Savills’ Managing Director of Hotels in Asia, Raymond Kimball Clement, has tragically passed away over the weekend.
Clement (44), was a a popular figure in the hotel community in Asia-Pacific and his passing has come as a shock to many across the globe.
He joined Savills in Singapore in July 2012 as a Managing Director in the hotels team and over the past eight and a half years, Clement was instrumental in the expansion of Savills’ Hotels investment and advisory services by founding and setting up the accommodation business in the Asia Pacific region.
Prior to this, he was a Director in the Hotels team at CBRE for almost five years, based in Sydney and Singapore.
With over 20 years’ experience, Clement was well known in the industry for his professionalism and intelligence, as well as his humour and energy, that helped establish one of Asia Pacific’s leading hotel advisory and transactions businesses.
Clement’s friend and colleague George Nicholas, Savills’ Global Head of Hotels, said his passing was tragic on personal and professional levels.
“This past weekend we lost a colleague, a leader, and a dear friend,” he said. “I was fortunate to have had Ray as a business partner and friend for more than a decade spanning continents and watched in admiration as he assembled and built one of Asia-Pacific’s leading hotel advisory and transactions businesses.
“First and foremost a proud and loving father and husband, Ray was also a committed athlete.
“He was passionate about his adopted Australia, while at the same time proud of the America in which he grew up and loved the richness and diversity of Asia where he made his home with his family for the past 13 years.
“We will miss his energy, humour and insight and will honour his legacy in the best way we can by continuing to serve his clients, who he called his friends,” Nicholas said.
Savills CEO of Asia (excluding China), Christian Mancini, said: “In moments like this, our thoughts are drawn away from Ray’s professional accomplishments, many though they were, and toward the vacuum created by the sudden loss of a comrade and friend.
“All of that will pale in comparison to the loss felt by his children, Jaxson and Harper, both now and in the years to come.
“I pray they come to learn of his legacy as a nuanced and complex man, possessed of a boundless imagination, fierce intellect, and, most of all, an unshakeable sense of loyalty to his family, his friends and his colleagues.
“He was a colleague of distinction and will be sorely missed in that regard. More than any of that, though, I will miss my friend.”
Details of a memorial service will be announced over the coming days.