Martin Brühl has been promoted to the board of Hamburg-based Union Investment Real Estate and will take charge of a new international investment department.

Martin Brühl has been promoted to the board of Hamburg-based Union Investment Real Estate and will take charge of a new international investment department.

The move is part of a restructuring of the senior leadership at the fund manager following the departure of Heiko Beck, who stepped down as chief operating officer and board member in September.

The new set-up, which takes effect from 1 January 2016, is designed to create a clearer distinction between management oversight and operational market areas, as well as further deepening the strategic focus on the company’s growing international business, Union Investment Real Estate said in a statement.

All management and supporting tasks relating to the real estate business are being brought together under the remit of board chairman Reinhard Kutscher.

Brühl joins the senior management team and will head a new department that will oversee the international real estate investment business. While the department is new, the role is a familiar one for Brühl: he was recruited by Union Investment from Cushman & Wakefield in 2013 to lead the fund manager's expansion in Asia, Australia, North America and the UK.

Brühl will also take charge of fund management under the new structure. In addition to his day job, Brühl is also president of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Board member Frank Billand retains responsibility for investment management in Europe and for shopping centres. Volker Noack will remain in charge of asset management and project management. The institutional business will continue to be handled by sister company, Union Investment Institutional Property, which is headed by Christoph Schumacher and Wolfgang Kessler.