AXA Investment Managers–Real Assets, Global Student Accommodation, AccorInvest, BNP Paribas Real Estate, Prologis, PGIM Real Estate, Cohen & Steers, CBRE Global Investors, Narrative Capital Management, American Realty Advisors, Profit Investments Management, NAS Invest Group, RFR Group, Cording Real Estate Group, Cloudscraper, Aberdeen Standard Investments, Cushman & Wakefield, Clifford Chance, Glenhawk, Mrec Investment Management, ElmTree Funds, Shawbrook Bank, Cabot Financial
AXA Investment Managers–Real Assets – Joe Persechino has been appointed head of residential and student accommodation. Vincent Mezard will also head hospitality. Persechino joins from Global Student Accommodation, where he was commercial operations director for EMEA. Mezard joins from AccorInvest, where he was head of development.
BNP Paribas Real Estate – Anita Simaza has been appointed head of logistics and industrial. Simaza will succeed Logan Smith. Before joining BNP Paribas Real Estate in January 2016, Simaza served as a director at Prologis, responsible for overseeing European valuations.
PGIM Real Estate – David Skinner has been promoted to global head of the firm’s defined-contribution (DC) pensions platform. He will continue his role as a portfolio manager for PGIM Real Estate’s two daily-valued real estate portfolios. Sara Shean has joined PGIM Real Estate as an executive director and senior member of the DC practice. She will primarily focus on developing relationships with US-based DC plans and their consultants. Prior to joining PGIM Real Estate, she served as the head of institutional DC for Cohen & Steers.
CBRE – Kenny Orpin has been appointed as associate director in the investment advisory arm of CBRE’s capital advisors team. He will be part of the real estate lending team advising clients across the UK on the implementation of real estate lending strategies.
CBRE Global Investors – Todd Sammann has been appointed to lead the company’s credit strategies platform. Sammann has joined as an executive managing director from Narrative Capital Management, which he founded in 2015. Prior to that, he was a principal and head of credit strategies at Colony Capital from 2008 to 2015. Also joining from Narrative are Charles Kim and Ed Paje in Los Angeles, and Christian Fuqua and Eric Anderson in New York.
ElmTree Funds – The real estate private equity firm has promoted Kerry Gawrych to the role of CFO. Gawrych will lead all of the firm’s accounting, financial reporting, analysis and administration departments. Gawrych will also continue to serve on the firm’s compliance committee. She joined ElmTree Funds in 2015 as its controller, where she managed the construction draw process for build-to-suit properties. Prior to ElmTree Funds, she was the controller/director of accounting for Koch Development Co. Gawrych has also held leadership roles at THF Realty, The John Buck Company, General Growth Properties and Midland Development Group.
Mrec Investment Management – Tomi Grönlund joins the independent boutique real estate investor as managing director. Grönlund joins from Aberdeen Standard Investments where he was as the head of transactions in Finland. He previously also held executive roles at Kenmore Property Group and Tamar Capital Partners. Prior to that, Grönlund worked with large transaction processes at Advium Corporate Finance.
Cloudscraper – Adrian Levy joined the commercial real estate exchange platform’s UK advisory board. Levy is a partner and global co-head of real estate sector at international law firm Clifford Chance. He will be advising Cloudscraper on matters which directly impact how market participants interact with legal advisors. Levy has been with Clifford Chance for over 25 years and specialises in corporate finance transactions in the real estate market.
American Realty Advisors – Troy Jenkins has joined as senior vice-president for investor relations. He joins from investment advisory firm Profit Investments Management, where he led the real estate investment strategy, capital raising, and acquisitions. Prior to that, he spent 10 years with CBRE Global Investors as a portfolio manager for several separate accounts.
NAS Invest Group – Oliver Zimper has been appointed managing partner, co-CEO and CIO. Zimper will be in charge of the investment and asset management business divisions. He previously served as managing director of RFR Group. Managing partner Nikolai Dëus-von Homeyer acts as co-CEO with Zimper while also assuming the newly created COO role. Homeyer will control the business divisions corporate development, operations and finance. As part of the new structure, the NAS Invest Group will expand its investment focus to include core properties in Germany. Prior to Zimper’s transfer to NAS, he was in charge of the transactions and asset management divisions as managing director of RFR Group.
Cording Real Estate Group – Daniel Taylor has joined the UK team as senior property manager. Taylor will be responsible for overseeing the management of UK retail, industrial and office assets. Taylor was a senior surveyor at Cushman & Wakefield.
Glenhawk – Harleigh French and Nicholas Hare have joined the recently launched specialist UK property lender as business development associate and analyst, respectively. French will oversee the management of Glenhawk’s broker relationships, client liaison and loan origination. French joins from Shawbrook Bank, where she was most recently business development executive. Hare will be responsible for financial modelling, risk and investment analysis and M&A analysis and research. He was previously a commercial analyst at Cabot Financial.
