ERA Singapore Management and Trusted Advisers Raised $231K to Lead ESG Efforts in Real Estate Industry and Community Outreach

In a bid to propel ERA’s ESG
efforts, the ESG by ERA committee will be chaired by Ms Doris Ong, who is the
newly appointed Deputy CEO of ERA Singapore. “We’re proud to lead these efforts
and promote the adoption of ESG practices among our staff, trusted advisers,
clients and corporate partners in their daily life and decision-making
process,” said Ms Ong. “ERA’s contribution towards the Hong Kah North
Sustainability Fund is a good start, and we will strive to become a green
corporate citizen in other areas such as tackling the distribution of bottled
water at property launches, incorporating and promoting green practices inside
and outside the company. We have more initiatives in the pipeline and will
continue to harmonise ESG frameworks into our business strategy and day-to-day
operations.”

As the only real estate agency in
Singapore to own its building, ERA is also taking the lead in maintaining high green standards within ERA
APAC Centre, as well as raising awareness among its clients and the
industry on this pillar. Since moving its headquarters to ERA APAC Centre last
year, ERA has installed energy-efficient
appliances and lights during the renovation phase to ensure an
environmental friendly workspace. The building is currently in the midst of
approval for the BCA Green Mark certification scheme. ERA will continue to
maintain and uphold its energy saving standards in all offices and will monitor
and analyse its energy consumption patterns with the aim to lower the energy intensity ratio and
greenhouse gas emissions.

The company has also made a
significant progress in reducing its
carbon footprint through the adoption of paperless submission of documents
via e-Form, creation of personalised digital materials such as e-books, flyers,
mailers and website for marketing purposes, as well as reduced usage of
cheques.

PROMOTE ECONOMIC, PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELL-BEING OF ERA’S
TRUSTED ADVISERS

Employee well-being has become a
key issue for the ‘Social’ pillar under ESG, especially with the increased
stress levels during the Covid-19 pandemic. Firmly entrenched in its sharing
and caring culture, ERA’s network of trusted advisers are encouraged to support
one another.

ERA has been making changes to
further improve the economic, physical and mental well-being of their trusted
advisers:

1. ERA advocates gender equality and provides fair opportunities for
   all. As one of the few female C-Suite leaders in the real estate industry,
   Ms Doris Ong is breaking glass
   ceilings as the new Deputy CEO of
   ERA. She spearheads an integral division, Project Marketing, which secured
   ERA as Singapore’s first real estate agency to clinch projects from
   conglomerate developers. She leads a team that has planned
   and executed marketing launches for over 200 international and
   local residential projects. 
2. ERA believes in encouraging its trusted advisers to reach their
   full potential through motivational
   recognition programs. During the Q4 Career Advancement Day, ERA senior
   management handed out tokens of
   appreciation to the esteemed patrons who contributed towards the ESG
   at ERA funds, as well as awards
   for its existing and new trusted advisers who achieved outstanding
   performance in the last quarter.
3. Continuing its annual Loyalty
   Growth Dividends initiative, ERA will be giving out approximately S$1
   million in 2022 to appreciate and recognise its top-performing leaders in
   ERA and to share the fruits of the company. This initiative serves to
   underline ERA’s focus on investing on human capital – one that is heavily
   vested on recruitment and retention.
4. To support the teambuilding
   efforts of ERA’s division directors, the company will also invest an
   average amount of $18,000 for each division director under DD Branch-Out
   Bonus Scheme.
5. ERA’s CEO Mr Marcus Chu personally hosted a 4-hour long Positive Mental Attitude sharing session for its
   network of trusted advisers. The first session featured 4 ERA teammates as
   special guests who shared stories about pivotal moments and near-death
   experiences that changed their lives. Mr Chu plans to conduct the session
   regularly to guide and protect its trusted advisers from conditions such
   as depression and anxiety.
6. A collaboration with
   CGS-CIMB, the #1 market share brokerage firm in Singapore for the last
   three years, to promote financial
   literacy and empowerment among busy ERA trusted advisers via their
   digital investment platform, ProsperUS.
   ERA’s trusted advisers are given complimentary access to all educational
   materials such as weekly charts, investment articles covering three major
   markets – Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States, as well as live
   webinars to help them achieve financial security through portfolio
   diversification in real estate and stocks. Both organisations will also
   integrate the ESG criteria into the collaboration to promote sustainable
   investment and long-term growth to safeguard their future.
7. Featuring ample greenery, the ground floor of ERA APAC Centre
   provides a creative, conducive, and
   collaborative work space for its network of trusted advisers. It is
   named Everyday @ ERA, a tangible vision of the company to create a place
   to work, learn and nurture the OneERA spirit everyday amongst ERA trusted
   advisers.

CONSTANT DEVELOPMENT OF EVOLUTIONARY SOLUTIONS FOR BETTER
EFFECIENCY

ERA continues to build stronger
digital capabilities to mitigate risks, seize new opportunities and gain
competitive advantage for its network of trusted advisers and clients. The
company releases the 0.4 version of its
RealtyWatch mobile app, highlighting the following new features:

• To address the current challenges faced by tenants when locating
  the right home, ERA will be introducing a game-changing innovation – Real-time Rental Home Finder. Utilising
  50 millions data points, the Rental Home Finder is an integration of public
  transport directory and home search platform, allowing tenants to find
  properties based on public transport routes (Train and Bus) that match their
  budget.
• Integration of OneMap3D which allows users to experience a
  richer view of the surroundings of a particular property and shadow casting
  according to different time of a day for a particular property, as well as
  other useful capabilities such as location-based information, navigational
  services, and the use of open-source technologies.

These will value-add its salient
features including 24/7 notifications on neighbourhood property transactions,
comprehensive property calculators, intelligent property portfolios
personalised by Robo Advisor, generating instant estimated valuations of
properties, instant search of new launch homes with real-time availability, and
viewing of up-to-date mortgage packages from major banks. Individuals can download RealtyWatch Mobile App
on the App Store; or get it on Google Play.

Collaboration is a key success factor when it
comes to sustainability. With that in mind, ERA has collaborated with leaders
from various sectors, such as Redbrick, EdgeProp, EcoProp and Singapore Land
Authority, since July this year to build an integrated and sustainable digital
ecosystem for the benefits of real estate trusted advisers and the
community. 

The company will also be signing an MOU with
Endowus, the country’s first and only digital advisor for CPF, SRS and cash
savings, to further consumer literacy on real estate progression and wealth
planning.

Appendix A:

List of Esteemed Patrons Contributing to the Initial ESG
Fundraising of S$231,000

1. Jack Chua, Executive Chairman
2. Marcus Chu, CEO
3. Doris Ong, Deputy CEO
4. Thomas Tan, COO, Agency Business
5. Eugene Lim, Key Executive Officer
6. Kevin Lim, Chief Agency Director
7. Chris Chen, Advisory Group Division Director
8. Eugene Koh, Advisory Group Division Director
9. Kavin Kuah, Branch Division Director
10. Lynn Er, Branch Division Director
11. Liu Ming, Associate Division Director
12. Gina Tng, Division Director
13. Kane Seow, Branch Division Director
14. Eric Goh, Branch Division Director
15. Tiger Ng, Senior Group Division Director
16. Dulcie Liu, Branch Division Director
17. Bryan Setho, Senior Division Director
18. Zac Huang, Advisory Group Division Director
19. Alex Lim, Advisory Group Division Director
20. Alicia Yang, Group Division Director
21. Kelvin Neo, Senior Group Division Director