People

JLL hires senior corporate finance executive in China

The firm has increased its presence in non-bank lending services in Asia Pacific with several senior hires recently.

By
Christie Ou
-

Global real estate services firm JLL has appointed a new director to its corporate finance team in Greater China to strengthen the firm’s services in non-bank lending options for real estate investment in region.

Henrietta Yap joins JLL from AT Capital Group, a Singaporean private investment firm, where she focused on private equity investment across China, Europe and Southeast Asia. Prior to that, Yap worked at Standard Chartered Bank, Mapletree and Keppel Land where she covered investment analysis, investor relations and research.

“Our clients are increasingly demanding advice on a range of financing options for their real estate investments,” says Stuart Crow, head of capital markets, Asia Pacific, JLL. “To respond to this need, we are increasing the depth of our specialist talent in corporate finance so that we can provide this valuable, strategic advice alongside our existing spectrum of services, bringing together investment banking with global commercial property expertise.”

In her new role, Yap reports to Eddie Yeh, head of corporate finance, Greater China. She will work closely with JLL clients in Greater China to meet their investment goals, including fund or joint venture structuring, mergers and acquisitions, and capital and debt raising for sophisticated financial restructures.

In particular, JLL sees growing appetite among Chinese investors for overseas property assets. According to its data, in Q3 2016 China overtook the US to become the largest cross-border real estate investor by investing nearly $18 billion into commercial property assets internationally in the first three quarters of the year.

Recently, the firm has made several senior hires in the region including the appointment of Yeh in August 2016 and Tim du Temple as the head of debt advisory business in Australia in May 2016.

Chicago-headquartered JLL is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialised real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate.