Hines Europe CIO Knapp to lead global real estate at NBIM

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) has appointed Alexander Knapp, the chief investment officer for Europe at Hines, as the new head of its global real estate business. 

The manager of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global has hired Knapp to the fund’s NOK363.58bn (€30.87bn) listed and unlisted global real estate investments and strategy. 

Knapp joins NBIM after over 16 years at global real estate investment manager Hines, where he served as the firm’s Europe CIO since 2019. Prior to being CIO, he held the position of senior managing director in the European living team and also led the Hines student accommodation platform, following five years in the Hines London office executive programme from 2009.

NBIM said Knapp will take up his new position on 16 June. 

Knapp’s appointment follows NBIM’s announcement in late 2024 that Mie Caroline Holstad, the chief investment officer of real assets, would be leaving the fund.

Holstad’s departure was announced following NBIM’s disclosure of a restructuring that integrates its real assets investment operation into a newly formed active strategies department within its equities management.

Holstad was appointed to the role in 2020, shortly after Nicolai Tangen became chief executive officer of NBIM. At the time, she replaced Karsten Kallevig, who had previously headed NBIM’s separate unlisted real estate subsidiary established in 2014.

In 2019 NBIM eliminated its separate property division and reduced its target real estate allocation to 3% to 5%, from 7%.

As at the end of 2024, real estate which comprised 910 investments in 14 countries, accounted for 1.8 % of NBIM’s NOK18.67trn portfolio.

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