Chew Gek Khim is executive chairman of the Straits Trading Company (STC), part of the Tecity Group founded by her grandfather and former OCBC bank chairman Tan Chin Tuan. Tecity Group also has an investment arm, The Tecity Group Family Office, as well as a philanthropic division, The Tan Chin Tuan Foundation, with a mandate to help the poor, the widowed and the orphaned. Businesswoman and investor Chew is credited with turning the 134-year-old STC, which has its roots in tin smelting, into a streamlined, modern entity focused on hospitality and property. Since Chew took on the chairmanship of STC, the firm has diversified into a modern company with interests in commodities, hospitality and real estate. STC has an 89.5 per cent stake in Straits Real Estate, an investment company with more than $1.7 billion in property assets in the Australian, Singaporean, Malaysian, Japanese, South Korean and Chinese markets. Chew is also chairman of the Malaysia Smelting Corporation and ARA Trust Management (Suntec), and sits on several boards.

The Straits Trading Company posted a net profit of S$673 million for the first half of 2022, measuring up to 5.5 times the net profit posted a year ago.

Propelled by strong contributions from the real estate segment, these positive results, alongside the divestment of ARA Asset Management to ESR Group, have led the company to declare a special dividend, distributing either ESR Shares or Straits Trading share to entitled shareholders.

The divestment value of ARA Asset Management was recognised at S$1.1 billion, an internal rate of retun at 3.7 times equity of the original cost of investment.

https://www.tatlerasia.com/people/chew-gek-khim