EUROPE - Former ABP portfolio manager Rob Bingen will join Schroder Property in October as head of its €2.2bn European property multi-manager operation.

Bingen, was previously a senior portfolio manager at the €211bn Dutch civil service scheme but subsequently joined PVF Pensioenen.

However, Jenny Buck, head of property multi-manager, said less important than Bingen's pension fund background was his 13 years' experience in property investment.

"He has a track record of investing in the European market," she said. "We already have researchers. We were after a ‘doer' of the work. It's important to have people who are expert and focused on the region."

Bingen will also take over as director of two European property funds, soon after the second, the Continental European Fund II, has its first closing in September.

His appointment comes as part of a restructuring of the fund manager's property business as Schroder also plans to "eventually" appoint heads for Asia and North America.

Buck said it was "difficult to predict" how large the indirect operation would become.

"It's a global platform and we'll resource it appropriately," she said.

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