Newmark, Praxis Group, Dominus, Unite Group, Sellar, Houlihan Lokey, Jefferies, Blackstone, Barings, Nido Living, Woodbridge Capital, Qualitas, Serco, LSL Property Services, Group Origin
Blackstone – Kathleen McCarthy, global co-head of Blackstone’s real estate business, is leaving the firm after 15 years to pursue her “next chapter”. McCarthy, who has held her current role since 2018, stated on LinkedIn that she will remain focused on her duties through year-end. She plans to take time for family and travel over the holidays before turning to new professional challenges.
Barings – Alistair Wright has been promoted to the role of the firm’s head of Asia Pacific. Wright succeeds Duncan Robertson, who will retire after 17 years of service with the firm. As the new head of APAC, Wright will oversee Barings’ strategic direction and operations across the region, building on the strong foundation established by Robertson. Eric Jan will assume the expanded role of head of Greater China and Southeast Asia, overseeing Barings’ business in China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as governance responsibilities for Barings India. Jan will report directly to Wright.
Nido Living – Henrik Kjellberg, Jean-Michel Orieux and Leslie-Ann Reed heve been appointed non-executive directors. Reed joins as chair of the audit committee, succeeding Rosemary Boot. Kjellberg joins as chair of the ESG committee and Orieux joins as chair of the health and safety committee. Kjellberg brings over 25 years of leadership experience in global travel, technology, and digital-platform businesses. He most recently served as CEO of Awaze, where he led a major digital transformation and operational expansion across more than 15 countries. Prior to this, he held senior global leadership roles at Expedia Group, including president of Hotwire and president of Expedia Affiliate Network. Kjellberg also served as a non-executive director at Finnair. Orieux brings more than 30 years of international leadership experience across hospitality, premium retail, and multi-site operations. He is the founding partner of Orieux Associates and currently serves as a non-executive director at Juniper Ventures. His executive career has included leading growth and turnaround strategies as CEO of The Argyll Club and Paul UK, as well as senior leadership roles at Conran Holdings, Ping Pong and Hyatt Hotels. Reed brings extensive experience in financial governance, audit, and risk management across listed, private equity-backed, and international businesses. She currently serves as senior independent director and audit chair at Bloomsbury Publishing, Centaur Media and Frontier Developments, and has held senior roles at Learning Technologies Group, ZEAL Network SE and Metal Bulletin.
LSL Property Services – David Tilak has been appointed CFO and executive board director. Tilak will join LSL from Serco Group, where he is currently group finance director, responsible for driving operational performance, internal and external reporting and fiscal controls. He previously held leadership roles at market-leading companies including General Electric and he spent six years at Imperial Brands, where he progressed to become group finance director. With 25 years’ experience of strategic, financial and operational roles across complex businesses in a range of industries, David has an impressive and proven track record of driving and delivering growth through strategic investment and transformation.
Stoneweg – Olivier Jollin has been appointed president of France. With over 25 years of real estate, fund management and banking experience, Jollin will be responsible for the French platform, including leading on strategic growth initiatives in what is one of Stoneweg’s priority markets. Having founded Group Origin in 2020, Jollin has since grown it into one of France’s leading commercial real estate developers. Jollin currently sits on the strategic advisory board of Icona Capital and advisory board of SWI Group.
Woodbridge Capital — Lachlan Griffiths has been appointed origination director, SE Queensland, to lead its growth in the Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast markets. Griffiths will be based in Queen Street in Brisbane’s CBD and will report to Ben Evans. Griffiths joins Woodbridge from Qualitas, where he led the firm’s Queensland presence and managed a real-estate debt portfolio across South-East Queensland. Prior to this, he held senior roles at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and within a Queensland-based private credit fund, developing deep expertise across the full debt capital stack – from senior debt through to stretch and subordinated facilities – spanning residential, industrial, and commercial assets.
Newmark – Andrew Wheldon and Matthew Bailey have been appointed to the firm’s European finance team. Wheldon, one of the UK’s leading real estate debt advisors, and Bailey, a premier structured finance investment banker, bring a combined 50-plus years of experience guiding complex transactions for top institutions. Wheldon previously held senior roles at RBS, Lloyds Banking Group and CBRE Capital Advisors, where he led residential debt advisory, and later founded the UK arm of a pan-European capital advisory firm. Bailey previously held senior roles at UBS, Commerzbank, HSBC Investment Bank and SitusAMC.
Praxis Group – Gary Varley has been appointed chief financial officer. Most recently, he served as European finance director at Burstone, where he oversaw the sale of a €1bn logistics platform to Blackstone, and Greater Pacific Capital, where he oversaw $1bn of AUM and managed multiple high-profile exits. In his new role, Varley will join the Praxis Group board and report directly to CEO Mark Harrison. He will oversee all finance functions and debt relationships, and support the company’s continued growth trajectory, including new joint ventures.
Dominus – Andrew MacDonald as chief financial officer, while Richard Smith, former CEO of Unite Group, has been appointed as senior advisor to support Dominus’ long-term growth strategy, as it scales its UK hotel platform and grows its London-focused student housing portfolio. MacDonald joins Dominus from Sellar, where he was head of joint ventures and investment. Prior to this, he spent a decade as head of real estate finance at Schroders. In his new role, MacDonald will oversee equity capital raising, debt financing, risk management, and the development of strategic, long-term partnerships with institutional investors, building on Dominus’ first joint venture with Cheyne Capital. Smith spent 14 years at Unite, including eight years as CEO. He currently holds a portfolio of non-executive roles, including pro chancellor and chair at Southampton Solent University and non-executive director at VP PLC.
Houlihan Lokey – Seran Ahmetrasit has joined the firm as a managing director and head of infrastructure debt advisory, Europe, in the capital solutions group. Ahmetrasit will spearhead Houlihan Lokey’s expansion into infrastructure debt advisory in Europe, building on the firm’s existing market-leading expertise in US-based infrastructure capital solutions and related sector verticals. She is based in the firm’s London office. Ahmetrasit joins Houlihan Lokey from Jefferies, where she worked in the power, utilities and infrastructure team. Prior to joining Jefferies in 2019, she worked at RBS, where she gained extensive experience in capital markets and structured finance.
