KUALA LUMPUR (June 30): Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) deputy chief executive officer Clement Chen Kok Peng will assume the role of CEO effective July 1, which is part of the trust’s leadership succession planning.
In September last year, Sunway REIT announced that Chen, 40, has been named as the incoming successor to incumbent CEO Datuk Jeffrey Ng Tiong Lip, who had expressed his intention to retire come June 30, 2023.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Friday (June 30), Sunway REIT said Ng, 66, is stepping down from his CEO role after serving the trust since its listing in 2010. Ng is currently the chairman and independent non-executive director of United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd, as well as the chairman of REHDA Institute.
Chen joined Sunway Group as a finance trainee in 2004 and attained his Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales qualification in 2007.
He has since taken on various other roles within Sunway Group, including as the financial controller of Sunway Hatay Co Ltd, Vietnam in 2008, and as assistant general manager of corporate finance and investor relations of Sunway Bhd from 2009 to 2015.
“During his tenure with corporate finance, Chen oversaw the listing of Sunway, Sunway REIT and Sunway Construction Group Bhd. His efforts in investor relations also saw him being awarded the best investor relations professional by the Malaysian Investor Relations Association in 2015,” added Sunway REIT.
In addition, Chen joined Sunway Integrated Properties Sdn Bhd at the end of 2015 and was promoted to general manager of business development, in which he gained exposure in evaluating real estate opportunities in Malaysia, Singapore, the UK and Australia.
Sunway REIT units closed unchanged at RM1.56 on Friday (June 30), giving it a market capitalisation of RM5.34 billion.