Moorfield Group (‘Moorfield’), the UK-focused real estate investment manager, today announces a series of promotions across its senior leadership and origination teams:
• Marc Gilbard, currently Chief Executive Officer, is to assume the newly created position of Executive Chairman and share his current CEO responsibilities with Charles Ferguson-Davie. Marc joined Moorfield from Goldman Sachs over 28 years ago and founded the Company’s private equity real estate strategy. In his new role, Marc will continue to Chair the Moorfield Group Board as well as the Strategy, Investment, Remuneration and Audit/Risk Committees.
• Charles Ferguson-Davie will remain as Chief Investment Officer while assuming joint CEO responsibilities. Charles joined Moorfield from Lazard in 2005 and has been CIO since 2013, having joined the Moorfield Group Board in 2011. As co-CEO, he will assume greater managerial responsibility, including Chair of the Operational Board, alongside his existing functions as CIO.
• Steve Hall, previously Group Finance Director, is joining the Moorfield Group Board as Chief Financial Officer.
• Sadie Malim, previously Head of Special Projects, ESG and Legal, is joining the Moorfield Group Board as Chief Legal & Corporate Development Officer. Both Sadie and Steve have been with Moorfield for over 15 years and have sat on the Moorfield Investment Management Board since 2021.
Within the origination team, which is led by Chris Perera – who was promoted to Head of Origination in September last year – there have been the following promotions:
• Pablo Hutchinson, previously an Investment Associate, is to become a Senior Investment Manager. He will continue to lead on origination for Moorfield’s residential and student accommodation strategies.
• Oliver Wallbridge, previously an Investment Analyst, is to become an Investment Associate.
Marc Gilbard, Executive Chairman and co-CEO of Moorfield Group, said: “The restructuring of our senior leadership team will serve to strengthen both our Board and Company by taking advantage of our long established complementary and diverse skill set, thereby also ensuring we retain Moorfield Group’s position as a leading UK-focussed real estate investment manager.
“I have overseen several transformations at Moorfield, from a publicly listed local asset and operational partner to a private equity investment, asset and operational manager, partnered and trusted by blue-chip institutions globally for our ability to identify sector disruption and emerging trends. I would like to thank our investors who have supported us on this ongoing 28-year journey and continue to place their trust in us.
“Moorfield has been an early entrant into many of the alternative sectors that are now becoming increasingly mainstream, having entirely exited cyclical sectors such as retail, office and hospitality/leisure some years ago. Moorfield’s focus is currently on the living and storage sectors which we believe to be supported by structural drivers of demand and a shortage in suitable supply’’.
Charles Ferguson-Davie, co-CEO and Chief Investment Officer at Moorfield Group, said: “Our thematic approach to investing by targeting sectors marked by growing demand, a lack of fit-for-purpose supply and low levels of institutional ownership, has positioned us well for the coming cycle.
“A reallocation is taking place within institutional investors’ real estate portfolios, with alternative real estate asset classes becoming increasingly mainstream thanks to compelling structural supply / demand dynamics, greater insulation from GDP fluctuations and the promise of inflation-linked income.
“As evident in the launch of MREIT, our residential-for-rent-focused private REIT, we are constantly innovating to create new ways for investors to access emerging opportunities in UK real estate and believe 2024 will be a great vintage for value-add investing.”