Global investment firm LaSalle Investment Management has announced that Mark Gabbay, currently CEO and chief investment officer (CIO) of LaSalle Asia Pacific, will assume the role of LaSalle global CEO as of 1 January.
Gabbay will succeed Jeff Jacobson, who spent 14-years in the role.
According to the firm, Jacobson will stay on as LaSalle chairman through at least June 2021 and will continue to work closely with the leadership team for the handover period.
As global CEO, Gabbay will have overall leadership responsibility for LaSalle’s strategic direction and growth. He will report to Christian Ulbrich, president and CEO of JLL.
Gabbay joined LaSalle in 2010 as chief investment officer for Asia Pacific. In 2015, he became APAC CEO and has led the firm's robust earnings growth in the region. Previous roles include serving as managing director and head of the Asia asset finance division at Nomura and co-head of the Asia Pacific global real estate group at Lehman Brothers.
Jacobson said: 'Mark’s experience and track record of outperformance have been critical to the success of our Asia Pacific business, and he possesses the right mix of skills, innovative thinking and leadership to drive LaSalle’s growth going forward.
'The foundation of our business is very solid, and I am confident that the firm will experience great momentum and success with Mark and our entire global leadership team. I look forward to helping this transition and observing the progress in the years ahead.'
Ulbrich added: 'Jeff’s leadership and investment expertise have been instrumental in LaSalle’s success over the past 30 years. We thank him for positioning the business on such solid footing and being an outstanding steward for LaSalle’s investors and employees throughout his career.
'Mark is the right leader to drive the next phase of growth and further enhancing LaSalle’s industry leading real estate investment management offer.'
Gabbay said: 'I am honoured and excited to become the next CEO of LaSalle. Our global platform, singular real estate focus and investment expertise around the world is unparalleled and I look forward to working with our teams to drive growth, innovation and performance in the years ahead.'
As part of the succession plan, a number of leadership changes will affect the APAC region. Keith Fujii, Japan CEO, will step into the Asia Pacific CEO role previously held by Gabbay. Claire Tang, head of Greater China, and Kunihiko (Nick) Okumura, head of Japan acquisitions, will become Co-CIOs of Asia Pacific to fill the CIO role previously held by Gabbay.
