Faran Latafat is the president of the Avanew single-family rental subsidiary of Core Development Group. (Courtesy Avanew / Core)

Toronto-based Core Development Group has appointed Faran Latafat president of its new Avanew single-family rental (SFR) subsidiary.

Latafat, who has over 15 years of experience in leadership roles, joined Core in 2018 as executive vice-president to establish a business focused on alternative income-producing assets, through the Avanew platform.

In addition to pioneering institutional investment into SFR in Canada, Latafat has been instrumental in setting the framework for a shared accommodation urban co-living model.

Latafat will lead a team accountable for the growth planning, underwriting, acquisition, asset development and stabilization of single-family assets.

Avanew’s first SFR fund is fully committed and closed earlier this year with $30 million of assets under management. The fund is targeting AUM growth of more than $250 million over the next three years.

The vision is to pioneer the SFR asset class in Canada, and under Latafat’s leadership, to aggregate the largest portfolio of high-quality homes in the country.

Edgell promoted at CPP Investments

CPP Investments has promoted Andrew Edgell to senior managing director and global head of credit investments, and a member of the senior management team.

Edgell will lead the credit investments department, responsible for CPP Investments’ public and private credit investments globally.

The team provides debt financing solutions across the entire credit structure, including term loans, investment-grade and high-yield bonds, mezzanine lending, structured products and other solutions for issuers across corporate, real estate and consumer sectors.

It also invests in intellectual property with royalty-backed income streams.

Edgell was previously managing director, head of Americas structured credit and financials, responsible for investments in sub-investment-grade structured credit and debt capital solutions for financial institutions, as well as the intellectual property investment strategy. Over the past fiscal year, Edgell also served as interim head of credit strategy.

Edgell joined CPP Investments in 2008 as one of the first members of its then-nascent credit team. Credit investments has since grown to $41.9 billion in net investments as of Dec. 31, 2020.

Edgell holds a bachelor of commerce in finance and international business from McGill University and is a chartered accountant and a chartered business valuator.

O’Neill joins Western Wealth Capital

Western Wealth Capital (WWC) has hired former head of corporate strategy for CBRE Western Canada, Ashley O’Neill, to the new position of vice-president of capital markets. She joins the executive team and will focus on raising capital with both new and existing institutional and private capital investors.

O’Neill has carved a unique career path over the past 15 years with experience spanning New York, Toronto and Vancouver in investment banking, corporate finance and commercial real estate.

She began her career in investment banking at Jefferies & Co. in New York, then worked as an institutional analyst at Phillips Hager & North before making the move into commercial real estate.

Over the past decade, O’Neill became a key member of CBRE’s executive team, rising to senior vice-president, corporate strategy in Canada.

With oversight of CBRE’s platform operations including research, marketing, public relations and information technology, O’Neill brings a diverse and integrated skill set in finance, strategic business development, asset management and operations to WWC.

Peerage names Bunker chief growth officer

Scott Bunker has joined Peerage Realty as chief growth officer and president of core services. He will also be a Peerage Capital partner.

Bunker moved to Peerage from Boardwalk and previously worked at CAPREIT, two of Canada’s largest multifamily REITS, where he held executive roles leading progressive change and innovation.

A civil engineer with a degree from Queen’s University and an MBA from Schulich School of Business, Bunker has  extensive experience as an entrepreneurial, management and compensation consultant. He has also built a reputation for transformative strategic and growth initiatives.

Bunker will be responsible for integrating a new standard of analytics, research and strategic insight, help generate organic growth on all realty businesses and lead the expansion of Peerage’s real estate services sector including mortgage, title, insurance, escrow, property management, home improvements, rental, warranty and apartment rental preparation.

JLL adds Verno as national director of research

JLL has brought in Claudia Verno to be its national director of research in Canada. Verno will focus on developing strategies to leverage data, thought leadership and technologies for clients.

Verno has over 17 years of experience as an economist. She has a wide variety of skills including policy analysis, country risk assessment, macroeconomic forecasting, trade, government and finance.

Prior to joining JLL, Verno led the natural catastrophe and climate change team at a trade association representing home, auto, and business insurance companies in Canada. She managed an economics team and monitored all G7 economies and some of the largest emerging markets.

Verno earned a master’s in economics from McGill University and a bachelor’s in international economics from Aix-Marseille University.

Savills hires Edmonton office managers

Savills has hired Alex Heintz as corporate managing director and Kyle Bartkus as managing director of its new Edmonton office. They join from Lizotte and Associates Real Estate Inc., and will specialize in office and industrial leasing and commercial sales.

The two bring 20 years of combined experience in commercial sales and leasing in the Alberta region. The team has executed transactions on behalf of companies including Above and Beyond Compression, Allied Fitting Canada, Ampak, Bird Construction, HESCO, OK Tire, Parkland Fuel, The Brick and Wood Wyant Canada.

Heintz is a perennial top performer having successfully completed more than $200 million in transactions, totalling over two million square feet.

Bartkus focuses on both the industrial and investment markets. Over his career, he has executed over 1.2 million square feet of commercial leases, with values totalling more than $125 million.

Meanwhile at Savills’ Calgary office, tenant representation expert Steve Berman has been hired as managing director.

Joanis to head QPAREB

The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers has appointed Denis Joanis as president and chief executive officer.

During his career, Joanis has worked for a variety of organizations within the industry, including Chambre immobilière de l’Outaouais, the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards, Via Capitale and RE/MAX Québec.

Joanis holds a bachelor’s degree in administration, a licentiate in law from the University of Ottawa as well as an MBA specializing in real estate from UQAM’s École des sciences de la gestion.

Anand moves up at Starlight

Starlight Capital has promoted Varun Anand to the position of vice-president and senior portfolio manager. Anand has spent the past two-and-a-half years as a portfolio manager at Starlight.

Anand has over a decade of experience in the sector in a variety of roles. Prior to joining the firm, he was an associate portfolio manager at CI Investments Inc., and also had stints at Sentry Investments, Veritas Investment Research and Jones Collombin Investment Counsel Inc.

He holds a bachelor;s of mathematics and business administration from the University of Waterloo and is a CFA.

Story joins Sonder

Fiona Story has joined hospitality company Sonder as global head of communications.

With a background in journalism and two decades of corporate communications experience, Story has led communications at several Canadian brands including Fairstone (a leading responsible lender), Duchesnay (a pharmaceutical company focused on women’s health) and Yellow Pages Canada.

Story, who is based in Montréal, will help guide Sonder’s communications as it continues to grow. The company has just announced plans to go public later this year through a transaction with Gores Metropoulos II.