Jordy W. Chilcott is president, Sun Life Global Investments, and senior vice-president of investment solutions. (Courtesy SLGI)

Promotions and hirings at commercial real estate-related companies have accelerated in the past week or two. This week, we feature new executives, and promotions, at companies including Sun Life Global Investments, Fairfax Financial, WiredScore, Avison Young, Colliers, and Groupe Mach.

Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc. has named Jordy W. Chilcott as president, Sun Life Global Investments, and senior vice-president of investment solutions.

Since joining SLGI in 2017 as head of investment distribution, Chilcott has overseen the development and growth of its distribution team to serve more than 600,000 investors across Canada.

“Jordy has been integral to SLGI’s success since he joined Sun Life,” said Jacques Goulet, president of Sun Life Canada, in a prepared statement. “His breadth of experience, client-centric approach and track record of leading high-performing teams make him a great fit to lead the business.”

Before joining Sun Life, Chilcott was senior vice-president of global asset management at Scotiabank, and president and CEO of Dynamic Funds. In these roles, he was responsible for overseeing multiple asset management companies across Canada, Mexico and Asia.

Previously, Chilcott held increasingly senior roles at Dynamic Funds, Standard Life Mutual Funds and Investors Group.

“I’ve always believed that the asset management business is, at its core, a people business,” said Chilcott in the release. “It’s about combining sound investment principles with the power of timely, relevant advice that our clients can benefit from.”

Allen new CFO at Fairfax Financial

Jennifer Allen has been promoted to chief financial officer of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (FFH-T). John Varnell, who was previously serving as interim CFO, will continue his role as vice-president, corporate development.

Allen has been with Fairfax for 13 years, most recently as vice-president, and chief financial officer of both Fairfax India Holdings Corporation and Fairfax Africa Holdings Corporation.

Allen’s promotion also led to the appointment of Amy Sherk as CFO of Fairfax India and Fairfax Africa. Sherk has been with Fairfax for over 15 years, and moves up from her previous post as assistant vice-president of investment accounting.

“We are so fortunate to have the executive depth within our group to continue, as we have in the past, to allow our personnel to move between roles,” said Prem Watsa, chairman and CEO of Fairfax, in a release. “We thank John for his tireless dedication to Fairfax and serving as interim CFO. 

“Jennifer has done an outstanding job for Fairfax in all her numerous roles over the past decade. We also know from our long relationship with Jennifer that she has both the knowledge and experience to seamlessly assume the CFO position.”

Fairfax is a holding company engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and the associated investment management.

Colliers promotes Scott Nelson

Colliers International Group Inc. (CIGI-T) has appointed Scott Nelson to CEO of global occupier services.

Since joining Colliers in 2009 as president of occupier services for the Americas, Nelson has developed and steadily grown the business. Under his leadership, Colliers has grown to serve many of the world’s best-known and well-respected brands. 

“With his experience and success in growing our Americas business, Scott was the obvious choice for the new global leadership role. I am confident he will take this important business for Colliers to the next level, while driving exceptional results for clients across our global platform,” said John Friedrichsen, Colliers’ global CFO, in a release.

“I am so proud of the growth in our business during my 10 years at Colliers and excited to have earned the opportunity to take on this important global leadership role in occupier services,” Nelson said in the release.

Andrew Freitas heads WiredScore Canada

Andrew Freitas is the head of Canadian operations for WiredScore. (Courtesy WiredScore)

Longtime industry veteran Andrew Freitas has been appointed head of WiredScore’s Canadian operations.

Based in Toronto, Freitas will be responsible for the strategic growth and continued national expansion of Wired certifications across the Canadian office markets. Freitas joins the WiredScore team with extensive experience at several firms.

For seven years, he worked as an office tenant rep broker at Devencore and Ellington Partners.

Most recently, he worked at CoStar where he helped the CRE intelligence and data platform further expand into the Canadian market. In that role, Freitas served as advisor on market data and trends for some of the country’s largest commercial real estate companies.

Born and raised in Toronto, Freitas is a graduate of York University.

Vendittelli to join Groupe MACH

Groupe Mach Inc., has hired Ben Vendittelli as executive vice-president and chief investment officer. Vendittelli will move into the new role on Sept. 2 from his current job as chief executive officer of Laurentian Bank Securities.

“We are delighted to bring on Ben who is a proven leader and a highly regarded capital markets and investment professional specializing in manufacturing, transportation and hospitality,” said Groupe Mach president Vincent Chiara in announcing the hiring.

A seasoned executive MBA in investment management, as well as a CFA charter holder, Vendittelli’s capital markets experience spans two decades. He joined Laurentian in 2008, covering the industrial sector with a focus on infrastructure and transportation. Vendittelli is renowned as an expert in hospitality, industrials, transportation and infrastructure and has been a key partner to Transat since 2004.

In 2012, he was promoted to senior vice-president, institutional equity, and then to CEO at the beginning of 2018.

Montreal-based Groupe Mach has a portfolio of over 30 million square feet of properties and 10 million square feet of land, including over 20 properties in development in Montreal, Québec City, Ontario and Florida.

Miller becomes AY’s global director, affinity groups

Company principal Clint Miller is the new global director of affinity groups as Avison Young continues its major expansion and hiring spree. In this newly created position, he will manage and oversee the company’s global affinity group program to ensure the proper operational infrastructure, processes and people systems are in place to effectively manage and grow the sector. 

“Since joining Avison Young in 2018, Clint has confirmed his status as a highly respected industry leader, helping us streamline and expand our enterprise solutions and tenant representation practices,” company chairman and CEO Mark Rose said in a release.

Miller has more than 30 years of CRE experience. He joined AY as a member of the enterprise solutions and tenant representation practices’ leadership group. He will continue to be based in Minneapolis.

Miller was formerly with Cushman & Wakefield. In 2002, he co-founded Northstar Partners in Minneapolis as a member of C&W’s Alliance Program.

Dinslage leads AY’s internal comms

Melissa Dinslage, head of global internal communications at Avison Young. (Courtesy Avison Young)

Melissa Dinslage has been hired as global director of internaI communications at Avison Young, overseeing internal initiatives, platforms and channels which advance the company’s brand while facilitating internal marketing and employee engagement.

Dinslage brings 13 years of corporate communications experience to Avison Young, most recently as internaI communications director with Conagra Brands in Chicago. She will be based in Avison Young’s downtown Chicago office.

“Melissa has a well-established track record of energizing corporate culture. We’re confident that she will explore, identify and implement new communications initiatives, platforms and technologies that support our long-term operational, business and client-service goals,” said chairman and CEO Mark Rose in a release.

During her career, Dinslage has earned awards for creating innovative and engaging communication platforms for large- and small-cap companies in industries ranging from consumer packaged foods to technology. Prior to joining Conagra, she held communications leadership positions at Cars.com and Sara Lee Corporation.

“Any opportunity to carve out a new role and create a communications and engagement platform from the ground up is exciting. I am particularly looking forward to mobilizing and aligning employees to drive business results,” said Dinslage in the release.