Oliver Tong

Oliver entered the world of real estate and JLL upon returning to his native Macau after completing his university studies in Australia. Armed with a master’s degree in real estate and property management, he was introduced to a variety of functions during his first three years with the firm: strategic consulting, research, as well as residential, office and industrial sales.

A turning point in Oliver’s career came when JLL Macau followed Hong Kong in the setup of a retail leasing team in 2015. He had to learn the ropes of the retail leasing trade quickly, after taking the role of an in-house property consultant for Four Seasons Macau, and then as a special retail advisor for MGM China.

There, he helped drive the clients’ retail strategy and secured global retailers as tenants at a time when the operator was quickly expanding in Macau. Back at JLL, Oliver and the Macau retail team secured the lease for Legend Heroes Park at the Studio City resort, the first-ever tech-based VR theme park in Macau.

Oliver also spent one year in the Hengqin district in Zhuhai, when he was part of the team driving sales for a client’s residential project there.

“That’s many roles within my time at JLL so far! I think it is the company’s open culture and the management encouraging us to explore different opportunities and rotate between roles, which has enabled this,” he says.

In 2020, Oliver, who was previously overseeing the firm’s retail and leasing business in Macau, expanded his role to concurrently lead the retail department in Hong Kong and Macau, and re-locating to Hong Kong in the process. It was Gregory Ku, JLL’s managing director for Macau, who encouraged him to expand his horizons beyond Macau. 

For someone who is constantly challenging himself and stretching his own limits, he set a New Year’s resolution in 2018 to wake up at 5:30 a.m. every day and has diligently done so since then.

Since arriving in Hong Kong, he has gathered a group of like-minded colleagues to regularly train at the firm’s in-house gym together. Oliver, who holds professional personal trainer qualifications, appreciate the friendships that he has built across departments. “They help push me out of my comfort zone even more!”