Vosper joins PIMCO – Exclusive

Paul Vosper, formerly the co-head of Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners (AIP)’s real estate business, has moved on to a new role at PIMCO, a Newport Beach, California-based investment management firm. He joined PIMCO this week.

Vosper has assumed the newly created position of real estate strategist in the company’s product management group. As executive president, he reports to Jen Bridwell, managing director and head of product management and global head of PIMCO’s alternative products.

Vosper previously led Morgan Stanley AIP’s real estate business, along with David Boyle. Last August, PERE reported that Morgan Stanley AIP had appointed a new head of the business, Brian Schneider, and that the leadership transition was anticipated to be an extended process: Vosper was expected to stay at the firm until the end of the year, while Boyle was expected to work with Schneider until his departure in mid-2016.

Vosper actually had worked at Morgan Stanley at two different periods of time. He served as chief operating officer (COO) in the investment bank’s real estate fund of funds business from 2000 to 2010 before leaving to become managing director of real estate investing at AllianceBernstein from 2010 to 2011. He followed up with a stint as head of client relations of EMEA at RREEF (now Deutsche Asset Management) from 2011 to 2012 prior to returning to Morgan Stanley to assume his former COO post.

PIMCO’s real estate team currently comprises 34 professionals across its offices in Newport Beach, California, New York, London and Munich, according to its website. The group is led by US co-head John Murray in Newport Beach, US co-head Devin Chen in New York and European head Laurent Luccioni in London. Since 2008, it has raised six real estate credit funds, including most recently, Bank Recapitalization and Value Opportunities (BRAVO) II, which raised $5.5 billion in 2014. The firm currently manages $9.2 billion in assets through its real estate strategies.