Leadership rejigs at PropNex, Kelvin Fong named as Deputy CEO and Eddie Lim as CAO

PropNex, a multinational realty firm, has promoted Kelvin Fong to the position of Deputy CEO and Eddie Lim to Chief Agency Officer, with immediate effect. This announcement was made during the Mid-Year Convention 2023 held on August 23, 2023.

Ismail Gafoor, the current Executive Chairman and CEO, will continue to provide strategic leadership and executive responsibility for the Group’s operations. Additionally, PropNex has made the following changes to their leadership team:

1. Michael Koh promoted to Chief Technology Officer role
2. Bobby Sng promoted to Agency VP of Leadership Development role
3. Cijay Tew promoted to Agency VP of Training and Development role
4. Marcus Luah promoted as Agency VP of Business Growth role
5. Benjamin Tan appointed as Agency VP of Business Strategy
6. Ken Ng appointed as the Agency VP of Business Development

These leadership changes at PropNex Singapore are aimed at capturing a significant share of the property market and enhancing customer service excellence as part of their growth strategy.

Extending well-wishes to the leadership team, Gafoor said, "Congratulations to Kelvin, Eddie, and our new Agency Vice Presidents on their well-deserved promotions. These promotions not only reflect our substantial talent pool and leadership calibre but also underscore the ample and equal opportunities for career advancement at PropNex. The current PropNex key management, along with our newly appointed C-suites and Agency Vice Presidents, possess over 200 years of collective real estate knowledge. I am confident that they are the right team to strengthen PropNex’s market-leading position as we work toward achieving our Vision 2025 of reaching 15,000 salespersons. Under their guidance, our professionalism and customer service will be elevated to the next level. This new leadership architecture also reflects our long-term vision and foresight to future-proof PropNex in an evolving landscape. As we pursue our expansion plans, an experienced management bench with a synergistic mindset, especially one that has grown with PropNex over the years, will provide us with the added wisdom, flexibility, and agility to always stay ahead of the curve and ensure the successful execution of our strategies."

Remarking on his promotion, Fong stated, "I look forward to introducing new initiatives that empower our salespersons with timely data and technological support, enabling them to remain relevant in the property market and continue delivering value and professionalism to our customers. Since 2011, we have witnessed the implementation of 10 cooling measures in the property market, making the journey to buy or rent a home increasingly challenging for customers as new guidelines are continually introduced. Simultaneously, technological advancement has disrupted the conventional process of buying a home, where speed and real-time data are crucial to closing a deal. This underscores the need for continuous learning among sales agents to maintain the professionalism required to advise and protect the interests of our customers."

Fong, who currently serves as an Executive Director and Board Member, joined PropNex in 2002, while Lim, in the role of Senior VP, became a part of the team in 2013.

Fong brings to his role more than 20 years of experience in real estate sales and team building. His expertise encompasses operational efficiency, team revitalisation, product innovation, and elevating service standards across the organisation. He spearheads sales and leadership training programs like the PropNex boot camp, empowering over 2,000 salespersons annually in collaboration with other team leaders. In his new role, Fong will lead the realty firm’s Singapore agency operations and strategies in conjunction with Gafoor. He will also oversee the training development curriculum and collaborate closely with Koh to expedite the implementation of its IT and digitalisation strategies, which are crucial in light of the disruptive prop-tech landscape.

Taking on his new role, Lim, with over 12 years of real estate experience, will work closely with Fong and other team leaders to formulate strategic plans for enhancing the scale, productivity, and efficiency of the sales teams at PropNex. He will also be responsible for overseeing the development of capabilities and career paths for the team leaders.