REAL ESTATE - Real estate advisory firm DTZ has announced that it is seeking a replacement for finance director Tim Maynard, who is to leave the firm by the end of the year to explore unspecified "new opportunities".

Maynard told IPE Real Estate: "I’ve been there five years and I like challenges." Maynard said he had not yet decided between operations and finance, or whether he would stay in the real estate industry.

The timing of the announcement – his planned departure in the fourth quarter will extend his tenure beyond his contractual obligation – reflects an amicable separation and his commitment to an orderly handover.

"I didn’t want to start looking for other opportunities behind their backs," he said. "They’ve been good to me, and I’ll miss them."

The firm has yet to appoint his successor, although it has appointed a headhunter. Maynard will be involved in drawing up the job profile and the interview process.

Meanwhile, Morley has appointed four new hires to its fund management team after promoting head of European property Ben Stirling to the property executive. The new appointments are fund manager Robert Wood, acquisitions manager Andreas von Gossler, asset manager Lorenzo Segre and acquisition analyst Matthew Hills.

In other news, Invista and ING this week announced the appointment of non-executive directors

Invista added Robert deNormandie to its board. DeNormandie runs a Luxembourg-based consultancy offering governance and directorship services to fund managers. He was previously chief financial officer of Pioneer Global Asset Management.

"From a regulatory perspective, we need to have a certain number of directors domiciled here," said Invista investor relations manager Paul Murphy. "He’s an addition, not a replacement. He has financial skills and experience in running boards."

ING’s UK Real Estate Income Trust meanwhile appointed Tjeerd Borstlap, a non-shareholder, as non-executive director. Borstlap is chief financial officer at ING Real Estate Investment Management.