Schroders has announced the appointment of former CBRE Global Investors CEO Sophie van Oosterom to the role of Schroders Global Head of Real Estate, as Duncan Owen steps down.
Joining the firm in January 2021, Van Oosterom will oversee its direct and indirect real estate portfolio.
Schroders said that its private assets business has developed rapidly over the past few years, and as part of the group’s ongoing strategic focus in this area, the firm was now looking to further accelerate the development of its real estate business, Schroder Real Estate.
Georg Wunderlin, global head of private assets at Schroders, said: 'I am delighted to welcome Sophie van Oosterom to our team. Sophie joins us with a strong track record of building successful private assets businesses. She will be a key partner in our strategy to become a market leader in this field.
'This is an exciting time in our journey, and Sophie brings a wealth of relevant experience which will help us achieve the next phase in our growth for our real estate and broader private assets platform.'
Prior to joining Schroders, Van Oosterom was CEO and CIO of EMEA for CBRE Global Investors. In this capacity, she was responsible for the oversight of all operations, investment strategy and performance, underwriting and programme development in the region, and served as a member of the global executive committee and global investment committee and as chair of the European executive committee and European investment committee.
Before joining CBRE Global Investors, Van Oosterom was a managing director and European head of asset management of the Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners private equity funds (now Silverpeak Real Estate Partners) with around $20 bn (€17.5 bn) of assets under management at its peak.
Exit for Owen
After almost nine years at Schroders, Duncan Owen has decided to step down from the role of global head of real estate with effect from 31 December 2020. During Owen's time with the firm, Schroders said that the real estate division has grown to €19.2 bn (€21.2 bn). Owen will continue with the business as a special advisor to Schroders Real Estate, with a focus on continuing to advise the Schroders UK REIT and the SREIM board in relation to the newly acquired Schroders Pamfleet entity in Asia, where he will sit on the board.
Schroder Real Estate forms part of Schroders’ private assets business, which includes private equity, infrastructure, microfinance and impact investments, insurance-linked securities and securitised credit and has combined assets under management of £44.2 bn as at 31 December 2019.
