Suyi Kim, senior managing director and global head of private equity at CPP Investments. (Courtesy CPP Investments)

CPP Investments has promoted Suyi Kim to become its senior managing director and global head of private equity effective Sept. 15. Kim will continue to be a member of the senior management team.

Kim will lead the private equity (PE) department, which invests globally both directly and with partners. The team maintains relationships with 160 private equity fund managers and other specialized partners. As of March 31, the group managed $125 billion in assets.

Most recently, Kim was senior managing director and head of Asia Pacific, responsible for leading investment activities and overseeing its portfolio across the region..

Kim joined CPP Investments in 2007 after previous roles at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and The Carlyle Group. She also worked at McKinsey & Co. in various Asian countries and at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Kim opened the CPP Investments Hong Kong office in 2008 and launched and led the PE business in Asia.

She holds a BA in international economics from Seoul National University and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. She is a CPA.

Blasutti becomes CFO at RioCan

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (REI-UN-T) has appointed Dennis Blasutti as its new chief financial officer effective Sept. 7.

Dennis Blasutti has been named CFO of RioCan REIT. (Courtesy RioCan)

Blasutti joins RioCan from Brookfield Asset Management where he most recently served as managing director, infrastructure, and chief financial officer for Enwave Energy, Brookfield’s district energy business. In his time at Brookfield, Blasutti also held progressively senior roles within the corporate finance and infrastructure groups.

Previously, he held senior finance roles in the mining industry and started his career in the audit practice of KPMG.

Blasutti has experience leading a range of finance functions including corporate finance and treasury; public company financial reporting; investor relations; financial and strategic planning; valuations; supply chain management; and information technology.

Blasutti earned a bachelor of arts (honours) in economics and accounting from Wilfrid Laurier University and is a CPA.

Thompson becomes Gupta’s chief legal officer

The Gupta Group and Easton’s Group of Hotels has hired the firm’s long-time legal counsel, Phil Thompson, as chief legal officer.

 Thompson graduated from the University of Toronto Law School in 1980 and was called to the bar in 1982. Having practised law on Bay Street until 1990, he joins The Gupta Group from Thompson Dymond Law firm in Richmond Hill, where he had practised in the Markham and Richmond Hill areas since 2006.

His work has focused on ownership structure, strategic relationships and transactions with an emphasis on the purchase, sale and financing of income-generating real estate and development sites, especially hotels, apartment buildings and plazas.

Thompson Dymond has acted as the group’s lawyers for acquisitions, financing and sales of assets for the past 10 years. Thompson’s appointment is effective Oct. 4.

C&W adds three at Calgary office

Cushman & Wakefield has hired David Lees, Adam Ramsay and Trent Peterson to its Calgary operations, with Lees and Ramsay joining as executive vice-presidents and Peterson joining as associate vice-president.

Ramsay, Lees and Peterson specialize in representing office tenants and landlords in Calgary and throughout Alberta. They bring considerable experience in new lease acquisitions, lease renewals, subleasing and agency leasing as well as tenant representation.

Lees, Ramsay and Peterson join Cushman & Wakefield from JLL, where Lees and Ramsay served as executive vice-presidents and Peterson as associate vice-president.

Storage Acquisition Group appoints Canadian head

U.S.-based Storage Acquisition Group is expanding into Canada, bringing Lloyd McDonald on board to lead those efforts.

McDonald has an extensive background in real estate and built a private financial services firm that placed over $1 billion of investor capital into multifamily, commercial and industrial asset classes across North America.

Most recently, he was instrumental in consolidating a national portfolio of self-storage assets in Canada.

McDonald will oversee acquisition efforts in top Canadian markets and specialize in purchasing storage facilities and portfolios through off-market transactions.

Lyall joins tall buildings steering committee

Richard Lyall, president of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON), has been appointed to the steering committee for the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

The international council is exploring the potential for hybrid high-rise construction techniques involving both steel and timber.

Lyall is one of five international experts appointed to the council; the others are from the U.S. and Europe. It is based in Chicago and is expected to take about two years to complete the research, establish a number of case studies and then publish its findings.

Lyall has represented the residential construction industry in Ontario since 1991. He is a frequent speaker source quoted by mainstream media across the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area and Ontario on construction industry issues.

He has also written articles published in the Toronto Sun, Daily Commercial News and ReNew Canada magazine.

Dev Meta hires Julien

Gary Julien has moved to Montreal developer and investor Dev Meta as its director of acquisitions and investment.

Julien most recently spent just over two years as an investment manager at Groupe Brivia. Previously, he held analyst positions with Fonds Immobiliere de solidarité FTQ and Ivanhoé Cambridge, spending about two years in each of those roles.

A graduate of HEC Montreal, he holds a bachelor of business administration in finance and a specialized graduate diploma in finance. He also spent time as an intern with the City of Montreal.