DigitalBridge, Interconexion Electrica, UBS AM, CBRE, Boreal IM, AEW, Hyperco, Stack Infrastructure, FREO Group
Boreal IM – Nikos Koulouras, the former head of investments at global investment advisor AEW, has joined the pan-European real estate investment manager as partner. Koulouras brings over 20 years of investment experience to Boreal IM. Koulouras spent over seven years as investment head AEW, where he led the firm’s pan-European value-add investment team. Prior to AEW, he worked for Merrill Lynch in London and was also joint head of real estate at Salamanca Group. Koulouras will focus on the development and implementation of Boreal IM’s overall investment strategy.
UBS AM – The asset manager’s real estate and private markets arm has appointed Olivia Muir to succeed Darren Rabenou as head of ESG. Muir, who is joining from the asset manager’s multi-managers real estate business, will lead the real estate and private markets ESG team. She will transition her current portfolio management responsibilities to the multi-managers real estate business team over the next few months, while retaining responsibility for managing a soon-to-be-launched indirect sustainable investment strategy that will span the entire private markets spectrum. She joined UBS-AM in 2011. Rabenou, who was appointed head of food and agriculture and head of ESG investment strategies in April last year, will now focus full time on leading the food and agriculture business.
CBRE – Bill Grice has been appointed president for CBRE’s US hotels arm. Grice will lead CBRE’s hotel business that combines investment sales, finance, valuation, advisory, and research into a single fully integrated service offering. Grice, who is based in Atlanta, Georgia, has more than 20 years of hospitality and capital markets experience. He joined CBRE in 2020 and was most recently co-head of hospitality capital markets. He was previously a member of the hotel investment banking team at JLL and prior to that worked in large loan originations at GE Capital Real Estate. Grice succeeds Kevin Mallory, who will retire at the end of the year after more than 18 years with the firm.
DigitalBridge – The global digital infratructure firm has appointed Bernardo Vargas Gibsone as managing director, head of Latin America. In this role, Gibsone will oversee the growth of the company’s Latin American investment management business. As DigitalBridge’s head of Latin America, Gibsone will work alongside the existing DigitalBridge team with a focus on originating and integrating new investment opportunities in the Latin American market, as well as providing ongoing support for DigitalBridge’s existing investments in the region. He most recently served as CEO of Interconexion Electrica. Prior to Interconexion, Gibsone spent 14 years as founding partner of Nogal Asesorias Financieras, an investment banking advisory boutique in Colombia specialising in local and cross-border M&A across a variety of industries. Gibsone also served as a board member of Amarilo, Colombia’s leading real estate developer, Grupo Pantaleon, Pronaca Colombia among others. Earlier in his career, he served as president and CEO of the merged operations of Barings and ING Colombia; as founding CEO of Proexport Colombia; as founding CEO of Fiducoldex; and as an advisor to the Minister of Foreign Trade.
FREO Group – Hartmut Leser has been appointed partner and CIO. He will also take on the role of spokesman of the management board of FREO Germany. Leser’s role will be to expand FREO’s product range towards private markets, ESG and institutional AIF funds, as well as to further develop the German and European institutional investor base. Leser was previously CEO of Aberdeen Investments Deutschland. Over the past 15 years, he grew the company into the top league of foreign asset managers in German-speaking countries. Before that, he was managing partner of FERI, with responsibility for investment consulting.
Alecta Fastigheter – The real estate arm of Swedish pension fund Alecta has appointed Assur Badur as its new general counsel. The domestic property subsidiary, which was established last year, said the legal function had a key role in the build-up and growth phase it was currently in. Badur, who will take up the new role on 3 October, most recently worked in the Stockholm office of law firm Vinge, where he was head of real estate.
Hyperco – The Nordic-based data-centre company has appointed Joachim Kauppi chief commercial officer. Kauppi joins from Stack Infrastructure, where he headed international sales. He has previously held positions at Equinix and TelecityGroup. Based in Stockholm, Kauppi will help develop commercial relationships and strengthen the region’s profile as a burgeoning location for sustainable data-centre operations.
