CPP Investments, Feldberg Capital, ActivumSG, EQT, ActivumSG, Barings Real Estate, DeA Capital Real Estate, Greystar, BNP Paribas Real Estate, Plentific, New Forests, Macquarie Asset Management, Centrus, EQT Exeter, Heimstaden, CTP, Strategic Value Partners, Harrison Street, Rockpoint

CPP Investments – Global head of real estate Peter Ballon is set to leave the C$591bn (€401bn) Canadian pension fund by the summer, according to sources close to the matter. Ballon has been with CPP Investments since 2007 and it is understood that the pension fund, which has C$45.5bn real estate portfolio, is looking for a successor. Ballon follows Andrea Orlandi, who left last year as head of European real estate, and a number of senior departures at other Canadian institutional investors, including Natalie Palladitcheff, the CEO and president of Ivanhoé Cambridge, who is leaving the real estate arm of CDPQ in April. Her departure follows that of Karim Habra, who left as Ivanhoé Cambridge as head of Europe and Asia-Pacific in January to join Partners Group.

Strategic Value Partners – Mike Ungari has been appointed head of real estate to lead the firm’s global real estate business and portfolio. Ungari will also serve on the management council and investment committee. Ungari joins SVP after 16 years at Goldman Sachs, where he held several leadership roles, including most recently as a partner managing the firm’s opportunistic and value-add real estate portfolio in the US. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Ungari was at GE Asset Management in the real estate group. He began his career with Accenture.

Harrison Street – Hadi Nasser has been appointed head of investor relations in the Middle East. Nasser was most recently head of European and Middle Eastern investor relations at Rockpoint. Prior to Rockpoint, Nasser was a managing director at EnTrust Global, a Legg Mason affiliate, leading the firm’s activities in the Middle East for six years. Nasser has also previously held capital raising roles at Amundi and Mizuho Financial Group, where he also served the needs of European and Middle Eastern investors. 

ActivumSG – Eric Lemer has been appointed head of global client solutions and capital formation. Lemer previously worked at EQT Exeter, where he was its first dedicated real estate product specialist. The newly created position will help the company’s efforts to take advantage of the current market dislocation.  Based in ActivumSG’s London office, Lemer’s remit will include servicing the firm’s existing investor base, identifying new avenues of growth, including the formation and raising of new funds and executing co-investment initiatives. He will also collaborate closely with the firm’s investment professionals to support ActivumSG-advised funds’ real estate-focused portfolio companies. Lemer was formerly managing director, client relations and capital formation of real estate at EQT Exeter. He joined the real estate platform of EQT Partners in 2019. Before joining EQT Exeter, Lemer worked at London-based Delancey Real Estate Asset Management as director, business development. He also launched the London office of real estate advisory firm Hodes Weill & Associates and was previously co-head of the European team of the Credit Suisse Real Estate Private Funds Group. 

Greystar – The global rental housing investor has appointed Vincent Dubusset as senior technical director. Dubusset will be responsible for the technical development of Greystar’s portfolio, strengthening its presence in France and contributing to the company’s portfolio of housing for students and young professionals. Dubusset joins Greystar after nearly 15 years leading on major operations within the technical department of BNP Paribas Real Estate.

EQT Exeter – David O’Brien has been appointed investment and development director for living strategies in Germany. O’Brien, who joins on 1 May 2024, has been hired to help expand EQT Exeter’s living strategies alongside Nicolas Voller, investment and development director, with a focus on both residential and student housing communities. He will be involved in efforts including fundraising, acquisitions, development, operations, and portfolio management. O’Brien joins from Heimstaden where he headed the German investment team. His previous roles include senior positions in acquisition and management for Round Hill Capital and QSix.

New Forests – Michelle Elliot has been appointed to the newly created role of global head of funds. Elliot will be responsible for overseeing New Forests’ global funds management platform to support future growth and opportunities. Before joining New Forests, Elliot spent 17 years with Macquarie Asset Management where she was most recently APAC COO. Based in Sydney, Elliot is a member of New Forest executive leadership committee. Sanjiv Louis has joined the Sydney-based manager as director, investments Asia. Louis will lead New Forests’ Asian investments team in identifying, evaluating, and acquiring investments within the nature-based solutions, forestry, and natural capital space in the Southeast Asia region. He has more than 23 years of investment banking and alternative asset investment experience in Asia through senior roles in Sail Ventures, Credit Suisse, and UBS. 

Feldberg Capital – Piotr Kotlarek has been appointed associate director, investment and asset management. Kotlarek. Prior to joining Feldberg, Kotlarek was part of the real estate investment team at Caleus in Berlin, having previously gained valuable experience in investment banking at Evercore in Frankfurt.

DeA Capital Real Estate – Robert Schneider has been appointed CEO Germany. Schneider worked for Barings Real Estate since 2015 in different senior positions. He was previously, at GLL Real Estate Partners, where he held various senior roles in asset management and investment on both European and domestic markets. He started his career as an architect.

Plentific – a provider of real-time property solutions has appointed Marc Kaplan SVP for the US market to drive the firm’s growth and geographical expansion in the market and be part of the international leadership team. Prior to Plentific, Kaplan was SVP, head of management for AKAM, COO for C + C Apartment Management, executive managing director at FirstService Residentidential and VP at Stonehenge.   

Centrus – a corporate finance adviser specialising in sustainability, real assets and essential services, has appointed Myrto Charamis as a director in the infrastructure team. Charamis brings over 25 years of experience to the team, joining from Berenberg where she was co-head of investment companies and head of research, having previously worked at Numis Securities, Liberum, and Cushman & Wakefield. She will be based in London.

CTP – Piotr Flugel has been appointed as the managing director for Poland and Daniela Boytcheva has been appointed as the managing director for Bulgaria. Flugel has been instrumental in spearheading numerous initiatives since he joined CTP Poland at the beginning of March 2022 as country construction director and COO, including the creation of a dynamic team with the capabilities to deliver a significant amount of industrial and logistics space every year. Boytcheva joined CTP in 2022 as business development director and has since made a significant contribution to the expansion of the business in Bulgaria.

Schroders Capital – Allen Chilten, the head of Patrizia’s funds capital markets business, has joined to lead its global real estate capital formation business. Allen will spearhead Schroders Capital’s efforts to raise capital for real estate funds, joint ventures, co-investment opportunities and other programmatic ventures. He will lead the dedicated real estate teams responsible for global investor coverage and servicing as well as programme development. Chilten, who served at Patrizia for six years, joined the real assets manager from Rockspring Property Investment Managers where he worked as European director before the company was acquired by Patrizia. Chilten joined Rockspring’s investor relations team in 2013, having worked for Credit Suisse. 

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