LaSalle appoints Ironside as European CIO

JLL’s investment management firm has made two appointments in Europe, including the promotion of its head of acquisitions. 

Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management, the real estate investment management business of the property services firm JLL, has promoted David Ironside to European chief investment officer. 

Ironside, who has been working in the real estate industry since 1983, was formerly head of acquisitions at LaSalle and has experience across the several European markets. After joining LaSalle in 2001, he has led investment deals in Germany, Holland, Belgium and Sweden in strategies ranging from core to opportunistic. Ironside will join LaSalle’s European management board with immediate effect.

Before joining LaSalle, Ironside spent four years at Bayernfonds Real, the subsidiary of Bayerische Landesbank.

Meanwhile, Rene Hoepfner joins as regional director to lead the global client capital group in the firm’s Munich office, where he will be responsible for client relationships across Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Hoepfner previously worked at Ardian, leading fundraising and client relationships in Germany and Austria.

Prior to this, he was at Mercer Investment Consulting, in Munich, advising corporate pension funds, occupational pension schemes and other institutional clients on strategic asset allocation.

Simon Marrison, European chief executive at LaSalle, said: “David has an enormous amount of experience across the sector and I am confident that both this and his energy will ensure that business continues to thrive.

“We’re also delighted to have Rene Hoepfner from Ardian on board. He is well known to our teams and brings with him an extensive network of German and Swiss contacts which will be hugely complimentary to our own client relationships.”