Knight Frank Names Craig Shute Greater China CEO, Brunner on Leave

Knight Frank has named new leadership for its Greater China business bringing former JLL and CBRE executive Craig Shute back to Hong Kong for a return engagement.

Shute will take over as chief executive for Greater China at the property consultancy from 1 November as Piers Brunner, who held the role since 2015, takes an extended leave of absence to attend to what the company has described as personal matters.

“We thank Piers for his warm and engaging leadership of our business, particularly during Covid, and wish him well during his leave of absence,” Kevin Coppel, managing director for Knight Frank Asia Pacific said. “At the same time, we welcome Craig and are confident that the breadth of his leadership experience across multiple continents will help us to navigate through the current challenging markets.”

The company said it looks forward to Brunner returning to Knight Frank “in some capacity” in the future, while acknowledging that this might be in a different role. Further details were not available.

Back to Asia

Shute had been serving as managing director for Victoria with JLL in Australia since February 2020 after returning to his home country after spending more than seven years with CBRE in Hong Kong from 2008 through 2016.

“I am pleased to announce that after four fulfilling years at JLL in Victoria, I’m headed back to Asia,” Shute said in a post on LinkedIn. “I’m also thrilled to announce that I will be joining Knight Frank as the CEO of Greater China, based in Hong Kong. In many ways I feel like I’m returning ‘home’.”

A 25-year veteran of the brokerage industry, Shute left Asia to become executive general manager for property with the Adelaide Airport, but stayed there less than a year before signing up with Colliers in the southern Australian city as a national director with its capital markets division, where he stayed until joining JLL in 2020.

Having originally joined what is now CBRE in Adelaide in 1998, Shute spent more than 17 years with the company, including posts in San Diego and Las Vegas.

Hong Kong Mainstay

Brunner is taking his leave from Knight Frank as he reaches the eight-year mark as its top executive for the Greater China region.

Prior to joining the UK-based firm Brunner had spent nearly twenty years with Colliers in the region including working his way up to managing director for Hong Kong before being named chief executive for Asia in 2008 – a position which he held until 2014. He joined Knight Frank one year later.