Dexus, Keppel REIT, Patrizia, M&G Real Estate, Investa, Currie & Brown, Macquarie Capital, Corem, Folksam, Hemsö, AP3, Hilltop Credit Partners
Folksam – Lars Johnsson is leaving his job as head of real estate at Sweden’s Folksam at the end of September as the pensions and insurance group prepares to change its property strategy. The firm said Johnsson had been hired in 2015 with the goal of increasing property exposure at the group and that under his leadership the portfolio had increased from SEK19bn (€1.7bn) to SEK62bn – an allocation rise from 5.7% to 11%. Folksam said it had already started the process of recruiting a replacement for Johnsson. Marcus Blomberg, Folksam CIO, said the firm had now reached its target property allocation. “The focus of the real estate business will therefore gradually shift from profitable expansion to value-creating management, which will affect the work of the recruitment of Lars’ successor,” he said.
Macquarie Capital – John Pickhaver has been appointed head of infrastructure and energy capital for the Americas. He will oversee principal investment and development activities in the region, including investing in development and infrastructure in transition for clients and communities. Pickhaver, who was most recently co-head of Macquarie Capital in Australia and New Zealand, has more than two decades of experience in the finance and infrastructure sectors both as a civil engineer and in infrastructure finance. In his 18 years with Macquarie Group, he has led development projects in transportation, social, digital and energy-transition infrastructure. He has also overseen principal investments, corporate and project financings and M&A for corporates, financial sponsors and governments.
Hemsö – Kerstin Hessius, the former chief executive officer of Swedish pensions buffer fund AP3, has been appointed as the new chair of the board of Hemsö, a real estate firm which owns property for public use in Sweden. AP3 owns 85% of Hemsö. Hessius replaces Pär Nuder, who has been Hemsö’s chair since 2013. The decision was made at the real estate firm’s AGM on 27 April, at which Staffan Hansén, the current CEO of AP3, was also elected as new member of the Hemsö board.
M&G Real Estate – Jason Leong has been appointed deputy fund manager of the M&G Asia Property Fund. Leong reports to Richard van den Berg, manager of the M&G Asia Property Fund. Together with Van den Berg, Leong will support the performance and growth of the fund. Leong was most recently, group executive and head of investment management at Investa in Sydney. Prior to Investa, Leong held senior positions at LaSalle Investment Management and New City Corporation.
Dexus – Andy Collins has been appointed executive general manager, office, succeeding Kevin George who will be stepping down from the role from July. Collins has been with Dexus for 10 years, initially spending five years in a head of office portfolio role and most recently group as head – transactions and development. He joined Dexus in 2013 as regional general manager and head of office portfolio from Knight Frank Australia, where he was the national director. Prior to that, he had a stint with Grant Samuel, an Australian investment bank, and MacCap Advisers.
Keppel REIT – Carol Anne Tan Mei Ling has been appointed an independent non-executive director and a member of the ESG committee of Keppel REIT Management, manager of Keppel REIT. Tan has more than 20 years of experience in the legal and real estate sectors. Before her retirement, in 2019, she was head of real estate (Southeast Asia) at Clifford Chance Asia. Between 2004 and 2015, she was with Wong Partnership as a partner in the firm’s corporate real estate practice. Tan replaces Mervyn Fong as a member of the ESG committee. Fong is currently an independent non-executive director of the manager and will continue to be a member of both the audit and risk committee as well as the nominating and remuneration committee of the manager.
Hilltop Credit Partners – The real estate credit investment manager has appointed George Craven to the newly created role of senior construction and development adviser. Based in London, Craven will work closely with CEO Paul Oberschneider, supporting Hilltop Credit Partners’ investment and lending initiatives. His principal focus will be supporting partners across the development lifecycle – from design, value optimisation, costing and cash flow through to construction refinement, contract negotiations, management, and planning – ensuring the delivery of schemes on time and within budget. Most recently, Craven was head of development for a pan-European private equity firm, where he oversaw the delivery of a UK and European real estate portfolio. Previous roles included running his own development platform and the development consultancy team at Arcadis, and roles at construction businesses Balfour Beatty and John Mowlem.
Patrizia – Asoka Wöhrmann, who left his role as DWS CEO in June last year, is to take over as CEO. Wöhrmann will assume a CEO designate role, supported by Patrizia’s founder and CEO Wolfgang Egger, before becoming sole CEO after “a short transition period”. After the transition, Egger will focus on existing and future strategic client relationships and the strategic development of the company as a member of the board of directors. Egger remains the majority shareholder. Following the completion of his term as Co-CEO, Thomas Wels will become a senior adviser to the company, mainly focusing on Asia-Pacific and Japan added. Wöhrmann started his career as a research fellow and lecturer at the Technical University Vienna and the University of Magdeburg. In 1998, he joined DWS as a portfolio manager and later worked in various global leadership roles. In 2018 Wöhrmann became CEO and chairman of the managing directors of DWS Group and senior group director. Patrizia has also appointed Slava Shafir to a newly created chief operating officer role. Shafir began his career at Alex Brown & Sons as an IT sector financial analyst, before moving on to Deutsche Bank Investment and Wealth Management, where he served as head of digital and COO. In 2012 he joined Barclays Capital, as a CIO and later MD and COO in Barclays UK, before joining Barclays Venture Capital. In 2021, he joined Corsair Capital as an operating partner.
Burges Salmon – The UK law firm has appointed partner Rick Read as the new head of its real estate department. Read, who will be taking over the role from Paul Browne, is a partner in the firm’s real estate investment and asset management team. Read acts for UK and international investors and occupiers on all aspects of their UK property legal requirements.
Corem – Rutger Arnhult has been appointed CEO to succeed Eva Landén who will assume the role as executive vice-president. Arnhult will remain as a member of Corem’s board.
Currie & Brown – The construction consultant has appointed Jonathan Wilson as director, Simon Bate and Liam Potts as associate directors and Andrew Henderson as FM consultant. The new hires will deliver advisory services to lenders and investors across a raft of large-scale PPP projects.
