Velo Capital, Island Capital, Cohen & Steers, I Squared Capital, NW Natural Holdings, Nuveen Real Estate, Savills, Trinity Investments, Hongkong Land, Norled, Segro, M7 Real Estate, Libra Group
I Squared Capital – Ben Harper has been appointed head of sustainability. Based in the firm’s Miami office, Harper will oversee environmental sustainability, climate risk, and responsible investment initiatives across I Squared and its fund strategies. Harper has had leading responsibilities including managing director, head of ESG at Stonepeak, and head of corporate sustainability at Zurich North America Insurance. Harper also contributed to public policy and industry best practices through his involvement with the White House Interagency CCS Task Force, the EU’s Zero Emission Platform, and several advisory boards, including the American Society of Civil Engineers Infrastructure Resilience Division and the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment Infrastructure Advisory Committee.
M7 Real Estate – Marina Breda has been appointed head of transactions in Spain. Breda will spearhead the firm’s transaction activities across Spain, focusing on strategic acquisitions and driving value for investors. In her 11-year career, Breda joins from Segro where she was responsible for logistics acquisitions, land operations and development. Prior to this, she spent five years at Spanish Meridia Capital, where she was responsible for managing a diversified portfolio of Spanish real estate assets, primarily in Barcelona and Madrid. Breda started her professional career at JLL, where she specialised in offices.
NW Natural Holdings – Justin B Palfreyman has been elected president and CEO of Northwest Natural Holdings and CEO of NW Natural, effective 1 April 2025. Palfreyman will succeed David H Anderson, who is retiring. Palfreyman joined the company in 2016 and since then has served in various executive roles over business development, strategy, and president of NW Natural Water. In May 2023, he was promoted to NW Natural Holdings’ and NW Natural’s president. Prior to joining the company, Palfreyman served in various roles in investment banking covering the power, energy and infrastructure sector. Anderson became NW Natural Holdings’ CEO in August of 2016 after serving as president and chief operating officer. He came to the company in 2004, and his tenure has included service as executive vice president and senior vice president and chief financial officer.
Nuveen Real Estate – Nicolas Biganzoli has been appointed managing director, head of investments in France. In this role, Biganzoli will be responsible for overseeing investment activity across the risk spectrum for Nuveen’s real estate platform across all sectors in France. Biganzoli started his career at Deutsche Bank in Real Estate Investment Banking in London, before moving to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority where he worked on more than €2.5bn of acquisitions in all asset classes across Continental Europe. He moved back to France in late 2019 to set up a living platform through the redevelopment of derelict industrial sites and obsolete office assets.
Hongkong Land – Stuart Grant will assume the role of executive director and CEO of Westbund Central from 30 June 2025. Grant will become a member of Hongkong Land’s executive management team, reporting to Michael Smith, CEO of Hongkong Land. Grant will step down from the board, and the audit committee of Hongkong Land at the group’s AGM in May, before assuming his new role. Grant spent 18 years at Blackstone and was senior MD of their Asian real estate business. Prior to joining Hongkong Land, he served as chairman and CEO of Brookfield’s advanced research clusters real estate platform.
Cube Infrastructure Managers – Emmanuel Rogy has been appointd chief operating officer. Rogy joined the firm in 2023 as partner, member of the management committee, head of human resources and head of portfolio management for special asset situations. He appointed chairman of the executive committee of the Connecting Europe Broadband Fund in 2024. In his new role, Rogy will, in addition to the above, be responsible for overseeing all corporate and organisational matters. Xavier Martin has been appointed partner, head of telecoms and digital. Martin will also be a member of the firm’s management committee and will be appointed as deputy chairman of the Connecting Europe Broadband Fund executive committee. Martin has been working with the team since 2018 as senior advisor to the Connecting Europe Broadband Fund and board member of several Connecting Europe Broadband Fund portfolio assets and, since 2023, as a member of the executive committee of Connecting Europe Broadband Fund. Prior to this, Martin occupied senior leadership roles, notably at Portuguese telecoms operators ONI as CEO and CTO and Dstelecom as executive president, Angolan telecom operator Movicel as CEO and at Spanish telecoms group Telefónica. Stéphane Calas has been appointed head of financing and operational control. Calas has been part of the management team since 2010. He has been a partner since 2022. In his new role, Calas will be responsible for all debt financings for Cube’s portfolio companies as well as for overseeing operational control and performance reporting for all portfolio companies.
Libra Group – Camilo Patrignani has been promoted to head of infrastructure. Previously EVP of energy, Patrignani will now oversee the group’s three renewable energy subsidiaries. Since joining Libra Group in 2008, Patrignani has played a crucial role in shaping Libra Group’s renewable energy operations, holding senior leadership roles at the parent company as well as at its subsidiaries. Before joining Libra Group, Patrignani served as founding CEO of Greenwood Energy, Libra Group’s Latin American renewable energy subsidiary, and later as CEO of Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure, Libra Group’s North American renewable energy subsidiary. Before joining Libra Group, Patrignani was a vice president at Fortress Investment Group, after serving as a director at UBS Investment Bank.
Trinity Investments – The US-based hospitality-focused real estate investor has promoted Craig Lovett to managing director of development. Lovett joined Trinity in 2017 as VP of development and was promoted to SVP of development in 2022. Lovett will continue to lead all planning, design and construction of Trinity’s acquisitions and existing portfolio.
Island Capital – Melissa Iorio has joined the firm as an executive managing director. Iorio will be responsible for institutional capital raising and will be based in the firm’s New York City office. She most recently served as head of investor relations at Cohen & Steers. Before Cohen & Steers, Iorio spent over eight years at DigitalBridge, where she was a managing director responsible for capital formation. Earlier in her career, she held senior investor relations, sales and distribution roles at Barington Capital, Eaton Partners, FirstMark Capital and CRT Capital.
Savills – Oliver Forster has been appointed director and head of Birmingham investment. Forster will focus on the Midlands investment market and brings a wealth of experience, having spent several years at CBRE, where he advised on numerous notable transactions. Oliver has also held positions at JLL and BNP Paribas Real Estate.
Velo Capital – Nico Schreyer has been appointed head of German credit investments. He brings over 20 years of experience in real estate debt investments, banking, and corporate finance, having held senior roles at a German alternative lender and a major German savings bank. In his new role, Schreyer will lead deal origination and execution, investment strategy and the management of borrower relationships in Germany. In his previous positions, Schreyer has specialised in the structuring and financing of real estate transactions covering the whole debt capital stack, including senior, whole loan, junior and mezzanine transactions.
Norled – Tone Wille has been appointed chair of the board of the Norwegian ferry and express boat operator. Wille succeeds Elisabeth Grieg, who served in this role since 2019. As the former CEO of Posten Bring, she successfully led the organisation through a transformation, addressing the evolving challenges in the postal and logistics industry. Prior to her role as CEO, she served as EVP and CFO from 2012. Her background includes roles such as investment director at Norfund and SVP and CFO at GE Energy Norway and Kværner Energy. Wille is also involved in the transport sector in Norway, currently serving as chair of the board at Avinor.
