Savills Investment Management (“Savills IM”), an international real estate investment manager, has appointed Benedict Lai as Asia Research Manager. Benedict’s appointment is the latest in a series of strategic hires at Savills IM as the firm seeks to deepen its bench and strengthen its local capabilities in the Asia region, in line with its ongoing global expansion.

Benedict joins Savills IM having amassed over 10 years of experience in property research, analysing and assessing fundamental drivers in various aspects of the real estate market. Prior to this, he held various positions at PGIM Real Estate (previously known as Pramerica Real Estate Investors), Capital Malls Asia Limited, as well as Jones Lang LaSalle.

In his new role, Benedict will be responsible for developing house views on APAC real estate markets and providing thought leadership for new fund ideas and investment themes for Savills IM. Benedict will report to Kiran Patel, Chief Investment Officer.

He holds a Bachelor of Real Estate (Honours) from National University of Singapore.

Kiran Patel, Chief Investment Officer at Savills IM, commented: “Benedict’s experience in providing real estate insights and analyses will serve to better integrate Savills IM’s research functionality into our investment thinking, and enhance our value-add in our advice to clients. As we witness growing appetite among investors for Asian real estate, Benedict’s appointment will prove invaluable as we continue to grow the Savills IM business in Asia.”

Benedict Lai, Asia Research Manager at Savills IM, commented: “I am excited to be joining Savills IM at a time when the company is focusing on increasing its presence in the region and I look forward to leveraging my knowledge and experience to grow the research arm in Asia.”