Rana Ghorayeb has been named executive vice-president and head of real estate at CDPQ as the firm continues to reorganize its real estate portfolio and operations.

Ghorayeb will lead the overall portfolio and investment team of CDPQ’s subsidiary Ivanhoé Cambridge, which has assets of over $77 billion.

Ghorayeb takes over the role from her current position as president and chief executive officer of Otéra Capital, a CDPQ subsidiary specialized in real estate lending, which she held for nearly five years. 

Before joining CDPQ in 2012, she served as vice-president of acquisitions at JP Morgan Asset Management in London, U.K., where she was in charge of real estate investments in several European countries. Previously, she worked in New York, where she led real estate transactions as senior partner at TIAA, a major U.S. pension fund.

Ghorayeb has over 25 years of experience in investing, including 20 years in the real estate sector.

“Rana’s career at CDPQ has been remarkable, first as senior vice-president in the infrastructure team, where she forged partnerships and carried out investments across the globe that continue to benefit CDPQ, then, as president and chief executive officer of Otéra, where she distinguished herself as a leader,” Charles Emond, CDPQ’s president and CEO, said in the announcement.

“She successfully led the organization’s profound transformation since joining five years ago and headed the portfolio’s growth and diversification strategy, which has made Otéra a major player in North America.”

Ivanhoé Cambridge’s activities are being integrated within CDPQ, and as of April 29, this team will become an investment group within the firm.

Casasante to lead Manulife US REIT

John Casasante has been appointed CEO and chief investment officer of Manulife US REIT, where he will be responsible for executing its recapitalization plan. Mushtaque Ali has been named the REIT’s chief financial officer. 

Casasante will lead the team in disposing of assets according to the recapitalization plan and maximizing proceeds to reduce indebtedness and fund future capital expenditures. He will also oversee REIT operations, business strategy and investment strategy, including portfolio optimization efforts and capital management.

Casasante will join Manulife on April 8 from DWS, where he served as the regional director, real estate asset management alternatives and real estate assets, responsible for the Western U.S. real estate industrial and office portfolio valued at $15 billion US. 

He brings over 25 years of commercial real estate experience with DWS, Cushman & Wakefield and Lincoln Property Company. 

Ali will assume the responsibilities formerly overseen by Caroline Fong as deputy CEO and Robert Wong as CFO. Ali steps into the role on April 12; the effective date of his appointment will be June 30.

He has over 25 years of experience in finance and accounting. Previously, he was head of finance, Singapore and Southeast Asia at Manulife Investment Management.

Before relocating to Singapore from Canada, Ali served in global leadership roles within Manulife Investment Management’s private markets business. 

Peer Marshall new CFO at Brookfield Asset Mgmt.

Brookfield Asset Management has promoted Hadley Peer Marshall to chief financial officer, effective May 31.

Peer Marshall joined Brookfield in New York in 2015 in the Infrastructure Group where she is co-head of infrastructure debt and structured solutions.

She has over 20 years of experience in asset management and business leadership, including investing, capital markets and fundraising. 

Prior to Brookfield, she worked at a global investment bank where she was co-head of the project finance and infrastructure group. Peer Marshall will continue in her role in infrastructure in addition to her new responsibilities as CFO.
 
She succeeds the retiring Bahir Manios as CFO, a role in which he has served since its creation as a separate, publicly traded company in 2022. Manios joined Brookfield in 2004.

Deacon becomes EVP, CFO at Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF-T) has appointed longtime Ontario Teachers’ Pension Board CFO Timothy Deacon as executive vice-president and chief financial officer, effective April 8. Deacon will become a member of Sun Life's global executive team.

He succeeds Manjit Singh, who is now president of Sun Life Asia.

Deacon brings over 20 years of global experience in insurance, wealth and asset management, investments and capital markets.

Deacon joins Sun Life from Ontario Teachers’, where he most recently was chief financial officer and led a global finance function including management and reporting, taxation, operations, enterprise planning, asset valuation, procurement and sustainability reporting.

As CFO, Deacon will have responsibility for Sun Life's finance organization including tax, capital management, investor relations and strategic financial initiatives. 

Deacon is a member of the Canadian Performance Reporting Board at CPA Canada and co-chair of the Accounting for Sustainability CFO Network (Canadian Chapter).

He holds a bachelor of commerce from Queen's University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (FCPA) and a CPA.

Smandych to depart Boardwalk REIT

Chief financial officer Lisa Smandych has tendered her resignation from Boardwalk REIT as of the end of Q2 to pursue different opportunities. Gregg Tinling will succeed her, moving up from his role as senior director of financial reporting.

Smandych’s career at Boardwalk began 16 years ago and she has been CFO since 2020. She has overseen the trust's public reporting compliance, financial operations, planning, internal controls and risk management functions.

Tinling has over 15 years of experience in the multifamily industry, including 11 years with Boardwalk in roles of increasing responsibility. He is a CPA CA and has worked closely with Smandych since rejoining Boardwalk in 2020.

Tinling’s previous experience includes Northview Apartment REIT and Enbridge Inc.

Karamarkovic joining Northwest as CFO

Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT (NWH-UN-T) has hired Stephanie Karamarkovic to be its chief financial officer, replacing interim CFO Karen Martin as of April 15.

Karamarkovic will be responsible for financial reporting across NWH's global operations, executing on capital management activities, financial management policies and investor relations.

Karamarkovic had been the vice-president, accounting and financial reporting for Granite REIT, where she spent over three years overseeing all accounting and financial reporting activities.

Previously, Karamarkovic spent eight years at Northwest, rising to vice-president, accounting and corporate controller, and prior to that she was a manager in Ernst & Young's audit practice.

Karamarkovic holds a CPA CA designation and earned a B.Com. from Queen's University.

Jepil promoted at Avison Young

Avison Young has promoted Martin Jepil to chief information officer, overseeing the firm’s information technology platform and overall architecture.

Jepil joined the firm in April 2021 as principal, global vice-president enterprise architecture, responsible for delivering technology solutions and products. 

In his new role, Jepil will oversee CRM and robotic process automation in addition to artificial intelligence.

He will continue to lead Enterprise Data Warehouse, SaaS services, master data management, software and data procurement, contract management and data risk management.

With over 20 years of experience managing technology teams, Jepil has held several prominent IT roles with Fortune 500 companies, such as IBM and HP, as well as across several industries, including tier-one banking and insurance, manufacturing, consulting services and architecture.