We began with how Benett started his career with the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) where he worked on the state land information systems and subsequently became in charge of the land allocation to other government agencies. It was a comfortable role and one that he was doing well in. It hence came as a surprise when Benett told us that he decided to leave the SLA and join DBS Land (what is today CapitaLand) to start from scratch and even though he lacked the experience doing financial modelling which was something that the job required.

Nonetheless, as we progressed during the session, we slowly discovered that his move to DBS Land was anything but unusual when it came to Benett’s career journey. His career journey (which has ultimately lead him to now being head of APAC for PGIM Real Estate) can be summarised by

(1) taking on roles which gave him the biggest opportunity to learn something new and being unafraid to do so (e.g., moving from the government to then a property developer, hospitality and lastly to fund management);

(2) building strong relationships along the way throughout his career (and that ultimately lead to job offers as well); and

(3) some luck and timing.

We then moved on to hearing about what Benett looks for in talents and unsurprisingly the traits he mentioned largely mirrored the traits that had made Benett successful in his career to date: Street Smart, Adaptability, Open-Minded, Positive, Courageous, Creative, People Skills, Keen to Learn and Driven. Interestingly, he also shared that he tended to look for what someone enjoyed doing outside work (e.g., sports) as he was a strong proponent of Work Hard, Play Hard – something all of us agreed was nice to hear management say.

Other points shared briefly during the one hour session (that became an hour and a half session thanks to the great conversation and open sharing by Benett who kindly agreed to stay longer) was how personal branding is important but the impression created is sometimes even more important than reality and how giving back to the community is key especially when we are in a privileged position to do so. It is safe to say all of us left that discussion feeling inspired and motivated to put our best foot forward in our own career journeys.

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 [email protected]

ULI Singapore thanks PGIM Real Estate for hosting this dialogue.