Paul Mouchakkaa is now a managing partner at BentallGreenOak. (Courtesy BentallGreenOak)

BentallGreenOak has hired Paul Mouchakkaa as a managing partner. Mouchakkaa, an Ottawa native, has been managing investment director and head of real assets at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) since 2015.

In that role, Mouchakkaa had responsibility for CalPERS’ US$43.5 billion real assets portfolio, which includes nearly $37 billion in top-tier commercial real estate assets and $5.5 billion in Infrastructure assets in the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Among his accomplishments at CalPERS, Mouchakkaa successfully implemented a strategic plan focusing on core assets which brought the real assets portfolio back to its important role of long-term value creation. The core real estate portfolio resulted in consistent outperformance of the benchmark and totaled approximately $30 billion of equity commitments.

Previously, Mouchakkaa was managing director and global head of real estate research and strategy for Morgan Stanley from 2011-’15. He also worked at Pension Consulting Alliance and as a portfolio manager at CalPERS.

In his new role at BentallGreenOak, Mouchakkaa will lead the Canadian investment management team, responsible for a $24 billion Cdn diversified real estate portfolio. He will also play a senior role in BGO’s global strategy, portfolio management and investor relations.

Mouchakkaa will report to Gary Whitelaw, BGO’s CEO, and will be a member of BentallGreenOak’s Canadian management committee and global coordination committee.

“I have worked very closely with Paul since he assumed leadership of real assets at CalPERS in 2015,” said Whitelaw in a release. “He has a truly collaborative leadership style and a deep knowledge of real estate investment markets.”

Mouchakkaa holds an honours economics degree from Carleton University in Ottawa and an MBA majoring in finance from the University of Oregon.

Sekularac joins BGO’s management team

In another move, Marija Sekularac is the new manager, residential marketing and leasing at BentallGreenOak.

Sekularac moved to BentallGreenOak from Devencore, where she had been the firm’s marketing manager for the past 15 months.

Sekularac also spent time with Retreaver, Re/Max Hallmark, Gavel and Gown Software and several other firms during her more than 12 years working in the marketing sector.

Slate Office REIT names Hodgson CEO

Steve Hodgson, CEO at Slate Office REIT. (Courtesy Slate)

Slate Office REIT (SOT-UN-T) has promoted Steve Hodgson to chief executive officer from his previous position as COO. Scott Antoniak, the REIT’s previous CEO, moves over to Slate Asset Management and will focus on origination of private market opportunities.

Antoniak will remain available to the REIT’s management team throughout the transition to ensure operational continuity.

Hodgson has worked closely with Antoniak since 2014. As COO, he was responsible for asset management and business development, including oversight of operations, leasing and capital investment programs and executing on financing, acquisition and disposition activity.

He joined Slate Asset Management as a vice-president of asset management in 2014 after previously working at Oxford Properties Group.

“Steve’s deep knowledge of our investment portfolio and rich experience across the North American commercial real estate industry will continue to benefit Slate Office REIT as we pursue our strategy and growth initiatives,” said John O’Bryan, chairman of the board of trustees, in a release.

Podd managing director at Slate Toronto

Slate Asset Management also appointed Doug Podd as managing director in the Toronto office, effective immediately. 

Podd joins Slate with more than 25 years of experience in commercial real estate lending.

He previously served as Canadian lead for Brookfield Financial‘s debt advisory business, where he directly placed in excess of $4.5 billion of real estate and infrastructure debt.

Pacaud adds CFO role at Epic Investments

Laetitia Pacaud is the COO and CFO at Epic Investments. (Courtesy Epic Investments)

Laetitia Pacaud has been appointed to chief financial officer in addition to her role as COO at Epic Investment Services. Pacaud is a CPA with over 20 years of experience in the real estate industry spanning property accounting and financial reporting, asset management, acquisitions and investor relations, and fund management.

Pacaud joined Epic when it merged with MDC Group in 2019 and since then has played an integral role in accelerating the company’s growth and performance strategy including the launch of Epic’s first U.S. multifamily fund.

Epic has seven offices across Canada and one in the U.S.

She will continue to be responsible for the execution of Epic’s business strategy and under her new role, will also lead a team responsible for accounting, client reporting, income tax, insurance, human resources and IT.

McLean moves to PSR Brokerage Toronto

Toronto luxury boutique firm PSR Brokerage has hired Mark McLean as its associate broker. McLean brings over 30 years of real estate industry experience to PSR and marks the company’s latest move in its expansion plans. 

McLean’s real estate career includes being a founder/partner and broker of record at Sotheby’s International Realty Canada (Ontario); manager of Bosley Real Estate; president and broker of record at Property.ca Realty; director-at-large and president of the Toronto Real Estate Board from 2013-’17; director-at-large of the Ontario Real Estate Associate; chair of various TREB and OREA committees, and his current role as vice-president at Key Living. 

Since the launch of its custom application The PSR Virtual Assistant, the brokerage has focused on integrating a traditional and digital hybrid brokerage model.

Haluk joins Wilson Blanchard Management

Wilson Blanchard Management has announced Tania Haluk as its vice-president of operations.

Haluk joins WBM with several decades of experience working in condominium communities, where she has held various executive roles, specializing in areas such as start-ups, operations, transitions and organizational effectiveness. 

In her new role, Haluk will focus on branch operations, business development, client growth, employee training and retention, and project service areas.

Haluk is president of the Canadian Condominium Institute, Toronto and Area Chapter, and chair of the national operations and support committee.

Currently an advisor for the Condo Management Regulatory Authority of Ontario, she also helped develop the board education for the Condo Authority of Ontario. 

Haluk is a graduate of Western University, where she earned a bachelors degree in psychology.