The board of the Association of Real Estate Funds (Aref) has appointed Anne Breen, global head of real estate, abrdn, as its new chair.
Breen has spent her 25-year career at abrdn holding a number of senior roles, starting with her leadership of global investment research and strategy (real estate) at the firm, before being appointed global head of real estate in 2023.
Breen has been a member of Aref’s board since 2020 – which is responsible for the strategic direction of the association. It consists of eight non-executives, including the chair, plus the managing director of Aref, who has executive responsibility.
Breen replaces Adrian Benedict – Fidelity’s head of real estate solutions – who has been chair since 2020.
Said Breen: 'The real estate funds industry is facing considerable opportunities and challenges. It is in the front line of the energy transition and the opportunity to retrofit thousands of buildings – and invest in new solutions to a changing climate – is vast.
'At the same time, there are barriers to overcome as we work with legislators and regulators to enable a broader range of institutional and wholesale investors to invest in real estate. This includes the large and growing defined contribution pensions sector, which has small real estate allocations at present.'
Paul Richards, CEO at Aref, says: 'On behalf of Aref’s leadership and members I’d like to thank Adrian Benedict for his 3 years as chair of the association. It’s been far more eventful than anyone could have predicted.
'I am looking forward to working with Anne to continue our work in representing the industry and the good that it does to government, regulators and wider society.'
