Nicholas Allenassumed the role of board chairman at LinkReal Estate Investment Trust's manager, effective April 1.

Link Asset Management Ltd. said April 1 that NicholasSallnow-Smith stepped down as the company's chairman of the board on March 31after completing nine years of service with the group.

Allen also took over as the chairman of the finance andinvestment committee and the nomination committee.

In addition to serving on the boards of "high-profile"publicly listed companies, Allen previously served on the Securities andFutures Appeal Panel, the Takeovers and Mergers Panel, the Takeovers AppealCommittee and the Share Registrars' Disciplinary Committee of the Hong KongSecurities and Futures Commission.

The manager also appointed Blair Pickerell independentnonexecutive director. Pickerell also joined the nomination committee and theremuneration committee.

Additionally, the company's independent nonexecutivedirector, Elaine Young, joined the remuneration committee as a member andanother independent nonexecutive director, Nancy Tse, joined the audit and riskcommittee as a member. Tse, however, ceased to be a member of the remunerationcommittee. Ed Chan, also an independent nonexecutive director, joined thefinance and investment committee as a member.