Primonial REIM has opened a London office for the first time, which will be dedicated to forging relationships with international investors.
The new office is headed by Sandra Burrows who has joined to focus on widening Primonial REIM’s institutional investor base.
She will lead a three-strong team and co-manage the new entity Primonial REIM UK with Stéphane Marguier, who joined in January as head of international business development and who is based in the investment manager’s Paris HQ.
Dominic Palman is working alongside Burrows as as director - international investor services, with the third member of the team joining later this month.
Juergen Fenk, Primonial REIM CEO, said: ‘In terms of profile, opening in London shows we are serious about becoming European; we are not a French company going into parts of Europe.’
Burrows was previously head of client services at Corestate Capital Group, and has 14 years' experience in supporting and nurturing institutional and private client relationships with global asset management firms.
Prior to joining Corestate in 2018, she worked at Blackstone in London in the investor relations and private wealth management teams, where she set up the process for integrating European client relationships and client servicing. Burrows was also previously in charge of investor relations at 3i in London.
Fenk was brought in by Primonial last year to expand the real estate business further beyond its France stronghold and re-fashion it as a true pan-European player. The ambition includes becoming an integrated real estate investment platform with development, asset management and operational capabilities as well as investment and fund management strengths. An agreed merger with Altarea would have been a significant stride in this direction, but Altarea pulled out and Primonial is suing the listed property company for damages.
Primonial will also hire a sales person in London. Fenk has already added an office in Singapore to existing bases in Germany, Luxembourg and Italy, and wants to expand by targeting new types of institutional investors in Asia, Middle East and North America as well as Europe, for club deals and pan-European funds.
Primonial REIM has €30 bn in assets under management.
