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Up Close and Personal feat. Leong Teng Wui, The Ascott Limited
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Up Close and Personal feat. Cecilia Tan, Sasseur REIT
2 November 2022
For the final instalment of the ‘Up Close and Personal’ series this year, we had the pleasure of hearing from Cecilia Tan, CEO of Sasseur REIT. In what was a wide ranging conversation, we touched on taking calculated risks in your career, learning from your mistakes and recognising that with real estate there is always more than what meets the eye.
Straight out of university, Cecilia started in banking where she was involved in various M&A situations and witnessed the birth of the SREIT sector in Singapore. Subsequently, she pivoted into fund management as China was opening up and then transitioned into a CFO role at a developer / operator before landing her current posting. At each juncture, we learn that Cecilia had taken a calculated career risk to switch across industries. Despite the risk, it was equally important to stay focused on the long term goal which was to deepen her knowledge and skillset across various aspects of real estate which ultimately facilitates her capacity as CEO today.
With risks there is also the potential for mistakes but the key message is not to be discouraged and to learn something from those experiences. A successful outcome very often comes as a result of refusing to accept ‘no’ for an answer.
When it comes to real estate, always think out of the box. How are you going to address the underlying risk? It requires you to think through the pros and cons.
Cecilia Tan
She opined that it is important to figure out how to unlock the value of real estate amid the regulations and policies and how to structure the deal. This is illustrated by examples that Cecilia mentioned such as the convertible structure that was adopted for a Shanghai development project or the Entrusted Management Agreement model at Sasseur REIT. For the curious minded, they may ask why something is the case and realise there is more than meets the eye.
Cecilia took time to address the students’ various questions ranging from outlet malls in different economies, tenancy and commission negotiations, how she discerned different opportunities, key skills that young graduates should have, and how to layer these real estate skills over time. She shared anecdotes and observations on the varying scales of impact she encountered across the Asian financial crisis, the China boom, the 9/11 attacks, the global recession, and ongoing pandemic. These macroeconomic factors also played a part in her career path; new circumstances opened up opportunities to expand her skillset.
“It is very important when you are starting your career to first build your technical expertise. I know it is tempting to move from job to job for pay increments and to keep pace with peers. But bear in mind that when you reach a more senior level, you need to have strong technical expertise to guide those in your team. If you do not have the ability to mentor those below you, you will get stuck at that level.”
The session ran close to two hours as there was so much to uncover. The breadth and depth of Cecilia’s career really showcases the diversity inherent within real estate across geographies, asset classes and discipline. In many ways, it is fitting to conclude this series through the sharing of someone who embodies what ULI is about.
Passionate about nurturing talents, Cecilia welcomed the students to reach out to her directly and connect on LinkedIn.
Front Row Centre: Cecilia Tan, CEO of Sasseur REIT
Thank you all for following this series. We encourage students to join ULI and gain access to knowledge and peers as we work as a community to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. To find out more, email singapore [@] uli.org
