PGIM Real Estate Archives | The Glasshammer

“The thread that ties my previous roles together, and I am most grateful for, is strong mentorship,” says Su Lin Wee. “But it’s a two-way street: you have to show up, put in the hours and deliver results.”

Wee, who is based in Singapore, delves into the foundational experiences that influenced her approach to leadership and her dedication to uplifting others – especially women.

From architecture to asset management

From the outset of her career, Wee has been inspired by strong women leaders. After earning her master’s in architecture, she joined Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and played a key role in shaping the modern urban landscape of Singapore’s historically-rich Bras Basah and Bugis districts in the heart of the city.

“Working directly with successful women leaders was a great start to my career,” Wee says. “I served under many high performing women who were in CEO, Chief Planner and department head roles during my time at the URA. Starting out in an environment with strong female leadership made it feel natural, and I was fortunate to have great role models who gave me many opportunities to learn and grow.”

When Wee transitioned from urban planning to real estate development and asset management, she again found the support of mentors to be instrumental to her growth.

As a development lead for Asian developer, CapitaLand, Wee signed up for the challenge of delivering a $1.2 billion USD retail and office development in Singapore from the ground up, while facing a tight budget, short timeline and a competing developer nearby who already had a head start.

“Despite my prior experience with previous projects, stepping into the role of a development lead for such a large project presented new challenges. Managing a team that included individuals senior to me, in both age and experience, required respectful navigation and was a two-way street.”

Wee adds, “I had to work hard to earn the trust of the team to show them that I was the right person to lead the project. I benefited from the great support from my manager who gave me invaluable lessons in building trust and leadership skills, through his advocacy and close mentorship.”

The project was completed on time and within budget, and Wee speaks fondly of the great team rapport and lasting relationships that she built throughout this experience.

Wee’s experience at CapitaLand helped prepare her for her current role as Head of Asset Management for Southeast Asia, Hong Kong & China at PGIM Real Estate, which manages $206 billion USD of assets globally, including $9.4 billion USD in Asia Pacific. She is thrilled to engage in fulfilling work across various geographies and diverse teams to make a positive impact.

“The funds we manage generate more than financial value–we deploy solutions to ensure that buildings we construct or enhance are more sustainable, energy-efficient and help conserve water.”

Committed to empowering her team

Given the pivotal role mentorship has played in shaping Wee as a leader, it’s unsurprising that she is a passionate advocate for others, taking a strong interest in her team members’ growth, even if it means that they might move on to another team or company.

“I encourage openness about career aspirations. If there is another role beyond asset management that they are interested in, then I provide honest feedback on their fit for the role. If they choose to leave because it’s what’s good for them and makes them happy, then I am happy, since I want them to be able to grow.”

Wee also makes it a point of ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard.

“I value the diversity in our teams and always encourage some of our quieter, more reserved team members to speak up. Going around the table and giving them space to express their points of view lets everyone benefit from different perspectives.”

Wee firmly believes that a positive, encouraging environment is key to getting women to speak up more and make their opinions heard at work. “There’s no need to wait until you’re in a leadership position to be an advocate. Simple day-to-day acts like showing an active interest in a colleague’s ideas on a call, or helping them develop these ideas, can go a long way.”

Recently completing a PGIM leadership training, Wee reflects on how the experience reminded her that asserting one’s viewpoint can be challenging, even for leaders.

“As women, we sometimes second-guess ourselves before speaking or voicing our opinions. It turned out that many of the attendees at the training sessions, regardless of gender, nationality, background or even how confident they looked to me, shared that they sometimes felt hesitant to speak in a group and would rather stay silent than risk saying something contradictory.”

Wee continues, “Once we get over that initial hesitation, we realize, ‘Hey, the world hasn’t come crashing down, regardless of what we’ve said. Now, it’s just muscle memory to focus on contributing to discussions and bringing everyone forward.’”

Quieting the inner critic

Wee admits to being the hardest on herself, often setting increasingly high standards for her accomplishments.

“I am my own worst critic, and I believe many women face this too. We tend to be hard on ourselves, but it’s important to also recognize when we’ve earned our place through hard work, skills and experience.”

Creating networking opportunities for current and future women leaders

Uplifting others beyond the workplace, Wee is the co-chair of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI), a non-profit that focuses on raising the visibility and number of women leaders in the real estate industry. In her role, Wee creates programs that provide opportunities for younger women to network with industry leaders in an informal environment.

“The WLI programs we plan aim to break down barriers and allow women to listen and connect with senior leaders.” She asserts, “Sometimes, all you need is a friendly face and an introduction.”

From her experience, Wee understands the impact that these relationships can have and is looking forward to continuing her work with the WLI in the future.

“It’s invigorating to interact with other women and help one another network and grow.”

Outside of work, Wee enjoys running to stay fit and find time to think. Despite her busy schedule as a mother and professional, she regularly makes time for a run – even while on vacation with her family. No matter where she travels, she always packs her running shoes, ready to explore her new environment.

By Jessica Robaire

Christine Fritz, Portfolio Manager, PGIM, Germany, highlights how inclusive leadership helps women overcome hurdles in their careers.

Though she’s lived in Europe for more than 25 years—15 of those in Munich, Germany—and speaks three languages, Christine Fritz credits her upbringing in the New York City suburbs with shaping the attitude she’s brought to her 20-year career in real estate.

“American education puts a lot of emphasis on creativity and taking a broad view of things,” she says. “Being outspoken and authentically you is encouraged. I bring that approach to my team by encouraging everyone’s diverse strengths.”

Fritz is co-portfolio manager of PGIM Real Estate’s European core equity strategy, responsible for a key part of the asset manager’s nearly $15 billion in assets under management and administration in Europe. The strategy invests in high-quality, income-producing properties across the logistics, prime office, residential, senior and student housing sectors throughout Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

For International Women’s Day, Fritz spoke about her role at PGIM, her career, and why it’s important to create and support an environment of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and beyond.

Success requires diverse thinking

Throughout a tough real estate cycle, her team’s focus has been on growing the European core strategy’s income by increasing rental income, working with on-the-ground property managers and keeping tenants happy. That approach has seen success—the strategy has an over 96% occupancy rate and was responsible for 15% of all logistics leases signed in the German capital, Berlin, last year.

An important part of that is understanding what makes real estate assets more attractive.

“Real estate is about living and working, but also about the places in between,” Fritz says. “Designing places and looking at investments with the safety and comfort of the whole population in mind allows us to make a positive impact and make better investments.”

She quotes Danish architect Jan Gehl, “If you design places for 2-year-olds and for 82-year-olds, you will achieve the best possible result for all ages.”

Fritz says that in real estate, diversity of perspectives is vital to selecting successful investments across different countries and asset classes.

“Trends will often start in one location and then move to other countries,” she says. “If you talk to different people, you can get a broad perspective of how things are moving and use that information to predict how things might move in the future.”

Surviving the balancing act

Diverse, however, didn’t describe the work environment Fritz encountered early on in her career at a different firm.

“All my colleagues at the time were male,” Fritz says. “They were all going to meet up with the brokers to play soccer together. It didn’t occur to anyone to invite me, even though I played soccer in school.”

Many times, the slights were much more subtle—and Fritz doesn’t doubt that many of her colleagues were simply unaware of them. But returning from maternity leave after the birth of her first child, she saw just how insidious such behaviors could be.

The office was mostly empty by 6:30 p.m., but Fritz received pushback for leaving at 6 p.m. to be home with her child. The culture at the firm didn’t encourage speaking up about it.

“People treated me like I was working part time. They even made jokes about it,” she says. “It didn’t matter how many women had the same issue. It didn’t exist.”

Change begins with speaking up and leadership that listens.

Fritz says the environment at her current employer is far different.

When Fritz joined PGIM three years ago, the real estate industry was entering a crisis. The pandemic and remote work were decimating the office space market, and after Russia invaded Ukraine, central banks throughout the world began fighting inflation with increasing interest rates, causing values to fall.

Yet Fritz noted PGIM Real Estate remains committed to its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. One of them was PGIM Real Estate’s Inclusion Leadership Network, a global grassroots organization focused on driving culture change and inclusion by building awareness and removing hurdles in the careers of under-represented groups, whether based on race, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, or disability. Focused on moving the needle on a local level, the ILN also has quarterly virtual meetups including colleagues from all over the world, to discuss challenges faced in the workplace, improve networking and career opportunities, and help the business change for the better.

Fritz was encouraged by leadership to join the network and become one of its co-leads in Europe.

“The senior management here really sees the business case behind this,” Fritz says.

Listening to colleagues from different backgrounds across different functions gave Fritz a broader perspective on what it meant to create a truly inclusive culture.

“I’ve learned about the challenges faced by people with different backgrounds and life experiences, about my own privilege and blind spots,” Fritz says. “I’ve learned about all the hurdles I haven’t had to jump over.”

Since Fritz joined, the Inclusion Leadership Network in Germany has hosted breakfast networking sessions, at a time the group finds most convenient for working parents who may need time to drop their kids off at school.

“Being able to talk openly about where the gaps are, and have people listen, is a massive improvement over what I’d seen before in the industry,” Fritz says.

Now a mom of two—a six- and a 10-year-old—when she speaks with other women in the field, Fritz emphasizes that keeping one’s authenticity amidst the challenges is key to a successful career.

“I don’t want anyone to think that it’s always easy or that you have to be a superhero to manage it,” she says. “What really matters to you? Finding a way to balance your priorities means talking openly about the trade-offs that you want or have to make.”

Contributed by PGIM Real Estate

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Su Lin Wee: Executive Director, Head of Asset Management, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong & China, PGIM Real Estate