Heitman, the global property fund manager, has opened an Australian office, with the appointment of experienced sales and marketing executive Beau Titchkosky as managing director, client service and marketing, for Australia and New Zealand.
The move gives the US-based manager a second leg to its Asia Pacific reach. John White, an Australian in Hong Kong, heads up the listed property business for Heitman in the region. James Gruver, who ran BNY Mellon in Australia between 2003 and 2009, before being promoted back to his native US, has been servicing big Australian super funds and other institutions from Chicago. Gruver is managing director, client service and marketing, globally.
Based in Melbourne, Titchkosky, who has been in the funds management industry for more than 20 years was most recently head of sales for Legg Mason.
Andy Sowerby, Legg Mason’s Australia and New Zealand country head, said the firm wished Titchkosky well and would be reviewing his former position.
“We have a very strong sales and marketing team at Legg Mason and also among our affiliates,” Sowerby said last week. Kimon Kouryialas, the head of sales and marketing for Martin Currie, which manages Legg Mason Martin Currie Australian equities business, as well as its global and emerging markets equities, for instance, is a former sales and marketing chief at Legg Mason, also based in Melbourne.
For Heitman, the expansion follows an extensive search overseen by Gruver going back to late last year. He said in a statement: “We are excited that Beau is joining Heitman to serve our existing clients and consultants in Australia and to lead our efforts to broaden the understanding of Heitman’s robust offerings in unlisted property, listed property, and private real estate debt investment strategies globally.”
Maury Tognarelli, Heitman’s chief executive, signalled further expansion in the Asia Pacific region. He said the Australian office was part of a multi-year strategy to broaden the firm’s presence in “this important region”.
He said: “One of the key reasons why Heitman has been in business and served its clients for more than 50 years has been our ability to consistently attract and retain high-calibre real estate professionals… We view Australia and New Zealand as critical markets for which Heitman must have a meaningful presence.”
Greg Bright is publisher of Investor Strategy News (Australia)