People moves: CBRE names Mende CEO of German advisory business

CBRE, Outpost Management, Greystone, PGIM Real Estate, Spearmint Energy, Cain International, Hometap Equity Partners, Ferrovial, Garbe, Mileway, Orion Capital Managers, Abrdn, DFI, Mesirow, Meridian Capital, Nuveen, Sabal Investment, Meridian Capital, The NRP Group

CBRE – Kai Mende has been appointed CEO of CBRE’s advisory business in Germany and will assume his new position from today. He succeeds interim CEO Germany, Peter Schreppel. As planned, Schreppel is now returning to his position as head of international investment, Germany within the capital markets team at CBRE. Mende has been managing director of CBRE’s capital markets division in Berlin since 2017. In 2019, he also took on the role of city leader in Berlin, which he will continue to fulfil alongside his new role as CEO. Richard Dakin, head of CBRE’s European investment banking and debt & structured finance business, will retire in December. Effective 1 July 2024, he will assume a part-time role supporting the established Investment banking and debt & structured finance leadership team. The decision by Dakin to step down marks the close of a 42-year career in banking and real estate finance. Over the past nine years, Dakin has spearheaded the growth of CBRE’s financial capabilities through the growth of its Investment banking and debt & structured finance business in the UK and across Europe. Dakin joined CBRE following a 32-year career at Lloyds Banking Group where he was managing director and head of the real estate business support unit. 

Greystone – The national commercial real estate finance company has appointed Alex Chang senior managing director. Chang was most recently focused on bridge-to-agency opportunities at PGIM Real Estate. Prior to that role, he spent over 13 years at Freddie Mac Multifamily, where he oversaw the credit quality of more than $500bn in securitisations, structured and approved complex transactions, and was responsible for the credit policies governing all multifamily products. Earlier in his career, Chang also spent time at Mezz Cap and Bear Stearns.

Sienna Investment Managers – Ben ten Napel has been appointed to the position of head of asset and property management – Benelux, as part of its real estate team. Before joining Sienna IM, Ten Napel was head of asset management Benelux at Cromwell Property. Before that, he spent 12 years at Syntrus Achmea Real Estate & Finance, the real estate arm of the largest Dutch insurer, beginning as transaction manager and ending his time there as senior client portfolio manager for real estate. Earlier in his career he worked in a variety of roles at Deloitte, Arthur Andersen and Corio.

Outpost Management – Niall Sheridan has been appointed to the newly created role of director of investments. Sheridan joins Outpost from Cain International, where as VP he led pan-European real estate investment projects, specialising in institutional underwriting, due diligence, and asset management following previous investment roles at Hines and Deutsche Bank.

Spearmint Energy – Michael Gray has been appointed managing director of project finance. He held positions in the strategic transactions group at Barclays Bank and transaction services department at Deloitte. Rafia Merchant has been appointed managing director of capital markets. Merchant has more than two decades of experience working in the energy and commodities finance industry, including across debt capital markets, energy trading and structured derivatives, and project and structured finance. She has held roles at ENGIE North America, New York Power Authority, BNP Paribas, Macquarie, and JPMorgan. Jack Clark III has been appointed director of regulatory – ERCOT & SPP. Clark most recently worked at NextEra Energy Resources, where he supported regulatory and legislative affairs with a focus on ERCOT and SPP ISOs. Omar Longou has been appointed director of commercial operations. Longou most recently led a team of engineers focused on technical project management at Siemens Gamesa. He previously served in various engineering and technical project management roles at the same company.

Ferrovial – Claudia Husemann has been appointed director of communications and corporate social responsibility for the US. In this newly created role, she will drive greater brand awareness and deepen understanding of the scope and scale of Ferrovial’s operations in the US. Prior to joining Ferrovial, Husemann led global communications for Silicon Labs. Previously, she led corporate and CEO communications at AMD. Husemann has been a global client leader at agencies Edelman, Hill & Knowlton and Waggener Edstrom, representing clients such as Bloomberg, Deloitte, Juniper, Microsoft and Symantec.

Hometap Equity Partners – Diane Wold has been appointed director of structured products. She was most recently at Wells Fargo Bank, where she served as SVP  in the home lending capital markets team. Wold began her career in public accounting at Deloitte, and since then has spent almost 30 years in the secondary mortgage market. Wold previously worked at GMAC Residential Capital Corporation and Two Harbors Investment Corp.

Garbe – Paul Twigt has been appointed head of real estate management in the Netherlands. Twigt will oversee all asset and property management activities for Garbe’s Dutch logistics portfolio. He joins from Mileway, where he served as regional director. Prior to this role, he gained experience in various real estate disciplines, having worked at Sienna Investment Managers, Marathon Asset Management and NSI.

Orion Capital Managers – The European private equity real estate firm has appointed Andrea Goss as director of its investor relations team. Goss will cover servicing the firm’s existing client base, assisting in the fundraising for Orion’s sixth pan-European fund, as well as executing co-investment and other initiatives. Goss brings over 20 years’ experience in raising capital and providing corporate finance advice to institutional clients,15 years of which was spent at Eastdil Secured in New York and London. Most recently, Goss spent two years at Abrdn’s London office, where she was an investment director, responsible for diversifying the firm’s product line through joint ventures and club deals with an emphasis on the living sector. Goss started her real estate career in investment banking at RBC Capital Markets.

Deutsche Finance International – The pan-European private equity real estate platform has promoted Paul Nearchou, based in London, to partner to co-lead the firm’s investment activity alongside founding partner, Gavin Neilan. Nearchou previously led investment and asset management in Northern Europe and played a prominent role in the creation of the firm’s Danish student accommodation and co-living platforms, as well as multiple investments in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. Francesco Orofino, who is based in London, has been promoted to investment director. Previously he was VP and head of hospitality. Candice Depollier has been promoted from associate to VP in the firm’s asset management team. Based in Madrid, she joined the firm in 2021 and is actively involved in asset management activity across the firm’s portfolio.

Mesirow – Justin Maturo has been appointed managing director in institutional real estate investments. Maturo will work closely with the team to identify attractive investment opportunities that meet the firm’s criteria. He will manage all aspects of the acquisition process, including managing, sourcing, financial analysis, due diligence, financing and underwriting procedures. Previously, he was a managing director and principal of investments at Magnolia Capital. Before Magnolia Capital, he was a SVP Waterton.

Nuveen – The investment manager’s energy infrastructure business has appointed Lena Doan, Jeff Hostettler and Eliot Javanmardi as managing directors and has also appointed Malcolm Bean and Luke Schaefer as associate and analyst respectively. Doan was a managing director at HPS Investment Partners, where she focused on private credit, structured equity and special situations investments in energy, power and renewables. Hostettler was previously a managing director at HPS Investment Partners, where he invested across the capital structure for the energy, power and renewables team for more than a decade. Javanmardi was previously managing director and head of the Houston office for HPS Investment Partners, where he had focused on investing across the capital structure for the energy, power and renewables vertical since 2015. Bean gained experience in the energy trading space through quantitative analyst roles at Morgan Stanley, Lacima Group and Twin Eagle, where he focused on risk analytics. Schaefer previously supported Koch Industries’ commodity production and trading business through financial and commercial analysis.

Meridian Capital – Andrew Bon Salle and Pat Jackson have joined the firm as independent members of its board. Bon Salle has more than three decades of experience in the housing finance industry. At Fannie Mae, he served as EVP of the company’s single-family mortgage business, held leadership roles in capital markets and credit functions, and also worked in Fannie Mae’s multifamily business. Most recently, he served as executive chairman of Home Point Capital. Jackson brings more than 40 years of experience in financial services and multifamily lending to the board. He serves as CEO and CIO of real estate investment manager Sabal Investment Holdings, having previously founded and led Sabal Capital Partners. Prior to Sabal, he was the CEO of IndyMac Commercial Lending Corporation.

The NRP Group – Bill Zunamon has been appointed vice president of development. Zunamon previously served as vice president of development at McDowell Housing Partners. He is an active member of Florida’s Coalition of Attainable Housing Providers and regularly engages with various organizations dedicated to attainable and workforce housing initiatives.