CBRE, Goldman Sachs, IntReal, Verdion, DLE Group, DLE, Vision Ridge Partners, Landmark Properties, Mitheridge Capital Management, Macquarie Capital, New Forests, M7 Real Estate, Ivanhoé Cambridge, Sellar, Zenzic Capital, Mitsui Fudosan UK

M7 Real EstateSylvain Fortier and Melinda Knatchbull have been appointed independent non-executive directors to the M7 board of directors. Fortier has also been appointed chair of the group board, with Knatchbull also assuming the role of chair of the audit, risk and compliance committee of the board. Fortier is the former chief investment and innovation officer of Ivanhoé Cambridge. During his 18-year tenure at Ivanhoé Cambridge he oversaw a global real estate portfolio. Fortier has also held roles on the board of Gecina and the board of Otera Capital, where he served as chair. Knatchbull has over 25 years’ financial and operational experience within the real estate investment management sector. She is currently CFO at Sellar, having previously spent over a decade at Schroders, including eight as COO, real estate, where her role included chair of the organisation’s real estate operating, real estate investment risk, and real estate valuation committees, as well as being a member of the global investment committee. 

Vision Ridge Partners – The global sustainable real assets investor has appointed Ramzi Moubarak MD and head of Europe. Moubarak will be responsible for sourcing and executing investments. Moubarak is a former MD on Macquarie Capital’s infrastructure and energy capital team in Europe. At Macquarie Capital, Moubarak led the value-add infrastructure investing business and co-led the energy transition sector in Europe. Previously, he served as a partner at European private equity firm Montagu. Earlier,  Moubarak was a VP at Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.

CBREChandni Luthra is joining the company as EVP with responsibility for investor relations and financial planning and analysis. Luthra will join CBRE from Goldman Sachs, where she has worked as an equity research analyst for nearly 15 years and most recently led research coverage of 15 commercial real estate companies, including CBRE. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Luthra was a research consultant at Adventity Global Services.

IntRealMarkus Schmidt has been appointed to the newly-created role of head of business development infrastructure at IntReal International Real Estate Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft. He has already been working in the fund controlling unit of Intreal since 2014, becoming head of a fund controlling and reporting team in 2017. In addition, he assumed the autonomous project management for a number cross-divisional in-house projects at IntReal.

DLE GroupLars Meisinger has been appointed CEO and chairman of the firm’s executive board, succeeding Yolanda Schmidtke, who co-founded the company with Rainer Schorr in 2016. Schmidtke will leave the board by the end of June to pursue new challenges but will remain connected to the company as its second-largest shareholder and as an advisor. Meisinger has more than 25 years of experience in the financial sector and joins DLE from Aquila Capital, where he had been leading and managing the international client advisory and corporate development unit since 2016. Throughout his career, Meisinger held senior roles at UBS Asset Management, BlackRock Alternative Investors, Man Group, and AXA Investment Managers, both in Germany and internationally.

Mitsui Fudosan UK –  Takeshi Iwama has been appointed chief executive to succeed Tomoo Nakamura, who is returning to Mitsui Fudosan’s Tokyo business after four years managing and growing the property company’s UK and European operations. Iwama brings nearly three decades of global real estate experience to the role. Having joined Mitsui Fudosan in 1996, he most recently held the post of head of strategy planning department in the international division.

New ForestsYida Kemoli has been appointed managing director, Africa. Kemoli will be responsible for driving the strategy for New Forests’ African business, fund raising for African forestry strategies, leading the team on the ground in Nairobi, and delivering investment returns and impact outcomes for clients. Kemoli was previously a senior partner with Phatisa Group, a food and agriculture focused sub-Saharan African private equity fund management business, where he was responsible for origination and portfolio management in Eastern Africa, as well as being a member of the investment committee and portfolio company boards.

HMC CapitalJulia Gillard, former Australian prime minister, will chair the HMC Energy Transition Fund, due to be launched in the coming months to invest in a portfolio of assets across the energy value chain, including wind, solar, battery, bio-fuels and emerging technologies. The fund targets a A$2bn capital raise. HMC Capital’s managing director and CEO, David Di Pilla says Gillard brings deep insights, policy experience and relationships which will be invaluable to HMC. HMC Capital is also well progressed identifying further advisory board members for the energy transition fund. The manager is assembling a specialist team led by former QIC Global Infrastructure Partner, Angela Karl, to execute the new strategy. 

JLL –  Taeho Yi has been appointed JLL country manager for Korea, effective from next month. Based in Seoul, he will be responsible for leading and managing JLL’s operations and strategy in South Korea, including oversight of major business lines –capital markets, markets advisory and work dynamics.  Yi joins JLL from CBRE Investment Managers, where he was country head for Korea for 9 years. Before that, he was regional director for JLL Capital Markets in Korea. He brings diverse experience from a variety of leading Korean and global real estate firms including Daelim Industrial, HMC Investment Securities, ING Real Estate Investment Manager and Savills. 

Zenzic Capital – The real estate credit and special situations investment manager has appointed Richard Clouston VP, development finance and Edward Barnes as a credit analyst. Clouston joins from the Bank of New Zealand, where he spent eight years in their Auckland office, most recently as client director. Clouston’s role will involve building on existing and establishing new relationships with introducers, UK residential property developers and property investors. Barnes joins from Westpac Banking Corporation in Melbourne, Australia, where he spent three years as an assistant relationship manager in their property finance team. At Zenzic he will be responsible for research, financial analysis and transactions underwriting, predominantly for real estate mezzanine and senior debt opportunities.

Verdion – The real estate investor has appointed Dominik Schäffer as group head of asset management to support its ongoing portfolio growth. Schäffer will drive Verdion’s group-wide asset management strategy and lead its team of asset managers across Germany, the Nordics and UK from the firm’s Düsseldorf offices. Previously head of asset management Germany for P3, Schäffer has asset management and leasing experience, strong relationships with major corporates in the sector, and specific knowledge of urban logistics requirements and operations.

Mitheridge Capital Management – Investment director Daniel Rastegar has been promoted to partner. Rastegar joined Mitheridge in January 2022 and has since led on sourcing and transacting new investment opportunities. Rastegar joined from his role as investment director at CPC Group where he focused on joint venture investments, debt structuring and direct development. He was also a member of the firm’s investment committee and a director on the board of several CPC Group companies.

Landmark PropertiesMax LaVictoire has joined the firm as managing director of investor relations. In this new role, LaVictoire will be responsible for developing and managing relationships with Landmark’s current and prospective investors. He will also oversee the development of new investment vehicles to support Landmark’s investment strategies and growing equity capital needs. LaVictoire has more than a decade of experience in the finance and real estate investment sectors. Prior to joining Landmark, he served as principal, head of GP advisory services at Hodes Weill & Associates in New York. He also spent several years in an investment role at Harvey Partners.