Kelvin Fong takes the helm of PropNex as CEO, Ismail Gafoor remains Executive Chairman
The freshly developed PropNex Foundation was formally released at a company-wide event at Marina Bay Sands on July 15, graced by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who managed the initial disbursement of $254,000 to 160 students.
Fong joined PropNex in 2002 and was designated an executive director in June 2018 and eventually promoted to deputy CEO in August 2023. “I’ve had the opportunity of growing alongside PropNex for over two decades, and I’m deeply committed to safeguarding the culture that has made us who we are,” says Fong.
He adds that as CEO, his attention will be on empowering PropNex’s more than 13,000 sales force in Singapore, innovating its solutions, and improving operational effectiveness. Its total salesperson headcount in Singapore translates to about 35% of the market share.
Finally, Gafoor released a self-enrichment book titled I Am Not Good Enough, which portrays his personal life journey, accumulating PropNex and his management values. Proceeds from the sale of the 27-chapter book are going to be given away to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund. The book will be offered from July 16.
The endowment fund will aid to anchor a PropNex Foundation, collectively developed by Gafoor and PropNex co-founder Alan Lim, that plan to grow the fund to $25 million over the following ten years. Returns from the foundation’s investment will go towards programmes that sustain underprivileged students and educational efforts.
Gafoor steps back after top PropNex Real estate to become a leading realty agency in Singapore. During his tenure, he supervised the business’s listing on the Singapore Exchange in July 2018, as well as the business’s local development in the last few years. Nowadays, PropNex has established an industry existence in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia. It has a combined network of greater than 16,000 realty agents.
The leadership change comes as PropNex commemorates its 25th anniversary, marking the occasion with a number of area efforts and the building of a $10 million endowment fund.
Mainboard-listed realty company PropNex has already disclosed that Kelvin Fong is going to lead the firm as its new CEO, stepping up from his prior role as deputy CEO. Outgoing Chief Executive Officer Ismail Gafoor, who co-founded the homegrown firm 25 years back, will continue to be as the business’s exec chairman. He is going to continue to be actively associated with guiding the firm’s strategic direction, stakeholder involvement, and Board management.
Other leadership visits at PropNex were announced in March. Dominic Lee who was heading the deluxe team for the last ten years, is head of financial investment sales. Simultaneously, Jason Tan assumed the role of chief method officer. He was the advising associate branch district director at PropNex, leading a group of over 1,000 salespersons. Tan additionally acted as a technology consultant on PropNex’s proprietary apps: Investment Suite and Business Suite.
In a press activity on July 15 introducing the management change and other firm efforts, Gafoor stated that the splitting up of the roles of exec chairman and chief executive officer improves the business’s overall corporate governance by formalising the branch of oversight and monitoring.
“PropNex has actually regularly displayed that still as we remain to grow our sales force in Singapore and in the region, we have avoided functional slowness and focused on enhancing the general performance of our agents,” states Gafoor, pointing out inner figures that suggest purchases by PropNex agents made up approximately 64% of all resale HDB, private residential brand-new launches, and resale condominium deals in Singapore last year.
The responsibilities of deputy CEO will be shared among 6 key heads, particularly Eddie Lim, senior vice-president and head company officer; Marcus Luah, director of business growth; Bobby Sng, head of development leadership; Ken Ng, head of development business; Benjamin Tan, head of business approach; and Cijay Tew, head of training and development. PropNex says that there are no plans to fill the deputy CEO function right now.
PropNex also revealed a $6 million payment to the Community Chest over a 12-month duration, the largest single contribution to the charity in its history. The amount was raised through voluntary pledges of a part of sales compensations by PropNex agents, along with team and management. The local agency signed a memorandum of recognizing with Community Chest, pledging to donate $1.5 million yearly from 2025 to 2027.
