Cordea Savills CFO moves to Italy

The London-based real estate investment firm has added new responsibility for David Cunnington, who is already chief financial officer. He becomes head of the Italian fund business and is moving to Milan.

Cordea Savills has made changes to its Italian business, appointing chief financial officer David Cunnington as managing director of the division.

Cunnington will remain in his original role where he has overall responsibility for corporate finance and fund operations, the firm said in a statement, but he is moving to Milan to carry out his additional duties.

In other changes, the company has appointed Pirelli Real Estate’s head of Italian residential asset management, Salvatore Ruoppolo, as head of investment. Until the beginning of the year, Ruoppolo was running Pirelli’s Central and Eastern Europe operation in a joint venture with Unicredit Group. Meanwhile Paola Fiorini has been appointed chief operating officer in Italy. She joined Cordea Savills in July after leaving Australian group, Babcock and Brown, where she was chief financial officer.

Gerardo Solaro del Borgo, who was managing director of the Italian business from 2006 until earlier this year, has moved to a consultancy role focusing on business development and remains fund director for the pan European Property Fund SGR.

Cordea Savills will soon have 26 people in Italy with further appointments in due course, said the company.

John Partridge, executive chairman, said in a statement the firm regarded Italy as an “extremely important part” of its overall business.

The firm closed its Italian Opportunities No.2. fund last December with more than €360 million ($454 million) of equity raised from institutional investors in two closings. The fund is targeting net returns of 20 percent and mirrors the strategy of its first Italian Opportunities venture by investing in single asset and portfolio real estate deals.