Lynette LeongCEO Capitaland Commercial
Ms. Lynette Leong is the Chief Sustainability Officer of CapitaLand Group with effect from 1 July 2019, responsible for elevating the Group's sustainability strategy and policies, and integrating them into its business and operations to drive strategic environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts and deliver long-term economic value to stakeholders. She is als0 a member of the CapitaLand Executive Committee.
Ms. Leong concurrently serves on the boards of Singapore's National Environment Agency, the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce and the advisory board of Singapore Management University's Lee Kong Chian School of Business.
Ms. Leong has a proven track of growing new businesses to reach unprecedented levels and pushing new boundaries in business approaches and models. Her prior appointments at CapitaLand Group over the past 12 years included Chief Business Innovation Officer where she led the integration of operations, systems and processes for the S$11-billion merger between CapitaLand and Ascendas-Singbridge; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CapitaLand Commercial from November 2017 to April 2019, responsible for growing a global office operating platform leveraging innovations relating to the future of work; and CEO and Executive Director of CapitaLand Commercial Trust Management Limited (CCTML) for 10 years until November 2017. CCTML is the manager of CapitaLand Commercial Trust (CCT), the first and largest commercial real estate investment trust (REIT) listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited.Under her leadership, CCT grew to become the largest office landlord in Singapore with a prestigious commercial portfolio; its assets under management increased from approximately S$4 billion in 2007 to more than S$10 billion in 2017 excluding a development project worth S$2 billion. Over the same period, CCT achieved a total return in excess of 120% notwithstanding the global financial crisis, in addition to winning multiple awards for corporate governance, investor relations and environmental sustainability.
Prior to joining CCTML, Ms. Leong was CEO of Ascendas' South Korea office for four years. She started Ascendas' real estate operations resulting in a firm and profitable foothold in the country. Some of the achievements included the acquisition of office and logistics properties and the establishment of its first office development project and first real estate fund that were invested by several large Korean institutions.
Ms. Leong has more than 25 years of international experience, including banking and finance with Standard Chartered Bank and United Malayan Banking Corporation Berhad in Singapore and Malaysia. She also acquired extensive experience in real estate acquisitions, asset management and fund management having been stationed in the London, New York, Chicago and Asian Offices of LaSalle Investment Management for eight years.
Ms. Leong holds a Master of Science in Real Estate and a Bachelor of Science degree in Estate Management from the National University of Singapore.
