Credo establishes new business units

Credo Real Estate has named property consultant Ong Teck Hui as head of its new research and consultancy division.

The property consultancy firm launched valuation services in June, headed by Joan Chan, who worked for five years as head of the valuation department at CKS Property Consultants. Nathalie Lam, another former CKS employee, is currently the director for valuation services at Credo. The team is composed of 10 valuers and is on the panel of major banks like DBS, HSBC and ANZ.

Mr. Ong and Ms. Chan are the latest additions to Credo, which employs 45 staff, including six executive directors. Credo, founded in 2002, is probably most recognised for managing collective sales. To date, it has transacted four en bloc sales – 6 Jalan Ampas, Goodrich Park, Pender Court and Culford Gardens. In addition, the company also provides residential agency, residential project marketing and auction services.

Credo plans to expand the range of its investment sales services and branch into development consultancy, business space leasing and property fund management, said Karamjit Singh, managing director of Credo, in an interview with The Business Times.

Mr. Singh also revealed that Credo recently formed a strategic alliance with VPC Asia Pacific, which has 40 offices of independently-owned property consultancy companies in the region. In turn, VPC has established a business alliance with the 245-year-old chartered surveyors and property consultancy company Cluttons LLP to expand its reach into the Middle East, UK and other European markets.

“This alliance with VPC and Cluttons is a major step forward for Credo Real Estate. It gives us the opportunity to enjoy the best of both worlds - allowing us to practise independently on our home turf, while having the resources of our global partners to tap on for cross border instructions and deals,” said Mr. Singh.

The appointment of Mr. Ong at Credo marks his return to property consulting. Mr. Ong worked as a valuer at the URA in 1980 before transferring to its land sales department. In 1995, he worked for Colliers Jardine as head of research and consultancy, and moved to Knight Frank in 2000. He also worked for Mapletree Investments and Ascendas and became a part-time lecturer at National University of Singapore (NUS) before joining Credo.

“I would rate Teck Hui as being one of the finest minds in the property research field in Singapore. He is highly organised, analytical, eloquent, and not to mention, down to earth. With him on board, we plan to focus on strategic research to be able to help our clients make better real estate decisions,” said Mr. Singh.