Marcus Sperber, BlackRock’s former global real estate head, has launched a new property investment and advisory business.
Sperber, who stepped down from his role at BlackRock last year, is to lead NorthCroft Capital together with David Bearman, a founding partner of Firefly Capital. Sperber will also lead the advisory business at NorthCroft Capital.
Prior to his global real estate head role at BlackRock, Sperber was head of the EMEA real estate business and was formerly the portfolio manager of BlackRock’s UK property fund. He joined Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in 2002, prior to its merger with BlackRock in 2006.
On 1 August, Sperber was appointed to the board of Canadian real estate firm Cadillac Fairview as a non-executive director.
Bearman joined Durlacher Corporation, a specialist investment bank, before being appointed CEO of Eden Group in 2001. In 2013, he helped found Firefly Capital where he leads its real estate investment activities.
“I have spent my career leading people and matching capital with successful, sustainable and resilient assets, and I think there is significant opportunity in the current market for intelligent investing in both fixed assets and their supporting operational platforms,” said Sperber.
“I believe that Marcus’ real estate and risk management expertise and my experience in structuring and deal execution, will complement each other perfectly as we look to build our principal investment activities,” said Bearman.
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