EII Capital Management has recruited three new managing directors and opened a London office.
The changes follow the departure of James Rehlaender, managing director and portfolio manager for global real estate securities, and Peter Nieuwland, senior analyst and co-portfolio manager for Europe, among others, last year.
The firm said the new recruits boost its staff numbers in New York, London and Singapore to 14.
The loss of Rehlaender and Nieuwland prompted several US pension funds to drop EII as their global REIT manager, as previously reported.
Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System and Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board both decided to fire EII last year, as did San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System and Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association. San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System was also considering similar action last year.
Andrew Cox has been named head of EII’s new London office having re-joined the firm in September from GIC Real Estate. Paul Pulze, who joined EII in November last year from AEW Capital Management as a portfolio manager, will also be based in the London office.
Michael Hudgins has been hired from JP Morgan Asset Management to chair EII’s global investment committee. Hudgins, who was executive director and global REIT/real estate strategist at JP Morgan, will be based in New York.
In Singapore, Roberto Versace has been appointed as a managing director and portfolio manager, joining from BNY Mellon Investment Management.
Al Otero, EII’s global head of publicly traded real estate investments, said the firm is confident that the expanded team will provide a ”more integrated, analytical approach”.
