LaSalle names Chris Martin head of Asia-Pacific AM

LaSalle Investment Management has named Chris Martin as regional director and head of asset management for Asia-Pacific.

Based in Singapore, Martin is responsible for overseeing the asset management group in the region -- a team of 40 people in LaSalle's Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea offices. This group provides asset management services for the property investment funds managed by the firm, which cover around 80 properties across a range of sectors in the region. He reports to Philip Ling, LaSalle's managing director for Asia-Pacific.

The newly created role is in response to the current challenging economic environment, which magnifies the importance of effective and innovative asset management, says Ling. Martin's focus "will be on delivering optimum asset performance for investors".

Martin joins LaSalle with more than 25 years of experience in real estate, having held a number of senior positions within funds, asset and property management. He was previously with the GPT Group, where he was an executive for wholesale funds. Prior to GPT, he worked for Lend Lease in Australia where he established and managed a diversified wholesale property investment fund, and BT Funds Management and Principal Global Investors, where he held senior asset management roles in both sector-specific and diversified real estate investment trusts.

LaSalle, which is part of the Jones Lang LaSalle group, has around $41 billion in assets under management in private and public property equity investments worldwide. LaSalle is active across a range of real estate capital and operating markets including private and public, debt and equity. Its clients include public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, endowments and private individuals from across the globe.

In Asia, LaSalle has five property investment funds and manages around $12 billion in assets.