Kelvin Fong takes the helm of PropNex as CEO, Ismail Gafoor remains Executive Chairman
The responsibilities of deputy CEO will be shared among 6 vital forerunners, particularly Eddie Lim, senior vice-president and head firm officer; Marcus Luah, head of business growth; Bobby Sng, head of development leadership; Ken Ng, director of development business; Benjamin Tan, head of business method; and Cijay Tew, head of training and development. PropNex claims that there are no strategies to fill the deputy CEO duty currently.
Lastly, Gafoor released a self-enrichment book entitled I Am Not Good Enough, that illustrates his personal life journey, accumulating PropNex and his management worths. Profits from the sale of the 27-chapter book will be given away to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund. The book will be offered from July 16.
The endowment fund will assist to anchor a PropNex Structure, collectively developed by Gafoor and PropNex co-founder Alan Lim, who prepare to expand the fund to $25 million over the following ten years. Returns from the structure’s investment will go towards programmes that support indigent students and educational campaigns.
He adds that as CEO, his emphasis is going to be on empowering PropNex’s beyond 13,000 sales force in Singapore, innovating its solutions, and boosting operational effectiveness. Its total salesperson head count in Singapore translates to about 35% of the industry share.
In a press activity on July 15 announcing the leadership shift and other company efforts, Gafoor stated that the separation of the functions of exec chairman and chief executive officer improves the firm’s overall corporate governance by formalising the branch of oversight and monitoring.
Gafoor moves back after leading PropNex Realty to come to be a leading real estate firm in Singapore. Throughout his tenure, he looked after the business’s listing on the Singapore Exchange in July 2018, in addition to the company’s regional growth recently. Today, PropNex has already developed a market existence in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia. It has a combined network of greater than 16,000 property agents.
Fong signed up with PropNex in 2002 and was appointed an executive head in June 2018 and subsequently promoted to deputy CEO in August 2023. “I’ve had the privilege of growing alongside PropNex for over twenty years, and I’m deeply dedicated to maintaining the society that has made us who we are,” claims Fong.
PropNex also introduced a $6 million contribution to the Neighborhood Chest over a 12-month duration, the largest single donation to the charity in its history. The amount was raised through voluntary pledges of a part of sales compensations by PropNex representatives, in addition to staff and administration. The local agency signed a memorandum of understanding with Community Chest, pledging to donate $1.5 million each year from 2025 to 2027.
Mainboard-listed realty firm PropNex has announced that Kelvin Fong is going to take the firm as its new chief executive officer, stepping up from his past duty as deputy CEO. Outgoing Chief Executive Officer Ismail Gafoor, who co-founded the homegrown agency 25 years ago, will continue to be as the company’s executive chairperson. He will proceed to be actively involved in leading the firm’s strategic path, stakeholder involvement, and Board leadership.
The management transition comes as PropNex celebrates its 25th anniversary, noting the occasion with several area campaigns and the establishment of a $10 million endowment fund.
“PropNex has actually regularly displayed that even as we continue to expand our sales force in Singapore and in the region, we have stayed clear of functional slowness and focused on increasing the overall efficiency of our agents,” says Gafoor, citing inner numbers that indicate purchases by PropNex agents made up around 64% of all resale HDB, private residential brand-new release, and resale condo purchases in Singapore last year.
Other leadership visits at PropNex were announced in March. Dominic Lee who was supervising the high-end team for the past years, is head of financial investment sales. At the same time, Jason Tan assumed the role of chief strategy officer. He was the advising associate branch district director at PropNex, leading a group of over 1,000 sales representatives. Tan also worked as a tech specialist on PropNex’s proprietary apps: Investment Suite and Business Suite.
The newly developed PropNex Foundation was officially launched at a company-wide event at Marina Bay Sands on July 15, graced by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, that looked after the very first disbursement of $254,000 to 160 students.
