Bernd Otto Hallier, ( Born in 1947, July. 28 in Hamburg.)

Managing Director of EHI Retail Institute, President of the European Retail Academy

Academic Vita

- studied Economics (1968-73) at Hamburg University  (Master Degree)

- got an external PhD-Degree in 1983 in Hamburg for his  analysis of the technology-influence on retail and wholesale

- was honoured from Prague-University / CZ for the  international transfer of know-how between universities of East and West-Europe

- became Honorary Professor of the Moscow Academy of Business at the Government of Moscow in 2003

- became Honorary Doctor of Yekaterinburg University in 2007

 Work Vita  :

- started in 1973 in the tobacco-industry(sales manager, key account manager, assistant to the Board )

- started 1984 in the Retail Institute for Self-Service in Cologne /Germany  being its Managing Director from January 1985

- founded the German Trade Institute in 1988 and the European Trade Institute in 1993 (www.ehi.org ) - today 64 big retailers from 12 countries

- Founder of Orgainvent (Tracking and Tracing of cows and beef ) which today is the basis of the regulation of the European Commission

- Founder of EUREPGAP/now GlobalGAP (Good Agricultural Practice) (www.globalgap.org )  - 1997

- Chairman of the Board of EuroShop ( worldwide number 1 exhibition  for retail investment goods )

- Prof.Hallier is founder of the European Retail Academy (www.european-retail-academy.org) and executive member of the Board of Trustees (today 165 members from 50 countries) and European Competence Center for Vocational Training (www.european-retail-academy.org/eucvot )

- Speaker at all continents

- Author of more than 200 articles and several books

Born in Milan, married with two boys, Andrea has spent most of his career outside his Country, Italy.
Having cultivated a passion for social, political and cross-cultural issues since his teenage, Andrea studied Political Sciences at the Catholic University in Milan where he graduated in 1995. Then, after a brief stint at Nestlé Italia in the Buitoni Business Division, he moved to Rome to join the Institute for Industrial Promotion, an Agency of the Ministry of Trade, where he managed a few industrial co-operation projects with neighbouring Countries in Northern Africa and Central Europe aimed at boosting the presence of Italian SMEs in those markets.
In the year 2000, he expanded his market knowledge by taking up the post of Asia Manager at the Milan Chamber of Commerce, which helped him get acquainted with the business environment of this strategic emerging market. And his passion for Asia translated into an opportunity to lead the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce in Bombay between 2001 and 2006. In those years the Chamber grew dramatically in both size and visibility, as Andrea was responsible for launching several promotional and business programmes in emerging strategic industries such as tourism, jewellery, fashion, food and wines, sports, as well industrial co-operation projects in the SME sector with the support of EU-funded programmes. His and his team’s activities brought India and Italy much closer and earned Andrea a knighthood by the Italian Government for his contribution to fostering bilateral relations.
And thanks to a beautiful La Perla fashion show organised by the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce in India Andrea was asked to develop out of Singapore the La Perla brand in Asia. Since 2006 he has now been responsible for the opening of over 20 La Perla stores in nine Asian markets with many more to open soon. Since 2011, while keeping his base in Singapore, he has also been responsible for business development in emerging markets, including Latin America, Eastern Europe, the CIS and the Middle East.
In the meantime Andrea has not left behind his original passion and has been President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Singapore since 2009.

Mr. Ian Thomas is considered one of the world’s foremost experts in shopping center planning and design. Starting his career in 1975 in the retail and shopping center industry, he went on to found the company that bears his name 30 years ago in 1979. Thomas Consultants now operates 3 offices around the world in Vancouver, Canada, Brisbane, Australia and Seoul, Korea.

Richard Paine, 46, has 23 years of property industry experience and has worked on numerous high profile projects in the Asia Pacific region.
Richard has developed expertise in the retail sector and has worked on over 30 key retail projects across Asia.
Richard has led Lend Lease’s retail business in Asia for 4 years.  Lend Lease’s retail services include development management, design, retail planning, leasing, marketing and property management. 
Richard has a very good understanding of the unique success factors for retail in Asia.  He is also a passionate advocate of sustainable development. He sits on a number of executive committees of a number of retail industry associations such as The Association of Shopping Centres (TASC) in Singapore and Orchard Road Business Association and is viewed as one of the retail sector’s experts.
Richard is currently assessing new business streams for Lend Lease’s business growth in Asia.

Robert Welanetz, SCSM is currently engaged by Blackstone Real Estate Partners as an exclusive independent advisor on the firm’s global retail real estate matters. In this capacity he assists in sourcing and creating investment strategies, underwriting acquisition targets and investments and determining strategic asset management guidance for retail real estate within Blackstone’s global real estate portfolio including mixed use, retail, office and hotel properties. Mr. Welanetz is currently based in Shanghai, China. Prior to his existing assignment Mr. Welanetz, was Co Chairman of Chia Tai Real Estate, the China real estate subsidiary of The CP Group a well respected Thailand based international conglomerate. In this capacity Mr. Welanetz moved to China in 2004 and was based in Shanghai. While with CP he was responsible for all real estate investment and asset management for the group’s owned retail real estate and department store initiatives in China. Welanetz was also on the board of Lotus Supercenters, CP’s 100 store hypermarket business in China.
Previously, Mr. Welanetz held executive positions as President and CEO of Jones Lang LaSalle Retail, Senior VP and Head of Lend Lease Retail, Managing Director
Retail for The Yarmouth Group and Senior VP Operations and Leasing for Pan Pacific Development. His beginnings in the retail real estate industry came via his tenure with The Hahn Company where he held executive positions in Development, Management and Investor Relations.
Mr. Welanetz is a member of the Board of Trustees of the 70’000 + member International Council of Shopping Centers (“ICSC”) and has served on numerous
committees including the Executive Committee of the Board. An advocate of ICSC’s role in support of the global retail real estate industry and active as a real estate
professional for many years in both the domestic U.S. and international real estate markets, he is a frequent speaker on cross border trends in retail, retail property in
retail investment. Mr. Welanetz is a graduate of Colorado State University and Executive Management courses at INSEAD. He was formerly on the Board of Galileo Americas Trust an Australian listed property.

Mr. Stanley Ching is a Senior Managing Director of the Real Estate Group of CITIC Capital.  Mr. Ching has 18 years of professional experience, of which 16 years were with investment management, investment banking and corporate banking with China focus.  Mr. Ching was instrumental in setting up the Debt Capital Markets Division and Real Estate Group of CITIC Capital since he joined the firm in May 1999.  Mr. Ching has been leading the establishment and management of three China focused real estate investment funds since 2005.  Mr. Ching was a pioneer in structuring and arranging offshore financings for Chinese real estate developers and projects with over US$1.2 billion of capital raised. 
Before joining CITIC Capital, Mr. Ching worked for HSBC Group, SG Asia, and The Industrial Bank of Japan.
Mr. Ching holds a Diploma in Chinese Laws from Peking University, a Master of Science (Finance) from Temple University and a Bachelor of Arts (Accounting) from University of West Florida.

John is responsible for direct property transactions and investigating the suitability of new investment products together with Capital Raising for new product. John has extensive experience in identifying office and retail property acquisitions, domestically and internationally, and has been involved in the property industry for over 20 years.

Mr. Michael Yee leads Accenture’s retail industry practice in Asia Pacific and the products practice lead in Greater China.  He is also the client partner for a leading global consumer electronics chain store and a top global fast fashion retailer. He works with companies on strategic and operational initiatives across the region. 

Michael has over twenty years experience with retail and consumer product companies focusing on customer centric initiatives while synchronizing the value chain. As an operational strategist, he has been driving innovation to deliver operations excellence for clients. He is a frequent speaker on retail and consumer topics at leading conferences around the Asia Pacific region.

Michael’s experience spans the entire retail value chain: stores, merchandising, supply chain operations, sales and marketing and support services. In addition to the retail industry, Michael has worked extensively with consumer product companies and leading manufacturers in several major transformation projects through analysis, architecture / design and execution phases.
 
Michael has his MBA from Ivey School of Business in University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor degree in computer science from University of British Columbia.  He is also a qualified Chartered Accountant from Canada.  Michael is currently based in Shanghai.

Taubman Centers is a global leader in the shopping center industry and established Taubman Asia in 2005 with the objective of owning, managing, developing and acquiring high-quality and sustainable retail real estate projects in Asia with particular focus on Korea and China.

Richard Hamilton is Vice President of development at Taubman Asia and is responsible for Taubman Asia development and new business activities. 

Mr. Hamilton has 18 years experience in Retail Real Estate and has been involved in various business activities including development, portfolio and asset management, acquisitions and valuation. He was formerly a senior development executive with Stockland, one of Australia’s most prolific retail developers.  Prior to joining Stockland, Mr Hamilton was the Retail Portfolio Manager of the AMP Diversified Property Trust.  Before joining AMP, Mr Hamilton worked in Retail Asset Management with the Schroders Property Fund (REIT) and before that spent six years with CB Richard Ellis valuing shopping malls. 

He is a native of Australia and holds a Bachelor of Business in Property and a Graduate Diploma in Investment and Finance. He is a Qualified Valuer, a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia and member of the International Council of Shopping Centers. 

Mr. Jeongkoo Kang,Ph.D. is Head of Real Estate Division at CJ C&I.
Prior to joining CJ Group in July 2008, he worked for KPMG as head of real estate and Cheongwon Development from 2002-2007 as executive director and EDG/GDS from 1998-2002 in Los Angeles and Samsung Everland from 1994-1998.
He did large-scale, mixed-use complex and real estate development projects valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars in Korea.
He holds Ph.D in architectural engineering at Kyonggi University and Master of Architecture at Pratt Institute in New York.

Mr. Shin Yeol, Ryu has been the Vice President of Corporate Planning Team of Department Store Division at Shinsegae Co., Ltd since 2010. He was the CFO of Operation Management Team at the Gwangju Shinsegae for less than 2 years and has been with Shinsegae for over 13 years. Mr. Shin holds a bachelor of Art degree in Political Science from Sogang university Seoul Korea.

Mr. Hwang is Managing Director of Korea office responsible for leading Retail Investment/Leasing, Commercial Transaction/Leasing, Business Development and Project Management, specialised in Investment Transaction, High Street/Retail Leasing, Retail Transaction and the Retail Planning. Since Mr. Hwang has been playing a key role to expand and diversify business operation in Korea, he has been providing strategic advice to many multinational companies, and implementing his experience on office investment transactions to a team of Directors and senior managers within the company. Based on his extensive relationship with various commercial investors/landlords, he has been at the forefront of the remarkable transformation of the Real Estate industry in Korea over the past decade and has been part of some of the most innovative assignments. Mr. Hwang has 15 years of retail property experience in the Korean retail market. During the course of his career he has advised the following retailers / shopping centres / Department Store projects.

Mr. Song-Young Kim is Managing Director of Strategy and Planning Division in Shinsegae E-mart at Korea

Prior to joining E-mart, which is the biggest retail store in Korea, in March 2003, he worked New Development System team from 2003 to 2005, and Planning team from 2005 to 2008 as a head of department.

He has joined Sinsegae since 1989. At first, he worked in Shinsegae department store and then moved to Planning team in the Planning Division, Shinsegae Group from 1996 to 2003.

 He has master degree in Waseda University in Japan and BA from Korea University.   
 

Mr. Ahn, Jae Hung is CEO of Global Partnership Brands Division at E.land China.
Prior to joining in E.land China Operation early this year he has worked since 1994 as senior executives and CEOs of major divisions
under E.land Group, Korea extensively from retail operation to acquisition, development, and asset management of various retail properties.
He now extends his capabilities to going global.
He holds B.S. from Seoul National University and both MBA and PhD. from Graduate School of Business Administration, George Washington University.

Mr. Kim, Min-Geun is Managing Director of Development Division at Lotte Asset Development Co., Ltd. in Korea. Prior to joining Lotte Asset Development Korea in March 2008, he worked for Korea Railroad Corporation(KORAIL)  as executive managing director from 2006 to 2007 and Nomura Research Institute Korea from 1996-2002 as senior consultant. He did development, investmen of various real estate properties in Korea and Asia. He holds B.A. from Seoul National University and Master Degree from Seoul National University.

Ms. Miah Yang was appointed as a Director for Savills Korea Retail Advisory & Marketing in September 2007 and is responsible for overseeing a professional team of 14 staff offering a full line of retail services including retail consulting, Leasing, retail CRES;  government lease modification; rating appeal; litigation valuation and a range of other property consultancy services.
Ms. Miah Yang has over 10 years of high-level strategic professional services expertise and is recognized as a distinguished and acknowledged expert amongst the Korean real estate community.  Currently she provides consulting and leasing service to major domestic and foreign investors as well as representing major retailers for site development.
Ms. Miah Yang holds Master Degrees in Real Estate Development and Urban Planning from University of Southern California.

Mr. Gary Barber is Vice president of Growth Group at McDonald's Korea. He has been working for 25 years and managed in the Real Estate and Construction field. He has various strategies for Real Estate based on many countries' experience

I have been with the adidas group for more than 6 years. I am currently employed with adidas Korea as Group Retail Director. I look after the Own Retail business for brand adidas and Reebok in Korea. I am responsible for the Sales and Profit of the Own Retail business.
Previously, I was with adidas India as Retail Director for the Franchisee business and in the wholesale business for 2 years before that.
In the initial year of my career, I have worked in telecom retail, home improvement store and department store in sales, operations, business development and trade marketing functions.
I am married and I have a 4 years old daughter.

Mr. Lee Sang-Hoon is Director of Urban Regeneration Division, Korean Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affaires.  He is currently working on policies making in the field of urban regeneration, new town development and ubiquitous city.
Prior to Joining the Urban Regeneration Division in March this year, he had worked as Director of International Cooperation Division in the same Ministry from march 2008, dealing with various matters of international cooperation in terms of land, transport and maritime affaires, among others, promotion of foreign investment in real estate development in particular.
He holds B.A. and M.A. in sociology from Lyon 2 University in France.

Born and raised in Shanghai, Andrew WU lived in Canada from 1980-1993. Mr. WU received his Honors BA in Economics from Canada’s York University and his MBA from the SCHULICH Business School at York.
For 1984-1985, Mr. WU worked for Canada’s Ontario Government Ministry of
Intergovernmental Affairs. For 1985-1993, he worked for Maple Leaf Foods Inc. – the largest Canadian agri-food company. For 1993-2000, as a pioneer of “returnees” to Mainland China, Mr. WU was General Manager & Managing Director of Parfums Christian Dior operations in China for LVMH, the world’s largest luxury brand group, successfully establishing the Dior cosmetics retail network and business across China. For 2000-2005, Mr. WU joined SONY MUSIC Entertainment Group as SONY MUSIC (Asia) Vice President and, in 2001, was also appointed
Managing Director of “Shanghai Epic Music Entertainment”, a Sony Music joint-venture with the Chinese Government to improve intellectual property protection and commercial value of entertainment content.
Since 2005, Andrew WU has re-joined LVMH as Group Director for China, overseeing the rapidly growing businesses and development of 60-plus world-renowned brands under LVMH in the Chinese marketplace.

Mr. Agethen is the Head of Capital Raising and Business Development
at Harvest Capital Partners in Hong Kong. He is responsible for
expanding HCP’s China real estate funds management platform, as
well as public market related activities.
His responsibilities include reviewing individual real estate
opportunities and new investment strategies; developing and
executing appropriate capital raising strategies for those platforms;
maintaining and developing investor relationships and managing
Harvest Capital’s branding and marketing strategy.
Mr. Agethen has 10 years of experience in the real estate sector and
prior to Harvest Capital Partners, he was with Macquarie Capital
Advisers in Hong Kong in their award-winning real estate private
capital markets team, advising on private equity real estate
fundraisings in Asia. Prior to Macquarie, Mr. Agethen worked for
Stockland, Australia’s largest diversified REIT, in its funds management
and strategy departments, focusing on Australia and the UK.

Mr. John So is Director of Grosvenor Asia Pacific, with current responsibilities as Managing Director of Investments. Since joining Grosvenor in 2000, he has also been Head of China, Head of Fund Management Asia (serving on the Global Fund Management Board) and CEO of the Grosvenor Land Property Fund (a joint venture with Hongkong Land). He has actively invested in Greater China, Japan and Singapore, creating five funds and building an operating platform of more than 80 staff across those markets. He has been in the real estate industry for 20 years.

Ms. Goh joined Gaw Capital Group in 2006 and brings 20 years of extensive expertise to the firm in commercial mix-used property development, operation set-up, property management, property valuation, feasibility studies, tenant-mix/repositioning, and lease management across mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, and the Southeast Asia region. She’s currently the Managing Director of retail operating platform (GCP Retail Management) and the asset management arm (Gateway Management Consultancy) of the group, as well the general Manager for Plaza 353 shopping mall in Shanghai.

Ms. Goh served as Director of Retail for Jones Lang LaSalle in Singapore; Executive VP for the 233,000-squre-meter Core Pacific City Living Mall in Taipei; Director of Retail for Three on the Bund and Director of Retail Development & Leasing for Venetian Macau Ltd.

Mr. Seymour attended Washington State University in United States, majoring in Hotel Management. Following the completion of his study, he further gained experiences in all aspects of hotel business through working at hotels and hotel consulting/development firms. After working for one of the internationally recognised hotel design firm, HBA/Hirsh Bedner Associates for 5 years as a Director of Marketing and Business Development, he started his own firm "CRG Japan" which has been aggressively growing ever since. Mr. Seymour is the President of CRG Japan, a partner in GDC (Global Design Collaborative) and was a founder of Japan Hotel REIT Advisors, which established Japan's first Hotel REIT.

Mr. Taku Yamaumi is Director of Real Estate Investment and Development at LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton Japan K.K. and Partner of the L Real Estate, leading the effort in Japan and Korea. Prior to joining LVMH/LRE, he worked for LaSalle Investment Management within the acquisition of Tokyo office. Before LIM, he worked for Tokyo Tatemono, one of the leading Japanese developers. Taku earned a Bachelor of Arts in Law from Keio University. He is licensed as a Real Estate Consultant and as a Real Estate Broker in Japan.

Mr. Hideki Yasui is Senior General Manager of Retail Planning Office in Urban Planning and Development Division at MORI BUILDING Co., Ltd.
Prior to joining MORI BUILDING Co., Ltd. in September 2005, he worked for Aeon Co., Ltd.as Renewal Project leader of Niihama store in Shikoku from 2004 to 2005, IY Group (former Seven and i Holdings Co., Ltd.) from 1991 to 2004 as director of different departments, and The Seibu Department Stores Ltd. from 1976 to 1991 as General Manger of different projects.

Mr. Youichi KOURA is General Manager of Development Project Division at J. FRONT RETAILING Co., Ltd., holding company of Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores .Inc. since 2008.
Since joining at Daimaru Inc. in 1982, he was in charge of entire renovation of Kyoto store (1987 to 1989 and 1990 to 1994), and Kobe store (1995 to 1997).
During 1998 he was involved in the launch of third store in Singapore.
From 1999 to 2001, he was in charge of entire renovation of Shinsaibashi store, and from 2002 to 2003 in charge of entire renovation of Kyoto store.
Recently he was leading the entire renovation of Umeda store which has just launched on this April 19, as one of the project of Osaka station development.

Mr. Yoshito Kikunaga is Director and Chief Investment Officer at Mitsui Fudosan Frontier REIT Management Inc., 100% subsidiary of Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd., as well as ARES (The Association for Real Estate Securitization) Certified Master. Prior to joining Mitsui Fudosan Frontier REIT Management Inc. in October 2008, he worked for Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. from 1991 to 2008, mainly in charge of urban project planning.

Mr. Naoshi Ogikubo is the President of Diamond Realty Management Inc., 100% subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, which is a leading real estate asset manager based in Tokyo that has over 3 billion dollar under management. Prior to that, Mr. Ogikubo worked as a founding member for 8 years at Mitsubishi Corp.-UBS Realty Inc., which manages two J-REITs that has over 7 billion dollar of assets in total, and served as Head of Acquisition of Japan Retail Fund and CIO of Industrial and Infrastructure Fund. Earlier, he worked in various capacities within Mitsubishi Corporation including the finance department, the investment banking and the financial services department and the J-REIT joint venture initiative. Mr. Ogikubo received a MBA from the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania and has earned CFA and CPA designations in the United States. He is a licensed Real Estate Appraiser in Japan.

Ms. James Assersohn is an Associate Director at leading retail brokerage company Cushman Wakefield, heading up the cross border retail transactions team, he helps international retail companies understand the local market and provides advice on the best ways to enter and expand here. In addition he offers advice to domestic companies on their expansion throughout Europe and Asia. Prior to joining C&W Korea in mid 2010, James worked for Shelley Sandzer a niche brokerage company in Central London for 6 years where he was involved in the asset management, sale and leasing of Central London buildings and nationwide shopping centers. He also was instrumental in the roll out of a number of restaurant and bar groups across the country.

Joyce is a well-respected and experienced shopping centre operator, having worked with some of Malaysia’s leading shopping malls and possesses an intimate knowledge of the retail market – local and overseas. 

Joyce was the Pioneer Member responsible for the formulation of the leasing and marketing strategies and execution to position Pavilion Kuala Lumpur as a Premier Shopping and Tourist Destination in the region. Currently she is the CEO–Retail in Pavilion KL and is fully responsible and accountable for the mall performance of Pavilion KL. Joyce is also assigned to be the person in charge of the newly refurbished Fahrenheit88 shopping mall at Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

She has over 28 years’ experience, covering all aspects of property development and asset management and has an extensive network of retailers both local and international. To date, she has marketed over RM20 billion (USD5.7 billion) worth of properties in Malaysia.

Joyce also has extensive conference-related experience as speaker/moderator in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia and Japan.
K.

Frank was appointed Global Head of Asia for AXA REIM in 2008. He oversees all investment and asset management activities in the Asia Pacific region and is responsible for all Asian investment funds.
Frank has more than 15 years direct experience in real estate investment and management. Prior to joining AXA REIM, he was with the Pacific Star Group, a boutique Pan Asian real estate investment house headquartered in Singapore, where he was instrumental in the launching of several funds. Before that, he spent substantial years in Guthrie GTS Ltd, a Singapore mainboard listed property company as Director of all overseas projects and was also President Director of PT Wisma Nusantara International and PT Guthrie Jaya Indah Resort, both real estate investment and development companies based in Indonesia. Frank was also executive director of PhileoLand Bhd, a real estate company listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. He started off his training in corporate finance in Capitalcorp Securities Bhd, a listed stockbroking house in Malaysia specializing in mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and initial public offerings.
Frank holds a MBA (Accountancy) from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, a bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Queensland in Australia. He is also a qualified Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Singapore.

Frank is also Co-Chairman, Real Estate Committee of the European Chamber of Commerce (EUCCK) in Korea.

Samantha Stevens is the Managing Editor of www.RetailinAsia.com – a website dedicated to the Retail industry in Asia. In just one year, Retail in Asia has become the number one website for the Asian Retail community, with over 18,000 new users and 2.2 million hits every month. Samantha has helped to drive the creation and the marketing of this unique website focused on the retail industry, where users can read the latest retail news and reports, upload their own business news, check what their competition is up to, or even sign up and tailor their own free newsletter. Samantha has been living in Asia for over 10 years working in Marketing, PR and Communications, with experience in Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and China to name a few.

Mr. David Blackhall is a Deputy Managing Director of VinaCapital Real Estate in VietNam.  He has a total of 26 years experience in both the property and construction disciplines.  The last 18 years have been in real estate fund and asset management with the most recent 4 years experience based in Vietnam.  Mr.Blackhall previously spent 12 years with DB-RREEF Funds Management Ltd and Deutsche Bank, one of Australia’s largest property fund managers with in-excess of US$9 billion under management.  Mr Blackhall holds a Masters Degree in Design Science from the University Of Sydney Australia and is a Member of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS).”

Richard W. Poulos, AIA, Partner and Executive Vice President

Since joining Jerde in 1992, Rick Poulos has served as executive in charge of marketing and business development, managing revenue expectations and creates strategies to increase financial performance. Rick has been instrumental in positioning Jerde's philosophies and increasing its market reach. Under his leadership, the firm has expanded from the design of retail and entertainment projects to mixed-use districts that include housing, office space, cultural centers, and development of urban regeneration projects such as Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, Japan, and the Sacramento Railyards Master Plan in California. He has broadened the firm's client base from real estate developers to municipalities and other public entities; having developed a new service for creative corporate strategies, he also has secured major corporate clients such as Coca-Cola and Dubai International Financial Centre. Rick has also personally directed a broad range of projects in North America, Asia and Europe. Poulos has also played a key role in setting up satellite administrative offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Berlin, and Seoul. Poulos received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Southern California in 1975.

Mr. Kumar Tharmalingam is a graduate from the college of Estate Management, London School of Economics with a B.Sc. in Real Estate.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Fellow of the Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (ISM) and registered as a Real Estate Valuer and Property Consultant with the Board of Valuers in Malaysia.

In 1987, he established the First Malaysian Property Trust(FMPT), a joint venture between the Bank of Commerce and Austwide, Australia. He became the Manager and subsequently left to establish the MBF Unite Trust.

In 1992, he joined Taiping Cosolidated Berhad (TCB) as an Executive Director in building the Kuala Lumpur Marriott Hotel and Starhill Centre and two years later became Executive Director of Sentul Raya Sdn.

Barbara joined List Fashion Group in 2008, to lead the international expansion of LIST – a stylish and trendy Italian fashion brand and its franchise network. As LIST’s Director of International Sales, she has forged strategic partnerships in the Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe, introducing LIST in twenty four new markets. She has defined as LIST’s franchise development priority for 2011-12 expansion in Asia. 

A Columbia University graduate, she has worked in New York, Milan and Rome in brand development and fashion retail. She lives in Rome.

Naresh Naik Managing Director, Country Head, India Morgan Stanley India