C-SUITE LUNCH: TECHNOLOGY, CITIES, CULTURE AND REAL ESTATE IN ASIA PACIFIC

Benett Theseira is a managing director at PGIM Real Estate and head of Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, Benett is responsible for the development and implementation of the strategy and oversight of PGIM Real Estate's businesses in Asia Pacific. He is also the senior portfolio manager of PGIM Real Estate's Asia Retail Fund. Benett is a member of the Global Management Council, the Global Investment Committee, the Asia Pacific Investment Committee and the Valuation Committee.

Previously, Benett was head of Southeast Asia, with responsibility for PGIM Real Estate’s businesses in Southeast Asia. He also chaired the Asia Pacific Investment Committee.

Before joining PGIM Real Estate, Benett was the President of MEAG Pacific Star Asia and Pacific Star Capital where he was responsible for the Investment and Fund Management business in Asia for over 6 years. During this time, he successfully launched Pacific Star’s EUR 1.2 billion Asia RE Income Fund and led more than USD 2.0 billion of real estate transactions across Asia.

Prior to this, he spent 9 years with the CapitaLand group and held various roles including Managing Director, Europe and Chief Corporate and Investment Officer for the Ascott Group Ltd (CapitaLand’s then publicly listed serviced apartment arm). Benett was responsible for driving Ascott's rapid expansion and led over USD 2 billion in transactions across Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Benett is a Colombo Plan Scholar and started his career with the Singapore Government in the Ministry of Law where he held the position of Assistant Commissioner of Lands.

In three decades at JLL, Anthony has worked with investors, landlords and tenants in all areas of commercial real estate. Based in Singapore, he is responsible for JLL’s overall operations in the Asia Pacific region.

Anthony has spent the last 25 years in Asia, helping lead JLL’s expansion in countries such as China, Japan, India and Korea, and acting on several landmark development projects. He spent a decade living in China, heading JLL’s business in Shanghai and Eastern China, as well as the China Capital Markets business. Prior to that, he was based in Hong Kong for 13 years, holding a variety of leadership positions across the business.

Anthony’s real estate expertise – which includes leasing, capital markets, and tenant representation – was honed during a career that started in London. After studying biology at London University, where he graduated with honors in 1987, he took a job in London’s buzzing business district with real estate company De Groot Collis. He joined JLL in 1989 and transferred to Hong Kong in 1993.

The post abroad was supposed to last just three years. But JLL’s growth in Asia, and a general fondness for working and living in the region, held him for longer. Anthony attributes a bit of his wandering spirit to his roots: He was born in Pakistan, where his British father had been working for a global accountancy firm.

Anthony writes frequently about major trends affecting real estate markets and the future of how people work. In his spare time, he enjoys running and cycling.

Pamela Qiu is the Network Director of the South-east Asia chapter of The Economist Corporate Network. She advises multinational corporations on the latest economic, political and market developments affecting business in the Asia Pacific region. She regularly chairs Economist events and roundtables, and delivers custom briefings to senior business executives. She joined The Economist in June 2011.

Prior to joining The Economist Group, Pamela worked as a policy analyst and associate at the Singapore Ministry of Finance, where she worked on policies to tackle socio-economic problems such as inequality and unemployment. She also worked on policies that were featured in the Singapore Budget. From 2009 to 2011, she was a researcher for the Center for Public Economics at the Civil Service College, the Singapore government’s core institution for public policy and economics research. Her research areas included the role of government in markets, public private partnerships, privatisation, fiscal policy, and behavioural economics. From 2004 to 2006, Pamela also worked as a market analyst with Prudential Health Insurance, based in London.

Pamela holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in development studies, both from the London School of Economics.