Fusion Group, Cain International, Nido Living, Plaza Retail REIT, Allsop, Gecina, Duke Energy, Tredway, True North, Kennedy Wilson, Paloma Capital, Garbe
Fusion Group – The UK student accommodation firm has appointed Daniel Harris as chief investment officer. Harris joins from Cain International, where he was a senior managing director and head of European investments. Before joining Cain in 2017, Harris was a managing director in Tristan Capital Partners’ investment function for nearly six years and held roles with leading pan-European firms including MGPA and Heitman International Private Equity. As Fusion’s first CEO, Harris will focus on the strategic growth of Fusion Group. He will also be responsible for expanding Fusion’s expertise in the living sector in terms of sectors, including co-living, which the firm already includes in some of its PBSA-led, mixed-use schemes and markets, as it looks to expand into key European countries such as Spain and Germany.
Plaza Retail REIT – Jason Parravano will succeed Michael Zakuta as president and CEO from next year. Parravano, currently serving as the trust’s chief operating officer, joined in January and has provided leadership and vision in overseeing all of the trust’s day-to-day activities. Before joining the firm, Parravano spent eight years at Canadian Net Real Estate Investment Trust, where he was president and CEO from 2017 to 2023.
Nido Living – The student accommodation specialist has appointed Beatrice Lafon as chairperson of its newly established board. Lafon will lead a board composed of both Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Nido senior representatives and independent non-executives. With over 40 years of pan-European and US retail and hospitality experience, Lafon has built a reputation for driving rapid, impactful results by building high-performing organisations with clear visions and excellence in execution. In addition to her role at Nido, Lafon holds several other senior positions, including non-executive director (NED) for ARD LuxCo 2; NED at Cloud Nine; NED at Hilding & Anders; NED at Spartoo France; founding member of the Leadership Council at causaLens and founder of The Business Intelligence Network. Her previous experience spans a variety of consumer brands, including advisory and senior roles at SuperDry, TMLewin, Claire’s Accessories, and Pizza Express Group.
Gecina – The firm’s board of directors has decided to co-opt Ouma Sananikone as director, to replace Audrey Camus who resigned. The co-optation of Sananikone will be submitted for ratification to the AGM. Sananikone is based in New York and currently serves as a non-executive board director of DMC Global, IA Financial Group and Innergex Renewable Energy. She also sits on the advisory board of BW Group. She was CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management, CEO of the EquitiLink Group in Australia, New Zealand, US, Canada and UK, as well as founding managing director of BNP Investment Management in Australia. Throughout her career, Sananikone has held numerous board positions, including director of Ivanhoé Cambridge in Canada and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
Duke Energy – Tim Pearson will become South Carolina state president. He will succeed Mike Callahan, who has been promoted to senior VP and treasurer of the company following the retirement of Karl Newlin. Pearson first joined the team as an adviser and consultant, and later joined the company full time as vice-president of government affairs in 2023. Before joining Duke Energy, Pearson served as an adviser to multiple governors in the state, most recently as general consultant for Henry McMaster’s successful campaigns in 2018 and 2022. He served as chief of staff for Nikki Haley during her tenure as governor, and as executive director of her transition team. Callahan will return to the financial side of the corporation after leading the company’s efforts in South Carolina for the past five years as state president. Prior to that, he was vice-president of investor relations, overseeing Duke Energy’s investor relations and shareholder services organisations. Callahan joined Duke Energy in 2002. Tigerron Wells, currently state government affairs director, will succeed Pearson as vice-president of government affairs and will manage the company’s legislative strategy in South Carolina. For the past five years, Wells has played a critical role in the company’s lobbying efforts at the State House and has advanced the legislative and regulatory interests of Duke Energy before various South Carolina governmental bodies. Also reporting to Pearson will be Heather Shirley Smith, vice-president of regulatory and policy who will continue to focus on regulatory matters and policy enactment and Rick Jiran, vice-president of government and community relations and infrastructure engagement, who will continue his role focused on local government relations, community relations and new infrastructure stakeholder engagement.
Garbe – Steffen Uttich, former managing director of Inbright Investment, has been appointed managing director, responsible for driving the company’s institutional investor relations. Uttich will focus on engaging professional investors across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Uttich will head the newly established Garbe Capital & Strategy Germany, a specialised internal advisory unit tasked with supporting the firm’s international capital market activities, M&A transactions, and responses to special market situations. After more than two decades as a finance and real estate journalist, most recently with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Uttich transitioned to corporate roles, joining the Berlin-based developer and asset manager BEOS AG, where he served nearly ten years as head of fund management and capital markets. In 2021, Uttich co-founded Inbright Investment, the investment arm of an independent real estate developer and asset manager. Following the integration of Inbright Investment into Garbe Insite, Uttich now assumes his new responsibilities at Garbe Capital & Strategy.
Tredway – The US affordable and mixed-income real estate developer has appointed Daniel Guerra as vice-president of investments. Based in New York City, Guerra will play an integral role in managing Tredway’s portfolio of affordable housing communities and developments across the US while helping meet the firm’s ambitious social impact and public-private partnership goals. Prior to joining Tredway, Guerra was a director at True North Management. Before True North, Guerra held various positions at Community Preservation Corporation.
Kennedy Wilson – Jake Harris has been appointed managing director, and will be responsible for overseeing the company’s industrial and logistics investment activities in the UK. He will also look beyond the industrial and logistics sector for attractive standalone and thematic acquisitions. Harris brings 23 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry and has spent the last three years as investment director at Paloma Capital, deploying capital from its value-add funds and UK industrial joint venture. Harris is re-joining Kennedy Wilson, having previously worked at the company from 2013 to 2021. Harris started his career as a chartered surveyor at Cushman & Wakefield and worked at DWS for six years as head of industrial and fund manager for its open-ended UK industrial property fund. Kennedy Wilson has also recently appointed two senior asset managers to its UK team, with Holly Brown joining from Knight Frank Investment Management and Holly Mozley joining from St Modwen Logistics. Both will be responsible for managing Kennedy Wilson’s industrial and logistics portfolio, as well as other commercial assets in the UK.
Allsop – The UK property consultancy has appointed Hugh Bushell as senior associate to its residential transactional and living-markets team. Formerly an associate director in Savills’s development land team, Bushell will focus on land and development advisory. He joined Savills’s graduate scheme in 2015 and qualified as a surveyor in 2017. He will be based within the firm’s West End office, focusing primarily on the London and South East residential and living markets.
