The British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCIMC) has launched QuadReal Property Group, an independent privately held company based in Vancouver. The new company is owned by BCIMC and will manage more than $18 billion in real estate assets. The company says QuadReal will also have a mandate to acquire and grow real estate investments in Canada and in new markets in the U.S., Asia and Europe.
“The establishment of QuadReal is a natural evolution for a company of scale and ambition and it fits perfectly with our strategy to expand our global reach,” says Gordon J. Fyfe, CEO and chief investment officer, BCIMC. “Real estate is an important part of our $123 billion investment portfolio.”
The fund’s Canadian real estate assets are currently managed externally by Bentall Kennedy, GWL Realty Advisors and Realstar. The management of these real estate assets will begin to transfer to QuadReal in 2017.
QuadReal is led by presidents Remco Daal and Jonathan Dubois-Phillips.
Daal, the former president of Bentall Kennedy Canada, will oversee QuadReal’s domestic operations. He has also held senior positions with CIBC Development Corporation and a private Toronto-based development company. Dubois-Phillips will run QuadReal’s international business. His career includes real estate finance positions in Asia, North America and Europe, working for firms such as Lehman Brothers Global Real Estate Group and Nomura International.
“At QuadReal, we are growing from a position of stability and strength, given the market position of our property management partners, and we will remain a reliable steward of capital and assets,” says Daal. “At the same time, we are creating a company that has a global perspective and is entrepreneurial and ambitious. As such, we are offering exceptional opportunities for employees, including the opportunity to help build and manage one of the largest property portfolios in Canada.”
Bentall Kennedy has announced that, pursuant to an existing agreement, BCIMC “has elected to purchase certain wholly owned subsidiaries of Bentall Kennedy. These entities employ the Canadian employees who work on the portion of the BCIMC real estate portfolio that Bentall Kennedy manages,” the company says. The purchase will be phased, commencing in the first quarter of 2017, and is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2018.
Gary Whitelaw will continue as Bentall Kennedy’s Group CEO. Vancouver-based Tony Astles will replace Daal as president of Bentall Kennedy’s Canadian property services operations. Astles has been Bentall Kennedy’s EVP responsible for property services operations in Western Canada.
Paul Zemla and Malcolm Leitch will continue in their roles as chief investment officer and chief operating officer of Bentall Kennedy’s Canadian Investment management operations, the company says.
