Peter Cuthbert is a partner at Colliers International, leading the real estate portfolio and asset strategy practice within the Strategy and Consulting Group. (Courtesy Colliers)

Peter Cuthbert has joined Colliers International (CIGI-T) as a partner to lead the real estate portfolio and asset strategy practice within the Strategy and Consulting Group.

As the inaugural partner to join the business line, the former Fiera Real Estate president and global head of real estate will be instrumental in growing the multi-disciplinary real estate consulting group led by Colliers Canada’s past CEO David Bowden.

During his 35-year career, Cuthbert has been involved in the finance, valuation, management and investment of diverse commercial real estate assets valued at more than $9 billion. His multi-disciplinary background includes hands-on experience with real estate fund management and structuring, real estate investment platform design and implementation, risk management, capital fundraising, asset management, development, appraisal, leasing, acquisitions and dispositions.

“Peter’s wealth of knowledge, deep relationships and core expertise in the commercial real estate industry is a tremendous asset to our team (and) are unparalleled, and we are thrilled to welcome him to Colliers,” said Bowden, vice-chair and head of strategy and consulting, in the announcement.

During his time at Fiera Real Estate, Cuthbert was integral to the creation and growth of the firm’s investment management platform. Under his leadership, the business accrued $6 billion in assets under management.

Cuthbert will assume his Colliers role on May 3.

Friedrichsen retiring, Knapp joins Colliers

In another major executive announcement, global chief operating officer John Friedrichsen will retire from Colliers effective in Q2 2021.

Friedrichsen joined Colliers’ predecessor, FirstService Corporation, in 1998 and was appointed CFO in 2002. In 2015, he continued his role as CFO for Colliers following its separation and spin-off from FirstService. In January 2020, Friedrichsen was appointed COO.

During his tenure, the market capitalization of the combined companies increased from US$62 million to more than US$11 billion today, creating significant shareholder value and delivering a compound annual return of about 20 per cent.

“After an incredible 23-year run with two very successful companies, it’s time for me to step away and dedicate more time to my family and pursue other interests,” said Friedrichsen in the announcement.

“I will miss the teamwork and collaboration with our incredibly dedicated and enterprising people, board of directors, and other stakeholders.”

“For more than two decades, John has been one of my closest allies in helping to build FirstService and Colliers, two great companies who have stood the test of time,” said Jay Hennick, global chairman and chief executive officer.

In a third move, Colliers has welcomed Mary Knapp as director and market lead in Ottawa for its national retail team. Knapp has over 25 years of experience in operations, capital investment, development and marketing in both enclosed shopping centres and office assets.

Most recently, Mary worked with Morguard Investments Ltd. where she was the general manager, Ottawa retail portfolio.

Siddall to become AIMCo CEO

Evan Siddall has been hired as chief executive officer of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo). He will assume his responsibilities on July 1, succeeding Kevin Uebelein who served as CEO since 2015.

Siddall most recently served as president and CEO of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), a position he held for about seven years.

He had served as special advisor to the governor of the Bank of Canada before joining CMHC. His experience also includes 20 years with investment banking firms in Toronto and New York and two years as a senior executive with Irving Oil.

Siddall has a BA in management economics from the University of Guelph and a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and has completed Harvard Business School’s presidents program in leadership.

“Evan is an executive who is ready to drive the organization forward with an exceptional focus on clients, commitment to collaboration, and deep knowledge of financial services. The board and I look forward to working in partnership with him in this exciting new chapter for AIMCo,” said Mark Wiseman, chair of the AIMCo board of directors, in the announcement.

Jepil becomes a global VP at Avison Young

Martin Jepil is principal, global vice-president enterprise architecture at Avison Young. (Courtesy Avison Young)

Avison Young has appointed Martin Jepil as principal, global vice-president enterprise architecture.

In the newly created position, Jepil’s emphasis will be on delivering technology solutions and products across the full spectrum of commercial real estate to contribute to simplifying the current technology stack as well as architecting and engineering new products.

With more than 20 years of experience managing technology teams, Jepil has held prominent IT roles with Fortune 50 companies across several industries, including tier-one banking and insurance, manufacturing, consulting services and architecture.

He spent 10 years as chief technology officer with HP Enterprise Service, and joins Avison Young from IBM Global Business Services.

McWatters, Stewart change roles at AY

Avison Young has also promoted Matthew McWatters to the new position of principal, executive vice-president and Canadian leader, valuation and advisory services.

McWatters’ appointment builds upon his current mandate, having joined Avison Young in 2016 to provide valuation and advisory services to pension funds, financial institutions and public and private sector clients across Canada.

He’ll be responsible for growing the national valuation platform through recruiting high-performance professionals for key markets and asset classes.

The move means Paul Stewart will transition to senior vice-president, valuation and advisory services. Based in Toronto, Stewart has more than 30 years of industry experience.

Doyle becomes CIO at WPT Industrial REIT

WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (WIR-U-T) has promoted Ryan Doyle to become its first chief investment officer. Doyle will oversee the REIT’s investment team and all development, acquisition and disposition transactions. Doyle will continue to report to the REIT’s CEO, Scott Frederiksen.

Doyle is a 20-year veteran of the REIT and its predecessor entities, most recently serving as head of investments for the Eastern U.S. region. Over the past decade, he has played an instrumental role in setting and executing on the firm’s industrial-focused investment strategy

“This is a well-deserved promotion recognizing Ryan’s key leadership role and his significant contribution to the growth and success of the REIT,” Frederiksen said in the announcement.

Lamanna a VP at CMLS

CMLS Financial appointed Angelo Lamanna vice-president, national real estate advisory. Lamanna will lead the real estate advisory business across Canada and will be based in CMLS’s Toronto office.

He has more than 25 years of executive and international experience within the commercial real estate industry including most recently in his role as partner at a global real estate advisory firm.

Two directors nominated at Frontenac

Frontenac Mortgage Investment Corp. has nominated Alex de Korte and Meghan Davis as directors. de Korte and Davis will replace two retiring directors and will stand for election at the AGM in June.

de Korte is a district manager at Pure Storage, leading half of the Canadian sales team.

He joined Pure Storage from Cisco Canada where he spent almost eight years across a number of roles from commercial, major account and global account manager to leading a team as the regional manager in Toronto responsible for commercial sales in Ontario.

Davis is the founder of Estate Tax Services Professional Corp., and co-owner of CMD CPA Professional Corp. Her practice focuses on financial, estate and tax planning and compliance work for individuals, trustees and executors.