Managers

Veteran capital-raiser returns to private real estate in Patrizia role

Well-known capital advisory specialist JC Klein has joined the Augsburg-based manager to spearhead its activities in the Middle East.

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Four years after leaving former Blackstone-owned capital advisory firm PJT Park Hill, placement agent Jan-Christoph Klein has joined Augsburg-based manager Patrizia to spearhead its activities in the Middle East, PERE can reveal.

JC Klein source Patrizia
Klein: the ex-PJT Park Hill executive is returning to private real estate after four years focused on venture capital and technology

Starting last month, Klein has been charged with establishing Patrizia’s first office in the United Arab Emirates to “better serve our local investors and build new client relationships across the region,” a spokesperson said. “Being physically located in the region will allow for more seamless communication with our existing investors and closer dialogue with new prospects within the GCC, comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,” he added.

Klein will report to Konrad Finkenzeller, head of global client solutions at Patrizia, and will grow a team in the region, dependent on market opportunities. He will be a key point of contact for Middle Eastern investors engaging with Patrizia’s multiple investment vehicles, which currently hold more than €58 billion of assets under management.

Taking the role with Patrizia constitutes a return to the private real estate sector for Klein, following four years working in venture capital and technology. He previously ran eXapital, a Zurich-based business which offered capital advisory services, and had a role at Lakestar, a growth and early-stage investor in technology-focused strategies across Europe.

Prior to that, he was a managing director at PJT Park Hill, the capital advisory business that spun out of Blackstone in 2015, working directly under the firm’s co-founder Frank Schmitz. Before that, he was head of real estate investment solutions for Europe at Zug-based manager Partners Group.

The Patrizia spokesperson said: “Patrizia has been successfully investing on behalf of some of the most prominent and largest investors from the region. Over recent years, we also added mid-sized institutions and investors from the private wealth space, which continues to be an important focus area to grow our client base globally.”