EPRA appoints Swiss Property chief as chairman

The European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) has appointed Luciano Gabriel, CEO of listed group PSP Swiss Property, as its new chairman.

He succeeds Serge Grzybowski, chairman and CEO of French listed real estate company Icade, who held the role over the past year.

Gabriel joined PSP Swiss Property as chief financial officer in 2002 and has been CEO since 2007. The company owns office and commercial properties throughout Switzerland with a value of around CHF 6.6 bn (€6.2 bn).

He was previously responsible for corporate finance and group treasury at Zurich Financial Services between 1998 to 2002. Prior to that he held management positions in corporate finance, risk management, international corporate banking and business development at UBS in Zurich from 1984 to 1998.

Commenting on the appointment, Philip Charls, CEO of EPRA, said Gabriel brought ‘a wealth of banking and corporate finance experience’ to the position as well as expertise in running a major listed real estate company. ‘Those skills will be put to good use as the European listed real estate industry is going through a period of rapid expansion as investors focus on the quality of the property assets our members are able to offer and the strong income yields these investments are producing in a low-yield world,’ he said.

With more than 200 members, EPRA represents over €300 bn of real estate assets and 90% of the market capitalisation of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Europe Index.