CIM Group, Walker & Dunlop, JLL, Edgar Matthews & Co, Nomura, Greystar, CYCAP, Starwood Capital, AEW, BPCE, Pocket Living, LNL Capital, Ares Management, Heitman, Koramco Asset Management, Savills Investment Management, Urban Partners, Arup Group, Patrizia, Kroll, JLL
Patrizia – Hassan Awada has been appointed as senior executive officer for MENA to lead the firm’s business growth across the region, focusing on deepening relationships with institutional investors and strategic partners. Awada joins from Kroll, where he held a senior role, and previously held positions at Cornerstone Capital, Gleacher Shacklock, PwC and EY. Based in Abu Dhabi, he brings over 20 years of experience advising institutional investors across the full investment lifecycle. In his new role, Awada will support Patrizia’s target of expanding its presence in the Middle East and providing regional investors access to its global real estate and infrastructure platform.
Savills Investment Management – Giovanni Trespidi has been appointed to lead the firm’s newly launched Italian real estate direct lending strategy following regulatory authorisation from the Bank of Italy. Trespidi transitions to lead the platform at Savills Investment Management SGR, having served as senior debt and treasury manager since joining the firm in 2021, and previously held the position of vice president of real estate structured finance at UniCredit. With over 11 years of experience in real estate lending and fund management, he will oversee direct lending solutions for Italian borrowers across institutional income-producing assets, supporting Savills IM SGR’s target of expanding its product suite and diversifying its global real estate platform.
Urban Partners – Hilde Tonne and Jonathon Bond have been appointed to the board of directors as non-executive directors to support the European urban investor’s platform growth and sustainability strategy. Tonne joins from Arup Group, where she serves as chair, having previously held the role of chief executive officer at Statnett, and earlier served as chief innovation officer at Ramboll. Bond joins from Grosvenor, where he served as CIO, and previously co-founded Actis Capital. In their new roles, they will support Urban Partners’ target of strengthening its investment capabilities and expanding its European urban solutions platform across real estate, technology, and sustainable infrastructure.
Greystar – Tom Livelli has been appointed as executive director and head of Asia-Pacific to lead the growth of the firm’s vertically integrated rental housing platform across the region. Livelli rejoins the business, where he previously spent six years building and leading the South America platform at Greystar. With over 20 years of international real estate experience across investment, development, and property management, he returns to the firm to support Greystar’s target of expanding its regional footprint and scaling its Asia-Pacific rental housing platform.
Heitman – John Lee has been appointed as head of sales for Korea to lead capital raising and investor relations across the firm’s real estate private equity and debt platforms. Lee joins from Koramco Asset Management, where he served as head of the global investment team managing global portfolios and risk management initiatives. Based in Seoul, he will report to John Mancuso, managing director and head of global sales. In his new role, Lee will support Heitman’s target of strengthening its capital formation platform and expanding investor coverage across Korea for its global real estate platform.
JLL – Paul Morgan has been appointed to the newly created role of chief operating officer, joining the firm’s global executive board and reporting directly to president and CEO Christian Ulbrich. Morgan previously served as chief operating officer of real estate management services at JLL, having joined the firm in 2016 following an 18-year tenure at Johnson Controls, where he held various executive leadership positions across operations, sales and strategy. In his new role, Morgan will lead a centralised global operations function to support JLL’s target of executing its 2030 strategy, focusing on operational excellence and unifying its enterprise-wide platform.
LNL Capital – Joel Tomlinson has been appointed as managing partner to oversee the firm’s structured debt and equity strategy across single-tenant retail, industrial and healthcare net lease real estate. Tomlinson joins from Ares Management, where he served as managing director and was a founding member of its net lease strategy. He previously held executive positions at Apollo Global Management, Realty Income and Cole Capital. With over 25 years of industry experience and more than $15bn in direct net-lease transactions, Tomlinson will support LNL Capital’s target of expanding its platform across new equity opportunities and executing its pipeline of over $2bn in potential investments.
Starwood Capital – Tim Abram has been appointed as head of asset management for Europe, where he will lead asset management across commercial and hospitality portfolios while retaining his title as head of international hotels. Abram transitions from his previous role as co-head of global hotels at Starwood Capital, having served as managing director since 2023 and worked within the firm’s equity business since 2015. He previously served as associate director in real estate, lodging and leisure investment banking at UBS, and held earlier positions in the distressed debt group at Citi. In his new role, he will support Starwood Capital’s target of scaling its European asset management platform as the firm deploys its global opportunity fund.
AEW – Gwénaël Dupeux has been appointed as head of technology and transformation for Europe to lead the firm’s IT, data, AI, and corporate development strategy across the region. Dupeux joins from BPCE, where he served in organizational transformation roles, and previously held the position of co-head of the transformation management office at Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking. With two decades of experience across financial services and investment management, he takes on the newly created role to support AEW’s target of scaling its European platform and integrating advanced data capabilities across its regional real estate portfolio.
Pocket Living – Marc Vlessing has stepped down as chair after founding the London-based compact homes developer more than two decades ago. Vlessing transitions from his chair role at Pocket Living, having previously served as CEO before moving to the board in April 2024. During his tenure, the developer delivered over 1,800 affordable homes across London. Following his departure, he will focus on his role as senior partner and co-owner at Namier Capital Partners, alongside his chairmanship of ProVen Growth & Income VCT. In his new role, he will support Namier Capital Partners’ target of advising on energy transition, healthcare and creative industries strategies.
CIM Group – Garett Bjorkman has been appointed as principal and co-head of opportunity zones, where he will co-lead the firm’s real estate strategy alongside Robert Dupree. Bjorkman rejoins the firm having previously served as managing director of portfolio oversight at CIM Group from 2015 to 2024, where he helped launch the firm’s opportunity zones platform. With over 15 years of experience in real estate investment and portfolio management, he returns to the business to support CIM Group’s target of driving capital into underserved communities and expanding its essential real estate and infrastructure strategies.
Walker & Dunlop – Patrick Saade has been appointed as senior managing director, capital markets, and co-head of hospitality advisory to support the expansion of the firm’s hospitality and international capital markets capabilities across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Saade joins from JLL, where he served as senior managing director in the EMEA hotel and hospitality group, overseeing cross-border hotel transactions, debt financing, and equity placement. In his new role, he will support Walker & Dunlop’s target of scaling its EMEA capital markets platform and expanding its cross-border hospitality advisory practice.
Edgar Matthews & Co – Sanjay Patel has been appointed as managing director to lead advisory and capital markets coverage of the residential finance sector, where he will oversee structured credit solutions across residential mortgage, private credit and asset management platforms. Patel joins from Nomura, where he served as a senior banker covering the mortgage and residential credit sectors, and previously held the role of senior coverage banker at BMO Capital Markets and Citi. In his new role, he will support Edgar Matthews & Co’s target of expanding its structured credit franchise and establishing dedicated coverage across the US residential credit market.
CYCAP – Ole Jürgens has been appointed as chief development officer to oversee asset development, technical asset management and EPC-M across the firm’s renewables strategies. Jürgens internal transition sees him promoted from his previous role as head of technical management at CYCAP, having also served as head of project development and senior investment manager since joining the firm in 2019. Prior to this, he served as managing director at an unnamed renewable energy project developer. In his new role, he will support CYCAP’s target of scaling its repowering and hybridisation funds, including advancing its €1.6bn repowering portfolio across Germany.
