Today we’re going to take you through a company that spent over a century building some of Asia’s most recognisable commercial properties, from the skyscrapers in Marina Bay Singapore to those in Hong Kong’s Central financial district and even the West Bund in Shanghai.

With its origins dating back to 1889 in Hong Kong, our guest for today Hongkong Land is a major listed property development, investment and management group. 

The company, owned by Hong Kong conglomerate Jardine Matheson, has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and secondary listings in Singapore and Bermuda.

The firm develops, owns and manages premium and ultra-premium mixed-used real estate in Asian gateway cities, ranging from Grade A office, luxury retail, residential and hospitality products with assets under management coming in at over US$50 billion.

Hongkong Land is a company that we want to speak to given how it is now embarking on what’s perhaps one of the biggest strategic changes in its history. 

Instead of growing primarily by owning and developing properties on its own, Hongkong Land now wants to focus on investing in ultra-premium commercial properties in Asia’s gateway cities while recycling capital from assets that no longer fit into its strategy. All while bringing in third-party capital to recycle assets and fund growth.

In a series of moves to better align the firm with its new strategy, Hongkong Land stopped investing in its build-to-sell segment while recycling capital from the business into new, high-quality integrated commercial property opportunities to drive long-term value creation.

More importantly, the firm launched its inaugural private real estate fund called the Singapore Central Private Real Estate Fund or the SCPREF. The fund had an initial portfolio assets under management of S$8.2 billion and seeks to focus on ultra-premium integrated commercial properties in Singapore. 

But what was the one reason that led to the strategy shift right now? Is the firm simply reshaping its portfolio or do the moves fundamentally change the economics of the business?

On Under the Radar, finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Michael Smith, Group Chief Executive, Hongkong Land Holdings.