CEO Monthly November 2017

6 CEO MONTHLY / NOVEMBER 2017 , ARA Korea Limited (ARA Korea) is a full-service real estate fund management company based in Seoul, Korea. Anthony Kang, CEO of the Year 2017, provides us with a breakdown of the firm’s products and services, as well as outlining the company’s overall mission and walking us through his path to success as CEO. Uniquely and Exceptionally Experienced Real Estate Fund Manager in Asia Established in 2002 by Macquarie Group of Australia, the company led by Anthony was acquired by ARA Group and was renamed as ARA Korea in 2014. Headquartered in Singapore with offices across 19 cities in seven countries, ARA Group is currently managing multiple private funds and REITs across the Asia Pacific Region, with close to 100 assets and AUM totalling over SG$35 billion (approximately US$25 billion). Since Anthony took leadership in 2010, ARA Korea has more than tripled its AUM in Korea alone to over KRW1.35 trillion (approximately US$1.2 billion) and is firmly poised for further growth. Already having launched two new REITs in Korea and closed one of the largest commercial real estate transactions in Korea this year, Anthony is still thirsty for more and has set his eyes on the blue ocean sectors in Korea, namely the residential-for-rent sector and outbound investment market, to help him achieve the vision of ARA Korea to become the best-in-class real estate fund management company in Korea. ARA Korea is licensed by the Korean government as a qualified external REITs manager in Korea, and Anthony is currently in the process of also obtaining the Real Estate Fund (REF) management license from the Korean government for the company, in order to secure a stronger and broader foothold in both the private and public real estate markets in Korea. Anthony walks us through his career milestones, touching base on education, and detailing how his career has progressed and led to him becoming CEO. “Only having had lived in South Korea my entire life, I first moved to the US with my family at the beginning of my teenage years. I went on to study Economics at Columbia University in New York and then moved straight on to get a Juris Doctor degree from Boston College Law School.” After working as an associate attorney with a prestigious law firm in Boston for a few years, wanting to gain more international exposure, Anthony later joined a more global law firm and moved to Hong Kong, where he continued to focus on corporate and finance matters but with more cross-border flavours. Anthony recalls “It is there where I first worked on a real estate deal and my interest in the sector sparked. Over the following several years, I started focusing almost exclusively on real estate deals and clients. Gradually, I became more immersed and intrigued by the industry and eventually decided to quit law and pursue a new career on the business side.” 1710ce03