CBRE GI appoints global co-head of investor services-exclusive

Bernie McNamara, former JPMorgan Asset Management global head of alternatives investment strategy, will join the firm as part of a three-year succession plan.

CBRE Global Investors has appointed Bernie McNamara, former JPMorgan Asset Management global head of alternatives investment strategy, to be the Los Angeles-based real estate investment manager’s global co-head of investor services and solutions.

Bernie McNamara joins CBRE GI

McNamara will report to global head of investors services Mike McMenomy, who joined CBRE GI in 2005 and has served the larger CBRE Group for 39 years. He will be based out of the firm’s New York office and will spend much of his time traveling to meet institutional investors.

McNamara’s hire is part of a three-year succession plan. Over the first year, McNamara will share the title of global co-head and take on some of McMenomy’s current responsibilities. During the second year, McMenomy will act as McNamara’s “right hand partner” and will delegate more responsibilities to him and the team. McMenomy said that in the final year, McMenomy said the firm will take a fresh look at the platform and its needs.

“I thought the most thoughtful approach would be to create a succession plan over time, where there is a handover of responsibilities over time,” McMenomy told PERE. “I wanted continuity and I wanted sustainability.”

CBRE GI global head of investors services Mike McMenomy

McNamara brings experience with real assets investments from JPMorgan Asset Management, where he worked for more than seven years. As the firm’s head of alternatives investment strategy, he managed portfolios encompassing global real estate, infrastructure, transport, private credit, private equity and special situations. His experience with real assets is well timed, given CBRE Group’s June 2017 acquisition of Caledon Capital Management – a Toronto-based firm specializing in private infrastructure investments. That transaction expanded CBRE GI’s real assets offerings.

The addition of McNamara is part of the ongoing evolution at CBRE GI’s investor services division, according to McMenomy. Since McMenomy joined the group in 2005, the team has grown from three to 70 employees, and investors services has opened offices around the world in cities including Dubai and Melbourne.