Swift Current Energy, Pacifico Energy, Atlantic Power & Utilities, Dexus, AustralianSuper, Macquarie Group, Warburg Pincus, Commerz Real, Harrison Street, Boreal IM, Ancala, Fifth Wall, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, I Squared, Kayne Anderson Real Estate
Dexus – Nik Kemp, the global head of real assets at AustralianSuper, has joined the fund manager in a newly created role of executive general manager for growth markets. Kemp, who built up and ran a A$50bn(€31bn) real assets portfolio at Australia’s largest super fund, will spearhead Dexus’s expansion into infrastructure. Kemp is also a non-executive director on the boards of Sydney Airport and WestConnex. Dexus has also appointed Marjan van der Burg to the role of chief people officer. Prior to joining Dexus, van der Burg held a number of roles at Macquarie Group in Australia and overseas. After 11 years at Dexus, Deborah Coakley will be stepping down as chief executive, funds management to pursue another opportunity. Dexus will undertake an internal and external recruitment process for the funds management executive role. In the interim, Du Vernet will work closely with the funds management leadership team and capital partners.
Commerz Real – Jens Böhnlein is leaving the real assets manager on 30 September 2024 to take up a new challenge. Böhnlein’s most recent position is global head of asset management and sustainability, a role he has held since 2021. His tasks are being assumed on a provisional basis by Henning Koch, chairman of the management of Commerz Real.
Warburg Pincus – Jeffrey Perlman, who was promoted to president a year ago, will take over as CEO from Chip Kaye on 2 September 2024. As president, he continued to chair ESR Group and served as an executive director of the pan-Asian logistics firm. He began his career at Warburg Pincus nearly 18 years ago and has been a member of the firm’s executive management group since 2018. Kaye will become chairman alongside Timothy Geithner.
Harrison Street – Mina Kojuri has been promoted to managing director and head of investor relations Europe. Kojuri will continue to be based in London, where she will play a key leadership role in Harrison Street’s ongoing efforts to enhance client services for its global limited partners, as well as capital raising efforts across the firm’s strategies. Kojuri joined Harrison Street in 2022 as a director of investor relations in London. She previously held Investor relations roles at AEW and Cromwell Property Group, formerly Blackstone, and began her career as an analyst at Piper Sandler.
Kayne Anderson Real Estate – Lee Levy has joined the firm as a senior managing director and head of real estate debt. He was most recently a managing director and co-head of US real estate credit investing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Prior to joining Goldman in 2017, he was a managing director and founding member of TPG Real Estate Finance. He previously held positions focused on commercial real estate debt at Centerbridge, Morgan Stanley, and LNR Property Group.
Boreal IM – Nicky Menten has been appointed VP, while Xavier Aubrun has been promoted to principal in its investments team. Menten brings over 10 years’ experience to the role and joins from Deloitte’s London real estate M&A team. Menten started his career as an accountant at PwC before working in the debt finance department at Hungerford Properties. Menten’s primary focus will be on the development and implementation of Boreal’s asset and portfolio management strategies. He will also provide support for fundraising, debt, and acquisitions. In the investments team, Aubrun has been promoted from VP to principal. Aubrun, who joined the business in 2022 after eight years at AEW, oversees Boreal’s investment and acquisition strategy in France from Boreal’s office in Paris.
Ancala – The infrastructure manager has appointed Evgeni Jordanov as a director in its investment team. Jordanov joins Ancala from RBC Capital Markets where he spent almost nine years in its utilities and renewables team, most recently as a managing director. Before RBC Capital Markets, Jordanov was a VP in Morgan Stanley’s power and utilities group where he advised on infrastructure transactions across Europe and the Middle East. At Ancala, Jordanov will support the firm’s proactive approach to identifying and delivering investments in critical infrastructure companies.
I Squared – Jan Mende will be joining the firm’s investor relations department as a managing director with responsibility for covering key investment partners on the West Coast of the US. She starts her new role on 19 August. Mende joins I Squared from Callan, where she was a senior vice president working with institutional investors across their real assets portfolios. Before Callan, Mende was the head of client relations at Capital Dynamics. She also held investment management roles at Capital Dynamics with stints in London, San Francisco, Switzerland and New York.
Swift Current Energy – The North American clean energy platform has appointed Brian Dee as CFO. Dee recently served as CFO of Atlantic Power & Utilities. As CFO of Swift Current, Dee will be responsible for its finance and accounting activities, including tax, treasury, insurance, risk management, and financial planning and strategy, focusing on enhancing near and long-term performance.
Fifth Wall – Devin Murphy has joined the firm as a senior advisor. Most recently, Murphy was president of Phillips Edison & Company, where he also served as director. Before that, Murphy spent three decades as an investment banker, where he was a vice chairman of Morgan Stanley and global head of real estate investment banking at Deutsche Bank. In addition, he served as chairman of AIR Communities. He also serves as a director for CoreCivic and PECO.
Pacifico Energy – Leon J Persaud will join as MD to focus on alternative investments within the renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure sectors. Persaud joins the team from BofA Securities, where he was an investment banker advising traditional and alternative asset managers on M&A and capital markets transactions. Prior to BofA Securities, he led the capital markets function at Cypress Creek Renewables. Persaud also served in the US Navy for nearly a decade. He will work alongside Kevin Pratt, president of Pacifico Power, the US-focused subsidiary of Pacifico Energy.
