JPM’s Spann moves to CPPIB

Hilary Spann, a 15-year acquisitions veteran of JP Morgan Asset Management, will lead CPPIB’s US real estate investments.

JP Morgan Asset Management’s Hilary Spann is joining Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), PERE has learned.

The former managing director for acquisitions left JP Morgan’s team where she has worked since 2001, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She joins CPPIB as managing director and head of US real estate investments, a new role. Spann starts the job March 1 and will report to Peter Ballon, the managing director for Americas real estate investments. She will be based in the Toronto-based pension’s New York office, which had 10 employees as of March 31, according to CPPIB’s annual report. CPPIB manages the assets of the C$282.6 billion ($203 billion) Canada Pension Plan.

CPPIB’s US holdings include 45 percent stakes in the office buildings at 1221 Avenue of the Americas and One Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Last week, the pension system partnered with real estate investment trust Welltower to buy a 97.5 percent stake in a Florida senior housing portfolio from Discovery Senior Living for $555 million. The Canadian pension opened their New York office in January 2014.

One of JP Morgan’s most recent purchases was a 75 percent stake in a 23-story San Francisco office tower last month, according to real estate data provider RCA. The firm bought the majority interest in 580 California, a 313,000 square foot building, for $220 million, according to RCA.

A spokesperson for JP Morgan declined to comment on Spann’s departure.