Ivanhoé Cambridge reorganizes global team

As its presence grows in Canada, the US, Europe and emerging markets, Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate arm of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has completed a major organizational restructuring as a means to strengthen its growing platforms. 

A statement from the Montreal-based firm said it has rearranged several executives’ positions in order to reassign operational responsibilities in Canada, strengthen its Quebec team and better define its platforms within the emerging markets, Europe and the US. As part of this restructuring, Ivanhoé has launched a new initiative to invest up to C$300 million (€230.3 million; $295.2 million) in real estate projects in Quebec. 

Roman Drohomirecki

Claude Sirois, executive vice president of commercial investment and emerging markets, has been promoted to co-chief operating officer and executive vice president for Quebec. Roman Drohomirecki, executive vice president of operations for Central and Western North America, has been promoted to co-COO and executive vice president for the Central and Western provinces. 

Sirois will be responsible for all of the firm’s investment and operational activities in Quebec. He also will oversee the implementation of future construction and development projects in Quebec. He will work closely with Drohomirecki, whose responsibilities will include operational activities in Canada outside of Quebec. 

Together, these two executives will be responsible for all operational activities in Canada. Both Sirois and Drohomirecki will report directly to Daniel Fournier, chief executive officer of Ivanhoé Cambridge. These appointments take effect immediately.

Fournier said in a statement: “With C$35 billion in assets around the world now, and in light of the growing scope of our operations in Canada, we are revisiting our approach to this country.”

In addition, Jean Laramée, formerly senior vice president of the Eastern North American portfolio, is now senior vice president of Quebec Real Estate Capital. He will be responsible for a new initiative to invest up to C$300 million in promising real estate projects in Quebec. He will report to Sirois.

“We are very familiar with Quebec’s real estate market, which is a valuable competitive advantage that we want to fully capitalize on,” Fournier added. “We are convinced of the structuring potential of this initiative to generate attractive returns.”

Meanwhile, for the firm’s European platform, Meka Brunel will remain executive vice president for Europe. She will now, however, oversee both asset management and investments in Europe, which represents about 20 percent of Ivanhoé Cambridge’s total assets. She now reports to Bill Tresham, president of global investments.

For Ivanhoé’s US platform, Adam Adamakakis, executive vice president of investments, will now focus on investment management and asset management in the US, in collaboration with Callahan Capital Partners. This is a market in which Ivanhoé hopes to see strong growth. Adamakakis also will report to Tresham.

Lastly, for its emerging markets platform, Louis Voizard, vice president of asset management for emerging markets, has been promoted to senior vice president of emerging markets. He now will be responsible for Brazil, China and Russia, which together represent about 6 percent of the company’s assets, and will report to Tresham. With Sirois’ transition, Koko Gao, vice president and general manager for China, will report to Voizard. 

Sirois will continue to chair the board of directors of the joint venture Ancar Ivanhoe in Brazil, which manages more than 20 shopping centers. In this way, he will be able to continue to provide his colleagues with his extensive experience in emerging markets and knowledge of the Brazilian market.