GLOBAL – EPRA, Areim, Altius, Bouwinvest, Corestate, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, Grosvenor, Kames, KCM
EPRA – Gerard Groener has been named chairman of the industry body, replacing David Atkins, chief executive of Hammerson. Groener, who was appointed at the organisation’s annual conference in Paris this week, is the current chief executive of Corio. EPRA has also appointed Andrew Saunders as director of reporting and accounting and Patrick Laureys as director of European affairs, filling newly created roles following the departure of finance director Gareth Lewis. Saunders joins from Broker Profile Research, while Laureys previously worked in the Belgian Foreign Ministry’s department for European affairs as deputy director of the EU energy, telecoms and transport affairs department. The former civil servant will act as the listed real estate’s representative in Brussels.
Areim – Therese Rattik has taken over as chief executive from founder Leif Andersson, who will instead focus on investor relations and business development. Rattik has been with the company since its launch a decade ago and was made partner in 2007.
Altius Associates – The company has named three co-chief executives following the decision of long-time chief executive John Hess to become executive chairman. Current COO Jenny Fenton, head of investments Brad Young and Eric Warner, head of investor relations, will share responsibility for the running of the company with immediate effect. Fenton is a co-founder of Altius alongside Hess, while Young has worked at the firm for nine years. Warner, meanwhile, joined the firm in 2011 having worked as head of EMEA private equity at consultancy Mercer.
Bouwinvest – The €5.6bn property investor Bouwinvest has doubled the two-strong acquisition team of its Business Unit Netherlands, appointing Mireille Hermsen and Remco Winia to achieve its €500m acquisition target in the Netherlands. They are to focus on hotels and domestic rental property respectively. Hermsen and Winia were already employed by Bouwinvest – as senior asset manager and development manager, respectively.
Corestate – Oliver Zimper has been named head of commercial real estate, also joining the company’s management board and investment committee. Zimper previously worked at IVG Asset Management in Frankfurt as its global head of transactions, but will move to Switzerland for his new role. He has also worked at STAM Europe and was head of acquisitions at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immobilienfonds.
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management – Jörn Stobbe has been named managing director, responsible for asset management and transactions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the real estate business formerly known as RREEF. Stobbe was previously a partner at Clifford Chance and has served as chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in Germany.
Grosvenor Fund Management – Managing director Mervyn Howard is to leave Grosvenor after 12 years, where he was most recently responsible for corporate development. Howard said it had become apparent his role was “no longer appropriate for the business’s needs” and that he looked forward to progressing to the next stage of his career.
Kames Capital – Shaun McWilliams is to join the company’s institutional sales team. Prior to joining the company, he was head of sales and client service for the UK, Ireland and the Nordic region at Axa Real Estate. He will report to the London-based property team headed by Phil Clark.
KCM – Robert-Jan Tel has been appointed as co-director – together with acting director Remco Rothkrantz – of the non-listed real estate team of Kempen Capital Management as of 16 September. During the past four years, Tel has been employed by the €15bn Dutch pension fund of electronics giant Philips, where he set up a €600m non-listed property portfolio. Before then, he was head of real estate at TKP Investments.
