Actis, CapMan Real Estate, Bluefield Partners, Allianz Group, Barings, BlackRock, Harworth Group, Catella, Believ, Greystone, Canary Wharf Group, QIC Infrastructure, Nuveen Real Estate, Tishman Speyer, DWS
Canary Wharf Group — Nigel Wilson is to succeed chairman George Iacobescu who will retire from the board on 1 July 2024. Wilson, who served as group chief executive of Legal & General from 2012 to 2023, has been named non-executive chairman. Wilson has also held numerous government policy-related roles. Iacobescu became CEO of Canary Wharf Group in 1997 and its chairman in 2011.
Barings – Rupert Gill, the former head of European real estate debt at BlackRock, has been appointed to head up portfolio management for European real estate debt at Barings. In his new role, Gill will be responsible for the management of the European real estate debt portfolio management group, providing oversight of strategy development and the execution of investment solutions. Gill, be based in London, will also sit on the European real estate debt investment and valuation committees and will lead the European real estate debt portfolio management team that cover private debt real estate mandates encompassing both co-mingled funds and SMAs in Europe. Gill was head of European real estate debt at BlackRock for nearly seven years. He has also held senior positions at LNR Partners Europe / Hatfield Philips International, Lloyds Bank and ABN Amro Bank.
Tishman Speyer – Nikita Rao has joined the firm as managing director, head of US residential. Rao, who will be based in Washington DC, will direct strategy and efforts for acquiring and operating assets and development sites. Rao comes to Tishman Speyer from Nuveen Real Estate where she launched and oversaw the firm’s US cities multifamily fund. Prior to Nuveen, Rao was a SVP at Federal Capital Partners. She also worked in asset management at The Carlyle Group.
DWS – Ulrich von Creytz has been appointed Europe real Estate CIO. Von Creytz joined the firm in 2004 and has held several leadership positions within its real estate business. Most recently, he was head of the real estate specialists in EMEA overseeing teams in Frankfurt and London. Additionally, he was a board member for almost a decade. He will join DWS’s Europe investment committee and will maintain his two board positions in Germany.
Bluefield Partners – Armin Sandhövel has been appointed senior adviser. Sandhövel will lend his considerable infrastructure investment expertise in areas such as strategy and fundraising, with a particular focus on the DACH market. Sandhövel has expertise in infrastructure and climate-related investments globally, having spent over twenty years working with climate-positive solutions for Allianz Group. Most recently, Sandhövel served as CIO of infrastructure equity for Allianz Global Investors. Sandhövel’s previous experience also includes serving as the head of carbon risk at Dresdner Bank and as project manager of the German Council of Environmental Advisors.
QIC Infrastructure – Paul Maguire, Richard Van Breda and Mark Irwin have taken up senior positions within QIC Infrastructure’s specialist energy and utilities practice. Maguire joins the team as a partner. He was previously CEO of Lumea, and prior to that, he was CEO of Engie APAC. Van Breda joins as a senior advisor of energy transition. He was previously the CEO of Stanwell. Prior to that, he served as CFO for Tarong Energy. Irwin serves as the CEO of ADBRI and has served in senior roles for Oz Minerals including chief commercial officer. He joins as a senior adviser of energy transition.
CapMan Real Estate – Juhani Erke has been promoted to chief asset management officer, overseeing asset management operations across the Nordic region. Erke, who has been with CapMan since 2005, will continue to serve on the CapMan Real Estate investment. Aleksi Konsti will assume the roles of deputy head of Finland and head of transactions in Finland, starting in October. Erke will maintain his position as head of Finland during the interim period. Investment directors Marcus Lotzman and Hasse Wulff have been promoted to the newly established positions of head of transactions Sweden and head of transactions Denmark, respectively. Magnus Berglund and Peter Gill will continue as head of Sweden and Norway and head of Denmark, respectively. Additionally, Anna Rannisto has been promoted to sustainability director.
Actis — Marco Fragale has been appointed as CEO to lead Orygen, the firm’s energy platform operating as an independent power producer in Peru. Fragale held numerous roles for Enel across Latin America, including in Peru.
Harworth Group – The UK regenerator of land and property for sustainable development and investment has appointed Gareth Thomas development director for the Midlands region. Thomas will be responsible for expanding the Midlands portfolio to support Harworth’s strategic growth ambitions, including progressing its major developments in the region. Thomas has over 15 years’ experience in the private and public sector, having held senior leadership positions at both JLL and Deloitte, advising a range of institutional investors, financiers and property companies on commercial acquisitions and lending across the UK. Prior to joining Harworth, Thomas led the development team at The Coal Authority, which is sponsored by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.
Catella – Ronnie Holtslag, currently director of acquisitions at Catella Investment Management Benelux as director of cross border investments with focus on value-add and opportunistic strategies. Holtslag previously held positions as the head of acquisitions at Bouwfonds Investment Management, responsible for residential acquisitions in Europe, and as the area manager at BPD Europe BV, overseeing international development and investment opportunities. Prior to these roles, he worked as the construction director at the development company LivingStone International.
Greystone – William Iacobucci has joined the US commercial real estate finance company as a senior director of real estate lending. In this role, he will leverage his experience as former co-head of Fannie Mae’s student housing finance team and structured finance to lead Greystone’s lending efforts in these areas. Prior to joining Greystone, Iacobucci served as Fannie Mae’s VP of multifamily structured finance. He also previously served as a senior director – multifamily national account management at Fannie Mae, as well as director of Fannie Mae multifamily credit – Northeast Region. Earlier in his career, Iacobucci was VP of community development at SunTrust Bank. He also spent 10 years as founder and CEO of Regency Advisors International. He has also held roles at various financial institutions including Financial Federal Savings Bank as VP of commercial loan portfolio management.
Believ – The charge point operator has appointed Craig Butler to the new role of property and acquisitions director to lead the firm’s electric vehicle charging launch into the real estate sector. The goal is to accelerate the installation of public EV charging in the UK by creating charging hubs within urban centres and along key transport routes. He joins from CBRE, where he managed large national accounts in the retail and leisure sector and more recently he advised and supported global clients in the EV infrastructure space.
