People moves: Barings appoints Norberg Nordics real estate head

Dechert, AXA IM Alts, Dolphin Living, CLS Holdings, Dolphin Living, Palladius Capital Management, Freddie Mac-Multifamily, Amber Infrastructure, Barings, CBRE IM, M&G, BNP Paribas Real Estate, Dexus, Stockland, CBRE Investment Management

Barings – Andreas Norberg has been appointed head of Nordics real estate. Based in Stockholm, Norberg will lead Barings’ real estate investment activity in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, working closely with Gunther Deutsch, who leads European transactions, and Charles Weeks, Barings’ head of real estate for Europe and Asia Pacific. Norberg joins Barings from CBRE Investment Management where he had worked for more than six years, most recently as head of investment operations and a member of its European leadership. Prior to CBRE IM, Norberg worked with Swedish real estate owner Kungsleden and CBRE’s capital markets team.

AXA IM Alts – The asset manager has appointed Stephan Ackermann to the newly created role of head of client group, North America. Ackermann, who was most recently head of client capital group Asia Pacific & US at AXA IM Alts, has relocated to New York to lead and fully focus on the company’s capital raising activities in the region, covering its expanding range of strategies across real assets and private debt as well as private equity and ESG/Impact investments. As part of his initial focus, Ackermann will continue to grow the client group team, building on the recent appointment of Fiona Choi Kurz who became senior sales manager for the US in February of this year. Ackermann will also work closely with the rest of the client group alts team to build and maintain long-term client relationships across key global markets. Ackermann’s 16-year career with AXA IM Alts has provided him with wide-ranging experience in investor relations, capital raising and sales. He joined the client group in 2013 as UK investor relations and sales manager and has been part of the sales function ever since.

Amber Infrastructure – The specialist international infrastructure investment manager has appointed Dorin–Alexandru Badea as a senior investment director. Badea will support Amber’s activities in Central and Eastern Europe including establishing Amber’s presence in Bucharest, Romania. Working with the group’s teams across Europe, Badea will focus on developing investment opportunities and Amber’s business in the region. Badea was previously an executive director at EximBank Romania. He has spent 20 years working in various banking and capital markets roles in the region.

M&G – Robert Scheer, Hao Wang, Martin Kübler and Victoria van Blanken have joined the M&G’s private and alternative assets team in Frankfurt to support the firm’s direct lending and real estate strategies. Scheer, who has over 15 years experience in the industry, joins from ING Bank, where he was a director in the acquisition finance team. Hao, who joins from Bank of Ireland Group’s leveraged acquisition finance team, has 6 years of industry experience. Kübler has been appointed director of institutional business development for Germany. In this newly created role reporting to Werner Kolitsch, Kübler will work alongside the head of institutional business development Ingo Matthey to further develop and expand client relationships with insurance companies, pension funds and institutional investors in Germany. Van Blanken joins M&G’s private and alternative asset division as associate director, focusing on the asset management of the firm’s German real estate assets. Van Blanken joins from BNP Paribas Real Estate and has 9 years of experience in the sector.

Dolphin Living – Gary Preston has joined the team as finance director. In his role, he will provide strategic and financial guidance to support the growth of the organisation. Preston joins with a wealth of experience in the property industry having worked for over 13 years in the financial departments of some of the UK’s largest real estate companies. Most recently, Preston worked as financial controller at property investment company CLS Holdings where he oversaw the financial management of all aspects of the business. Prior to CLS Holdings, Preston worked at Derwent London. 

CBRE Investment Management – Shane Taylor has been appointed as head of Americas research. Taylor, who also serves as head of APAC research for the firm, will hold a dual leadership role for both regions. Taylor joined CBRE IM in 2006. Prior to joining the firm, he spent three years as a researcher with the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia, before joining RP Data-Marketshare, a real estate consultancy based in Sydney.

Dexus – Jason Weate has been appointed fund manager of Dexus Convenience Retail REIT, managed by Dexus. Weate has 15 years’ experience in the property and equity capital markets. Prior to joining Dexus, he held various senior roles at Stockland, where he was most recently group head of strategy. His career spans a stint as vice president of A-REIT equities research at Deutsche Bank.

Dechert – Richard Pugh has re-joined the firm’s global finance practice as a commercial real estate finance and securitisation partner based in London. A specialist in commercial real estate finance (including CMBS and structured repacks) and securitisation (including securitised lending, term ABS issuance and CLOs), Pugh provides clients with a broad experience and deep understanding and knowledge of the industry. He started his career at Dechert and, more recently, for the last eight years has headed the in-house legal team at Bank of America covering European commercial real estate finance and securitisation. Pugh is also very focused on pro bono work, having served as a founder and board director of an educational trust which operates several schools in the UK specializing in children who have been excluded from mainstream education, as well as a mentor for Aspiring Solicitors, a UK charity which aims to increase diversity in the legal profession.

Palladius Capital Management – The real estate investment manager has appointed Nicholas Maupin as director of investments reporting to CEO Nitin Chexal. In his new role, Maupin, based out of Palladius’ Austin-TX headquarters, is responsible for real estate investment origination, underwriting, and management across the firm’s portfolio. Maupin joins Palladius from Freddie Mac-Multifamily where he most recently served as a production manager. Maupin also served on a DE&I advisory board focused on tenant advancement, diverse borrower, diverse workforce, and social impact initiatives.