Rupert Clarke, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle corporate finance, is to become Hermes’ new head of property.
At JLL, Clarke has helped to build up the strongest corporate finance team among the agents and worked on a number of high-profile deals, including the recent £180m-plus sale of Sainsbury’s development arm and last year’s sale of Railtrack Developments.
His departure will be a huge blow.
He will replace Richard Harrold at fund manager Hermes.
In June Harrold was appointed chief executive of MEPC, which Hermes took private in 2000 and which is now a wholly owned subsidiary, following the departure of its management team.
Clarke’s appointment surprised property fund managers, but one said: “I had heard that Hermes was looking for more of an investment banking type than a conventional fund manager.”
Some property fund managers said the move appeared to indicate Hermes would be looking at more structured deals.
Neither Clarke nor Hermes were available for comment.
It comes as several high-level property fund management positions remain vacant.
Following chief executive Ian Reid’s departure from Aberdeen Property Investors, API’s UK head David Hunter is tipped for the top job.
Hunter would not comment on the speculation but said API was “reshaping” following the breakdown of takeover talks with British Land.
Deutsche Property Asset Management has still not appointed a replacement for chief executive Simon Cooke, who resigned in January.
And Legal & General has appointed headhunters to find a new head of property for its life fund to replace Stephen Mundy.
References: EGi News 29/09/03
