ICG shuts down Asia real estate business after three years

Intermediate Capital Group is winding down its Asia real estate team in a retreat from the region just three years after expanding there.

The London-based manager’s Asia-Pacific real estate co-heads and managing directors, David Kim and Stephen Tang, are set to leave the firm along with its broader Asia real estate team, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Kim and Tang brought extensive industry experience to ICG when they joined in 2022 to launch its Asia real estate business. Kim had spent over nine years at ARA Asset Management – a Singapore-based investment manager acquired by ESR Group that same year – where he had served as head of private funds. Before that, Kim was managing director and chief operating officer of Blackstone’s Asia real estate business, overseeing portfolio management.

Tang, meanwhile, spent five years at ARA as the lead fund manager for its Asia Real Estate Partners value-add fund series. Prior to that, he was a managing director in JPMorgan Asset Management’s global real assets group.

In a statement to PERE, ICG expressed its gratitude for the contributions of Kim and Tang, as well as the larger Asia real estate team. “Earlier this year, we made the decision to scale down from the Asian Real Estate market, to allow our team to focus on ICG’s core Real Estate markets of Europe and the US, where we are seeing the growth and scale that we are looking for as international investors,” the firm stated.

“As a firm, we remain committed to Asia Pac, with over 50 employees located across Singapore, Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney, across a number of investment strategies, where we continue to see positive near-term fundraising and investment dynamics.”

PERE understands that ICG’s Asia infrastructure team remains active in the region.

ICG’s Asia real estate business was launched three years ago with ambitious goals. The firm hired a four-person team from ESR, including Kim and Tang, who were tasked with building a large-scale business in the region amid plans to launch a dedicated Asian real estate fund in 2023.

In the end, the Asia real estate team’s portfolio included four rental housing assets in Korea, which the firm is currently in the process of exiting, albeit without urgency, according to the sources. PERE understands that the firm’s global head of asset management, Greg Minson, has taken over responsibility for managing those assets.

ICG’s decision to exit Asia real estate follows similar moves by other global investors and managers. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan recently disbanded its Asia real estate team, shifting oversight of its regional portfolio to its Toronto headquarters. AEW Capital Management, meanwhile, halted its Asia flagship fund series earlier this year due to fundraising challenges.

Additionally, Canada’s Alberta Investment Management Corporation closed its Singapore office earlier this year, reflecting a broader trend of institutional investors reassessing their exposure to Asia amid challenging macroeconomic conditions.