Hongkong Land, a developer with 137 years of history, has initiated a significant strategic shift under CEO Michael Smith, launching Singapore’s largest private retail fund. This move signals a pivot towards fund management and a renewed focus on commercial properties, diverging from its previous, more diversified approach. The newly established Singapore Central Private Real Estate Fund (SCPREF) begins with an estimated S$8.2 billion ($6.5 billion) in assets, consolidating several prime commercial holdings within Singapore’s central business district.
The initial portfolio for SCPREF includes prominent structures such as Asia Square Tower 1, One Raffles Link, Marina Bay Link Mall, and both towers of the Marina Bay Financial Center. Michael Smith articulated the company’s future vision, stating a desire to cultivate a series of funds, attracting high-quality investors and generating consistent fund management revenue. This strategy has already drawn considerable interest, with sovereign wealth funds like the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and APG Asset Management, a component of the Dutch pension fund, committing capital. An unnamed Southeast Asian sovereign wealth fund has also invested, underscoring the appeal of such ventures to institutional investors.
Smith highlighted the particular attractiveness of private real estate funds for sovereign wealth funds, emphasizing their capacity to provide certainty in returns. He explained that these funds cater to the specific needs of sovereign wealth entities, which possess substantial capital but require robust protection for their investments. The QIA, in its public statement, confirmed its participation aligns with a broader strategy of partnering with established operators to access high-quality real assets in key global markets, aiming for resilient long-term returns. The ambition for SCPREF is substantial, with Smith expressing hopes for the fund to eventually reach a valuation of $15 billion. Its open-ended nature, without a fixed term, is designed to facilitate the entry of additional investors over time. 
Hongkong Land’s renewed focus on Singapore’s commercial real estate market comes amid a period of robust growth in the city-state’s property sector. Real estate investment sales in Singapore surged by 27% in 2025, reaching $26.9 billion, marking its highest level since 2017. Michelle Ling, Hongkong Land’s chief investment officer, pointed to the absorption of recent new supply and the government’s stated intention not to increase office land supply within the central business district as key indicators of market strength. This outlook underpins the developer’s bullish stance on the sector.
The developer’s strategic realignment follows a period of mixed performance, particularly in residential developments across various regional markets and challenges within mainland China and Hong Kong’s property sectors. Smith acknowledged the company’s previous lack of scale in residential markets like Cebu, Wuhan, and Bangkok, which prevented it from becoming a significant player. Financial reports from the first half of 2025 showed Hongkong Land’s revenue declining by 23% year-on-year to $751 million, though it recorded a post-tax profit of $222 million, a stark contrast to an $828 million loss in the prior year, which was largely attributed to non-cash impairments.
Since assuming the CEO role in 2024, Michael Smith, who previously spent over a decade at Singapore developer Mapletree, has actively steered Hongkong Land away from the build-to-sell residential market. This strategic shift includes shedding less lucrative residential assets; last November, the company divested MCL Land, one of its residential arms, to Malaysia’s Sunway Group for $579 million. This move aligns Hongkong Land with other developers like CapitaLand and Mapletree, who are also adopting asset-light models to enhance agility and reduce debt. Smith articulated a desire for the company to move beyond merely collecting rent from its assets, aiming for a more proactive engagement with the property market. Beyond Singapore, the company is eyeing expansion of its commercial real estate development and fund management services into other “gateway cities” across Asia, including Tokyo, Seoul, and Sydney, identifying these locations by their strong financial ecosystems and burgeoning tech sectors.
