Managers

BGO reshuffles global capital raising team

The New York-based firm has named a new global head of capital raising and investor relations, following Richard Price's departure in August.

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Ajay Sharma has been promoted to global head of capital raising and investor relations at New York-based manager BGO, PERE can reveal.

Richard Price, who previously oversaw this function as managing director in the firm’s global investor solutions group, is no longer working at BGO, PERE understands. According to his LinkedIn profile, he left the firm in August.

Sharma was previously head of capital raising and investor relations for BGO’s Europe division, a position he had held since 2020 when he joined the firm. He is based in London and now reports to Julie Wong, managing partner, chief client and product development officer, who has had ultimate oversight of the firm’s capital raising and investor relations activities globally since its inception.

Prior to joining BGO in 2020, Sharma had served as head of European capital raising at Chicago-headquartered manager Heitman since 2007.

Samuel Walser has subsequently been elevated to Sharma’s former role to head up capital raising and investor relations in Europe for BGO, according to sources close to the firm. Also based in London, Walser previously oversaw the capital raising and investor relations activities in select markets including Germany, Switzerland and Austria in his role as principal.

Walser joined BGO in September 2021 from broker JLL, where he spent more than three years as director of funds placement for Europe, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to that, he held roles at Abrdn and UBS Wealth Management.

Both promotions came into effect earlier this month, PERE understands.

Price joined BGO in San Francisco in October 2020, per his LinkedIn profile. Previously, he was senior advisor at capital advisory firm Accord Group Holdings from 2019 to 2020, and served as CEO of Asia-Pacific for manager CBRE Investment Management from 2011 to 2019, based in Hong Kong.

BGO sits in fifth place in the 2023 PERE 100 ranking of the private real estate industry’s largest managers, having raised $18.2 billion in capital commitments in the past five years.