such as Japan, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, India and Southeast Asia.

Rushabh joined Allianz Real Estate in 2016 bringing with him 13 years of diverse global experience. Prior to joining the company, he held different positions at GE Capital Real Estate Asia-Pacific, where he increased leadership and management responsibilities. During his tenure, Rushabh assumed roles such as Head of Strategy & Planning, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Business Development, gaining experience across a range of equity and debt assets and across all major markets in the region.

Rushabh is ULI Global Governing Trustee. He graduated from St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata, India and completed an MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai, India.

Ankur Gupta is Head of Asia Pacific and Middle East for Brookfield’s Real Estate Group. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing all real estate activities in the region, including investments, portfolio management and new fund formation. He also has direct oversight of the South Asia sub-region.

Prior to joining Brookfield in 2012, Mr. Gupta worked for a leading real estate development firm.

Mr. Gupta holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

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.

Martin Siah is Singapore Country Executive, Head of Southeast Asia Global Corporate and Investment Banking, and Head of Asia Pacific Real Estate, Gaming and Leisure at Bank of America.

Prior to joining Bank of America, Martin was Head of Greater China and Southeast Asia Commercial Real Estate and led the Commercial Real Estate Equity and Advisory franchise at Standard Chartered Bank. Before Standard Chartered Bank, Martin was Head of Southeast Asia Real Estate Investment Banking and Corporate Finance at UBS Investment Bank.

Martin is a board member of the Capital Markets and Financial Advisory Services (CMFAS) Examinations Board in Singapore. He holds a Master of Philosophy in Finance from Cambridge University. He is a Malaysian Commonwealth Scholar, a Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, and the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore Fellow in Corporate Finance. He was recognized as the Best Investment Banker in Singapore by FinanceAsia in 2023.

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.

Mr. Vinod Rohira is the Chief Executive Officer of Mindspace Business Parks REIT. Equipped with an MBA from Booth School of Business, Chicago, and a law degree from the Mumbai University, Vinod began his career with the K Raheja Corp, over two decades ago. He has during his tenure, pioneered the concept of landmark business districts, premium residential and retail complexes, which have become the reference points in Indian real estate. Vinod is a key member of the leadership team that has built the K Raheja Corp into one of the most respected and leading names in Indian real estate.

Having led the development of Grade A commercial real estate across India for the Group and listing Mindspace Business Parks REIT on the Indian Stock Exchanges; his current focus is on driving the commercial business’ strategic operations, with a particular emphasis on stakeholders’ management and business development.

Jeremy Ong is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Hong Kong office and he leads the REITs practice in Hong Kong. He has over 15 years of experience advising REITs on their formation, acquisitions, disposals, equity/debt capital raising exercises and liability management exercises, and advised on almost all of Hong Kong's largest REIT transactions.

Jeremy has been recognised by Legal 500 as a "Next Generation Partner" in two key areas for REITs (investment funds; real estate) and his practice is also described by Chambers as “a trusted adviser to REITs” which is “often instructed to assist clients with IPOs and capital raisings”.