The world’s largest privately held property services firm Cushman & Wakefield Inc plans to expand its asset management portfolio, as demand for property investment in the Asia Pacific region grows.
“We have about $7 billion under management right now so we have a lot of room” for expansion, said Glenn Rufrano, president and CEO.
Direct property investment in Asia has doubled to $46 billion in the first nine months of the year, and may likely reach $60 billion this year, as Asian currencies strengthened against the US dollar and uncertainty over the Euro debt crisis abated, according to CB Richard Ellis in November.
“Right now we’re growing the investment management business organically, slowly, and trying not to make any mistakes,” said Mr. Rufrano. “At some point over the next five years, when we see an opportunity to grow at an accelerated way, we’ll consider it.”
He added that the company plans to employ 800 people worldwide over the next five years, with most of them in Australia and Asia, where the company plans to double revenue contribution by as much as 15 percent.
Sanjay Verma, Asia CEO of Cushman & Wakefield, said a “big chunk” of the total revenue in Asia will be coming from China and India, while Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong will remain the primary market of the company in the region.