QIC is expanding its global clients and marketing team with the hires of two real estate investment specialists, the Brisbane, Australia-based asset manager said Monday.
The firm hired two directors, Reza Basharzad for its Los Angeles office and Leonie Wilkinson for its Sydney location, in appointments effective immediately. Both executives are focusing on product development and fundraising for QIC’s US real estate platform.
Basharzad reports to Vittorio Lacagnina, the head of global clients and marketing for North America and Europe. The new director had previously spent seven years as senior vice president working on investor relations and marketing for seven years at Paladin Realty Partners, a Los Angeles-based private equity real estate firm focused on Latin America real estate. Paladin could not be reached for comment. Basharzad had earliear worked at Triton Pacific Capital for five years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Wilkinson reports to David Asplin, the head of global business development. Wilkinson was previously the head of client capital in Australia and New Zealand for Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management for three years. The investment manager is currently hiring her replacement, a spokesman told PERE. Before her time at LaSalle, she spent nearly seven years at Macquarie Group as an associate director, where she focused on real estate capital markets, according to LinkedIn.
One of QIC’s US-focused products is an open-ended vehicle, QIC US Shopping Center Fund, that targets US retail, PERE previously reported. The firm raised $786 million for the core-plus fund as of July 2016, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The fund was seeded with 12 shopping centers that were previously part of a joint venture with New York-listed real estate company Forest City Realty. QIC entered the US real estate market in 2013 when it formed a $2 billion joint venture with Forest City.
In May, QIC said it would acquire a portfolio of US regional malls valued at around $4 billion from Forest City. Initially, QIC bought out the REIT’s interest in seven properties, with plans to purchase interests in four other assets.
QIC manages $62.9 billion in infrastructure, real estate, liquid strategies and multi-asset investments, according to Monday’s statement. Of that amount, $14.5 billion was held in real estate.
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