Fiera Capital Corp. (FSZ-T) has made sweeping changes to its executive team including founder and executive chairman Jean-Guy Desjardins returning as CEO, succeeding Jean-Philippe Lemay.

Under the renewed leadership structure of Desjardins as chairman and CEO, the following changes were also made:

John Valentini becomes executive director, president and CEO of Fiera Private Markets. He will continue to lead the company's private markets platform and with Desjardins, shares responsibility for the institutional and financial Intermediary distribution team.

Jean Michel was appointed executive director, president and chief investment officer of Fiera Public Markets. Formerly the CIO of public markets, he will now also lead the public markets platform.

Peter Stock is now executive director, president of Fiera Private Wealth. Stock will continue to lead Fiera’s North American private wealth business.

Lucas Pontillo has been named executive director, global chief financial officer. He will continue to lead the finance function and also be responsible for global operations, technology and the enterprise risk management program.

Gabriel Castiglio becomes executive director, global chief legal officer. He will continue to lead the legal and compliance functions and also oversee global human resources and initiatives relating to ESG and sustainable investing.

An executive committee comprised of Desjardins and the above-mentioned executives has also been created.

Finally, Fiera hired Wenzel Hoberg as its global head of real estate, to be based in Toronto. He brings over 25 years of experience in the real estate industry and will lead Fiera Real Estate's Canadian and U.K. teams.

Prior to joining Fiera, Hoberg held the roles of president of Barnhart Capital and CEO of TRIUVA. He spent close to a decade at CPP Investments, where he held the roles of vice-president, real estate investments – international and of managing director, real estate investments – Europe. 

Antenore VP of commercial solutions at FCT

First Canadian Title (FCT) announced Robert Antenore has been appointed vice-president of its commercial solutions division, where he will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of FCT’s commercial business.

Antenore has over 25 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, focused primarily on secured lending transactions. He is an author and a speaker and is recognized as a leading Canadian practitioner on commercial defeasance transactions, helping pioneer and advance this area of law over the past 15 years.

Antenore holds a bachelor of laws (LLB) from Osgoode Hall Law School and has held leadership positions at law firms and lending institutions. He is also a fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys and an advisory board member and contributing author to Practical Law Canada.

Chung joins Fengate as senior VP

Fengate Asset Management announced the addition of Justin Chung as senior vice-president, residential asset management, real estate.

He is responsible for Fengate Real Estate’s residential portfolio, which includes the recently launched Multifamily Income Fund and existing development funds, representing a pipeline of over 15,000 units. He leads the portfolio’s investment, risk management and asset allocation strategies.

Prior to joining Fengate, Chung spent over 15 years at Realstar Management in progressively senior positions. In his most recent role as vice-president, asset management, he led his team in managing more than 19,000 rental apartments across Canada. 

He also previously served as Realstar’s director of finance, overseeing its hospitality and manufactured housing communities business lines. Before his tenure at Realstar, Chung worked in various finance and operations roles at Loblaws.

Vohrah heads Great Gulf high-rise residential

Neil Vohrah has joined Great Gulf Group as president high-rise residential North America. He joins business leads: Katy Schofield, low-rise Canada; David Carreiro, First Gulf; Chris Mallinos, Tucker HiRise; Tad Putyra, H+ME Technology; Michael Sneyd, resort residential; and Kiel O'Sullivan, Granden Living.

Vohrah has more than 20 years' experience in the industry and a deep knowledge of development and construction in high-profile international projects including Canary Wharf London, Atlantis Dubai and Porta Nuova Garibaldi Milan.

He has experience in all aspects of real estate development, business strategy, operations and people management. 

His past roles include COO of TAS, a mixed-use development company; vice-president, project and development services at Canderel Group; and director of business development at Multiplex (a Brookfield company).

Vohrah holds a bachelor of science (honours) and a postgraduate bachelor of architecture degree from Cardiff University, U.K.

Younger appointed to Genesis board

Genesis Land Development Corp. (GDC-T) has appointed Calvin Younger as a member of the board of directors.

Younger is senior vice-president and head, real estate finance – Canada, business and corporate banking with CIBC. Prior to joining CIBC in 2001, he held various executive positions in the financial services industry with a particular focus on the real estate sector. 

He currently serves on the board of Haventree Bank. He previously served as chair of the Hincks Dellcrest Treatment Centre and Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto. 

Younger holds a bachelor of commerce from Trinity College, University of Toronto and a MBA from Schulich School of Business, York University.

Savills staffs up new Montreal office

Savills expanded its presence with the opening of a location in Montreal. Joining the firm are Brandon Allen, Erik Charton, Paul Fischlin and Stéphane Robillard as executive vice-presidents, Robin Blanchard as vice-president, George Manousos as vice-president and agency executive officer, and Antoine Dumas as associate. 

The team will specialize in industrial leasing, investment sales and capital markets.

Allen, Charton, Dumas, Fischlin, Robillard and Blanchard join the firm from JLL, and Manousos from Cushman & Wakefield. Each team member brings an average of 20 years of industry experience to Savills. 

In 2022, they brokered over $800 million in real estate transactions across Canada, representing clients from across the industrial spectrum, such as cold storage, warehousing, port, airport, global infrastructure, distribution and logistics, flex space, land sales, and research and development.

Gorenstein named partner at Lennard

Toronto-based comm/industrial realtor/broker Jonathan Gorenstein has been made a partner at Lennard Commercial and will head up the North York office.

Gorenstein has consistently been a top sales agent at Lennard, climbing the company ranks from sales rep to executive vice-president and now to partner. His most recent role was as executive vice-president for the past four years.

Prior to joining Lennard, Gorenstein was a vice-president at Colliers for over six years and also spent time in the retail sector with Mother Hubbards and Loblaw Companies.

Finneo adds three to advisory team

Finneo has expanded its advisory team with the appointment of three advisors from large Canadian financial institutions: Andy Moramarco, Austin James and Frank Fan.

Moramarco was a senior director at BMO income properties division for 10 years and a top-15 per cent performer across Canada in originations. He is based in Montreal and strengthens Finneo’s team in the Quebec and Eastern Canadian market.

James was a top producer at RBC’s Toronto real estate and construction finance division for five years. He brings diverse construction-related industries experience to Finneo.

Fan also moved over from BMO, where he had been a senior member of the mid-market commercial banking team that serviced the downtown Toronto and GTA markets within the CRE industry.