People moves: Husain joins Cohen & Steers as senior VP, ESG head

Locke Hotels,  Cohen & Steers, Lamington Group, Moody’s Investor Services, DC Advisory, DWS, Garbe Institutional Capital, Helaba Invest, Propster, IGCC, New Forests, BNY Mellon, CBRE Global Investors, CPP Investments, JLL, Ernst & Young, CenterSquare, Nuveen, Investa

Cohen & Steers – Khalid Husain has joined the firm as senior vice president and head of ESG. In this newly created role, Husain will oversee the firm’s environmental, social and governance investment framework and integration process, serving as chair of the Cohen & Steers ESG steering committee. Additionally, Husain will enhance the investment teams’ existing ESG process, support strategy development and help guide Cohen & Steers’ commitment to responsible corporate practices. Husain joins Cohen & Steers from Moody’s Investor Services, where he led the firm’s strategies for integrating ESG data and metrics into credit analysis and research. Prior to that, he was senior director of ESG at TIAA and its asset management unit, Nuveen, an environmental project manager at ICF International, and a climate and energy officer at the United Nations.

DWS – The asset manager has appointed Stephen Davies as senior principal in its London-based Infrastructure investments team, reporting to Hamish Mackenzie, head of infrastructure. Davies’ responsibilities include leading the acquisition financing and refinancing of portfolio companies as well as managing the relationships with lending banks and other financing counterparts for DWS’s series of Pan-European infrastructure funds. Davies joins DWS with more than 15 years’ experience as a debt advisor in the infrastructure market, with expertise across the full spectrum of funding sources including bank debt, private placements, bonds, and green and ESG-linked financing. Most recently, he was an executive director at DC Advisory. Prior to this, Davies was at The Royal Bank of Scotland for ten years, where he held various roles including infrastructure financing director, advising on and implementing a number of financing deals.

Investa – Michael Hogg has been appointed to a newly-created role as general manager–build to rent for Indi, the Investa Group’s recently launched BTR management platform. Hogg’s role is to lead the operations and property management functions of Indi, which is targetting a portfolio of more than 5,000 plus apartments. Most recently, he was senior vice president, marketplace for co-living operator Hmlet in Singapore and Australia. Prior to that, he established and operated a real estate technology business in Asia.

New Forests – Jo Saleeba has joined the global forestry investment manager as head of sustainability. Saleeba was the inaugural CEO of the Investor Group on Climate Change Australia and New Zealand and previously led the responsible investment team at HESTA. Saleeba will continue to develop the company’s sustainability and impact framework and focus on how opportunities in natural climate solutions, biodiversity conservation and the circular bioeconomy can create value for investors, the environment and communities. She will engage investors in scaling impact through the deployment of capital to sustainable forestry and landscape management. Lauren Stewart joins as head of communications, bringing almost 20 years’ experience working across investment management, banking and corporate markets in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe. She was most recently principal, head of communications for BNY Mellon Investment Management Asia Pacific. Stewart will proactively drive a global communications strategy to grow investor engagement with New Forests’ investment strategies and track record and to increase the recognition of forestry investment as a climate change and sustainable development solution.

CenterSquare Investment Management – The global real assets manager has appointed Deborah Considine as a director in the firm’s capital markets group. In this role, Considine will lead business development and fundraising efforts for CenterSquare’s public and private real estate investment strategies across the Western US as well as other global regions. Considine most recently served as a managing director for Nuveen’s institutional advisory services business. She previously held leadership, relationship management and business development positions at TIAA Global Asset Management and UBS Realty Investors.

Lamington Group – The room2 hometel brand has appointed Rob Cahn to the newly created role of head of group operations. Cahn who will be based in London and report directly to the managing directors will be responsible for implementing new systems and procedures, along with coordinating operational and human resources activities across the group’s aparthotel, residential lettings and co-working portfolio. His immediate focus will be on overseeing the successful launch of room2 Chiswick, the group’s third hometel in West London. Cahn joins room2 from Locke Hotels, where he spent over two years as general manager. Prior to this, he was owner and general manager of the Witch Alm Bar & Restaurant in Innsbruck region, Austria.

CBRE Global Investors – Kim Hourihan will be promoted to global CIO at the beginning of next year, replacing Jeremy Plummer who will retire. Hourihan, who has been with CBRE Global Investors for 14 years, is currently CIO for Americas direct real estate strategies and portfolio manager for the company’s main core fund in the US. Plummer has been in the real estate industry for nearly 40 years and joined CBRE Global Investors in 2006 when it acquired the multi-manager business he co-founded at Oxford Property Consultants. Julie Ingersoll, managing director with responsibility for US residential and retail real estate at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, will join CBRE Global Investors in October to replace Hourihan. Larissa Belova, deputy portfolio manager for the US core fund run by Hourihan, will take over as portfolio manager immediately.

JLL – Min Joon Kim, VP, has been appointed to lead the South Korea hotels and hospitality practice, delivering advisory, asset management, and investment sales services for hospitality sector. He will also assist in directing Korean outbound capital as Korean institutional capital becomes increasingly important globally. Most recently, he was a manager at Ernst & Young’s real estate strategy and transactions team in Los Angeles, where he led real estate valuation, due diligence, and advisory projects, with a specialisation in hospitality and entertainment assets. JLL has launched its dedicated South Korea advisory and investment services office in Seoul.

Garbe Institutional Capital – Andreas Höfner joined Garbe Institutional Capital as head of strategy. Höfner has more than twelve years of experience in real estate investment and alternative investment products. Before joining Garbe, Höfner worked as head of consulting real estate and alternative investments for Helaba Invest, where he was responsible, among other things, for providing strategic advice to German institutional investors on allocation and investment decisions. Prior to that, Höfner worked in the valuation and strategy department of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Propster – Dominic Grace has joined the Austrian proptech firm as special advisor to assist its expansion into the UK market. Grace recently left Savills, after 37 years, where was head of London residential development.