Alex Jeffrey, CEO of M&G Real Estate, will become head of M&G’s Asia business in the second quarter of 2018, a move the company says reflects “the growing importance of its investment and distribution” in the region.

M&G also said Simon Pilcher, CEO of its institutional fixed income business, will assume responsibility at board level for M&G Real Estate, but added that “the future leadership of the business will be determined” by Jeffrey and Pilcher over the coming months.

Jeffrey joined M&G Real Estate as CEO in July 2012. Before joining, he was founding shareholder and global chief investment officer of MGPA, a real estate investment adviser acquired by BlackRock in 2013.

Pilcher joined M&G in September 1998. Prior to that, he spent nine years at Morgan Grenfell Asset Management.