Kelvin Fong takes the helm of PropNex as CEO, Ismail Gafoor remains Executive Chairman
The leadership shift comes as PropNex commemorates its 25th anniversary, marking the occasion with several community initiatives and the establishment of a $10 million endowment fund.
“PropNex has actually regularly shown that even as we remain to expand our sales force in Singapore and in the region, we have actually avoided functional slowness and focused on enhancing the general performance of our representatives,” says Gafoor, pointing out inner numbers that suggest deals by PropNex representatives accounted for roughly 64% of all resale HDB, private residential new launches, and resale condo purchases in Singapore last year.
He adds that as CEO, his attention is going to be on encouraging PropNex’s beyond 13,000 sales force in Singapore, innovating its solutions, and improving operational effectiveness. Its total salesperson head count in Singapore translates to about 35% of the market share.
The endowment fund will assist to secure a PropNex Foundation, collectively established by Gafoor and PropNex co-founder Alan Lim, that prepare to grow the fund to $25 million over the next ten years. Returns from the foundation’s investment will certainly go towards programmes that sustain indigent students and educational initiatives.
In a press event on July 15 announcing the management shift and various other business initiatives, Gafoor said that the division of the functions of executive chairman and CEO boosts the firm’s total corporate administration by formalising the division of oversight and management.
Mainboard-listed real estate firm PropNex has disclosed that Kelvin Fong is going to lead the firm as its brand-new chief executive officer, stepping up from his previous duty as deputy CEO. Outgoing CEO Ismail Gafoor, who co-founded the homegrown agency 25 years earlier, will continue to be as the firm’s exec chairperson. He is going to proceed to be actively associated with guiding the business’s calculated course, stakeholder involvement, and Board leadership.
The responsibilities of deputy chief executive officer will be shared among six vital forerunners, namely Eddie Lim, senior vice-president and chief company officer; Marcus Luah, director 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 says that there are no plans to fill the deputy CEO duty at this time.
PropNex also introduced a $6 million contribution to the Area Chest over a 12-month period, 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 agents, in addition to staff and administration. The local agency authorized a memorandum of understanding with Community Chest, pledging to donate $1.5 million annually from 2025 to 2027.
The recently 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.
Finally, Gafoor released a self-enrichment book titled I Am Not Good Enough, that portrays his personal life journey, building up PropNex and his leadership worths. Earnings from the sale of the 27-chapter book will be contributed to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund. The book is going to be marketed from July 16.
Gafoor moves back after leading PropNex Realty to become a leading real estate company in Singapore. Throughout his tenure, he supervised the company’s listing on the Singapore Exchange in July 2018, along with the firm’s local expansion in recent times. Nowadays, PropNex has actually established a market presence in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia. It has a mixed network of more than 16,000 property agents.
Fong joined PropNex in 2002 and was assigned an executive head in June 2018 and eventually promoted to deputy CEO in August 2023. “I’ve had the opportunity of growing together with PropNex for over two decades, and I’m deeply committed to preserving the culture that has made us who we are,” states Fong.
Other leadership visits at PropNex were revealed in March. Dominic Lee who was managing the high-end team for the past decade, is head of investment sales. Simultaneously, Jason Tan assumed the role of chief method expert. He was the advisory associate branch district director at PropNex, leading a team of over 1,000 sales representatives. Tan also worked as a tech expert on PropNex’s proprietary apps: Investment Suite and Business Suite.
