Capitaland Investment

[swakoo]

As part of the capital recycling initiatives:

Extract from: CapitaLand Investment to restructure portfolio, recycle up to S$9 billion

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the briefing, Lee said CLI will also focus on reducing its stakes in its larger Reits. CLI has targeted a sponsor stake of about 15 per cent in its Reits.

The group currently holds a 20 per cent stake in CICT and 16 per cent stake in Clar. Reducing its stakes to an average of 15 per cent across some S$8 billion of Reit units could improve the Reits’ free float and daily trading volumes, while freeing up “a couple of billion dollars” in capital, said Tham.

“Freed up capital would likely go into reinvestment for growth – there are a lot of opportunities in living and credit... We’d also like to pay down some debt. But I’d imagine at least a third could go towards returning capital to shareholders.”

Didn't realise CLI had reduced it's stakes in CICT and CLAR from about 30+% previously to 20% and 16% respectively. And plans to further reduce to 15%. This further reduces alignment of interest between parent and reits. From reits' unitholders perspectives, wonder if there will be enough "skin in the game" left?

[weijian]

As part of the capital recycling initiatives:

Extract from: CapitaLand Investment to restructure portfolio, recycle up to S$9 billion

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the briefing, Lee said CLI will also focus on reducing its stakes in its larger Reits. CLI has targeted a sponsor stake of about 15 per cent in its Reits.

The group currently holds a 20 per cent stake in CICT and 16 per cent stake in Clar. Reducing its stakes to an average of 15 per cent across some S$8 billion of Reit units could improve the Reits’ free float and daily trading volumes, while freeing up “a couple of billion dollars” in capital, said Tham.

“Freed up capital would likely go into reinvestment for growth – there are a lot of opportunities in living and credit... We’d also like to pay down some debt. But I’d imagine at least a third could go towards returning capital to shareholders.”

Didn't realise CLI had reduced it's stakes in CICT and CLAR from about 30+% previously to 20% and 16% respectively. And plans to further reduce to 15%. This further reduces alignment of interest between parent and reits. From reits' unitholders perspectives, wonder if there will be enough "skin in the game" left?

hi swakoo,

Some thoughts on "skin in the game" for the general partner/REIT manager:

What is the ideal %ownership for enough skin in the game? I think we will realize there isn't an ideal ownership% per say but we can all agree that "lesser" is generally in the wrong direction. Yet it is not hard to find examples of high ownership % (translating to high "skin in the game") that hasn't pan out well for their fellow investors - REITs with Indonesian assets, and companies with large insider ownership and have the family clan drawing large salaries (as a % of profits)

What is a better objective metric than ownership% for "skin in the game"? I will revert to the analogy of "Is it better to slay the goose for its meat or allow it to lay eggs?" Consider 2 scenarios - Scenario 1: One has many geese and decides to share one of the many. Scenario 2: One has only 1 goose and shares it....In scenario 1, it is tempting to slay that particular shared goose, isn't it? You have many geese and slaying one of them (especially the shared one) could turn out to be in the ordinary course of business. For scenario 2, slaying the shared single goose means forsaking a future of eggs and goslings. So even if one own a smaller portion of the single shared goose in scenario 2 compared to a large ownership in scenario 1, scenario 2 probably has more "skin in the game" simply because that game is their only game. They have to make their only game work.

End of the day, the track record and size of the AUM speaks for itself.  The manager's track record can be judged by whether it is able to fulfil its stated objectives. Such objectives can be providing a steady and predictable DPU that increases over time for publicly traded REITs, or hitting IRR goals for private funds. For managed accounts, it can be operating the assets to optimize/preserve their capital value. Every time the manager exceeds expectations, a "consumer surplus" is created.  The astute manager is patient to monetize the "consumer surplus" but always working to create new surpluses to replace what it monetized. Over time, it will get rewarded with a publicly traded REIT that has a low cost of equity or in the form of oversubscription/re-ups when their private funds are launched. All these leads to bigger and growing AUM, which means more fees down the road. IMHO, this is probably the best incentive for "alignment of interest" between GPs and LPs.

[swakoo]

Some thoughts on "skin in the game" for the general partner/REIT manager:

Thanks for your considerable detailed thoughts. Having been an early investor of pioneer reits with 30+% sponsor stakes, it may just be that this quantum has been burned into my comfort zone. So it may just be my own personal take.

I have to admit that as a CLI shareholder, there was some comic relief when I read my CEO Chee Koon's PR. It seems that he has copied well from other CEOs...

"value realisation" --> A Singtel word?
"legacy investments" --> very Keppel-ish
"clear right to win" --> I remember reading it from my fav "skin in the game" CEO Lincoln Pan of JMH

Can't help smiling thinking if the CEO (or his copywriter) had also borrowed from US politicians:

When we fight, we win.

Kamala Harris
2024

[LionFlyer]

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapor...re-6359906

SINGAPORE: CapitaLand Investment has laid off approximately 90 employees in Singapore so far this year as part of a restructuring exercise, a company spokesperson said on Thursday (Sep 3).

The retrenchments were part of organisational changes to “support its business and operating requirements” following a periodic review of its organisational structure, the company said in a joint statement with the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees’ Union (SISEU).

“Supporting employees is a key priority,” CapitaLand Investment said, adding that affected employees will receive fair severance arrangements, career transition services and counselling support. Where appropriate, redeployment opportunities within the group will also be considered.

SISEU, an affiliate of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), was informed in advance of the restructuring exercise and has been engaging CapitaLand Investment throughout the process, the joint statement said.

This included representing workers’ interests, ensuring affected employees were treated fairly and that the severance package was in accordance with the collective agreement, as well as supporting employees through the transition.

“SISEU understands that workforce transitions can be challenging for affected employees,” the union said, adding that it will provide further assistance and resources to affected members and employees where needed.

CapitaLand Investment is a global real asset manager headquartered and listed in Singapore, with operations in more than 40 countries.

According to CapitaLand Investment’s 17th Global Sustainability Report, the company had 9,542 staff worldwide in 2025, with 24 per cent – or about 2,290 – based in Singapore.

The retrenchments represent about 4 per cent of its Singapore-based workforce.

[LionFlyer]

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapor...re-6359906

SINGAPORE: CapitaLand Investment has laid off approximately 90 employees in Singapore so far this year as part of a restructuring exercise, a company spokesperson said on Thursday (Sep 3).

The retrenchments were part of organisational changes to “support its business and operating requirements” following a periodic review of its organisational structure, the company said in a joint statement with the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees’ Union (SISEU).

“Supporting employees is a key priority,” CapitaLand Investment said, adding that affected employees will receive fair severance arrangements, career transition services and counselling support. Where appropriate, redeployment opportunities within the group will also be considered.

SISEU, an affiliate of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), was informed in advance of the restructuring exercise and has been engaging CapitaLand Investment throughout the process, the joint statement said.

This included representing workers’ interests, ensuring affected employees were treated fairly and that the severance package was in accordance with the collective agreement, as well as supporting employees through the transition.

“SISEU understands that workforce transitions can be challenging for affected employees,” the union said, adding that it will provide further assistance and resources to affected members and employees where needed.

CapitaLand Investment is a global real asset manager headquartered and listed in Singapore, with operations in more than 40 countries.

According to CapitaLand Investment’s 17th Global Sustainability Report, the company had 9,542 staff worldwide in 2025, with 24 per cent – or about 2,290 – based in Singapore.

The retrenchments represent about 4 per cent of its Singapore-based workforce.

[weijian]

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapor...re-6359906

SINGAPORE: CapitaLand Investment has laid off approximately 90 employees in Singapore so far this year as part of a restructuring exercise, a company spokesperson said on Thursday (Sep 3).

The retrenchments were part of organisational changes to “support its business and operating requirements” following a periodic review of its organisational structure, the company said in a joint statement with the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees’ Union (SISEU).

“Supporting employees is a key priority,” CapitaLand Investment said, adding that affected employees will receive fair severance arrangements, career transition services and counselling support. Where appropriate, redeployment opportunities within the group will also be considered.

SISEU, an affiliate of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), was informed in advance of the restructuring exercise and has been engaging CapitaLand Investment throughout the process, the joint statement said.

This included representing workers’ interests, ensuring affected employees were treated fairly and that the severance package was in accordance with the collective agreement, as well as supporting employees through the transition.

“SISEU understands that workforce transitions can be challenging for affected employees,” the union said, adding that it will provide further assistance and resources to affected members and employees where needed.

CapitaLand Investment is a global real asset manager headquartered and listed in Singapore, with operations in more than 40 countries.

According to CapitaLand Investment’s 17th Global Sustainability Report, the company had 9,542 staff worldwide in 2025, with 24 per cent – or about 2,290 – based in Singapore.

The retrenchments represent about 4 per cent of its Singapore-based workforce.

Post Development and Investment split in late 2021, CLI's global staff count grew and then peaked in end 2024 at ~10.1k (as per Sustainability Report 2024). Coincidentally when 2024 results were announced in early 2025, it came with a 50mil cost savings target (over 2 years) where "workforce optimization" would be one of the contributors. It is also interesting to note that some of the c-suite executives introduced post 2021 de-merger are not around anymore too.

I suppose this is part and parcel of a company's transformation journey.