ATLANTA - They made her an offer she had to refuse.
Last week Sheryl Pressler left Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc. after the company removed her from her post as chief executive officer of U.S. operations and offered her another senior position she couldn't accept. Sources familiar with the situation said she was asked to step down from the U.S. job after failing to bring in enough new business and integrate the company's recent acquisitions.
Lend Lease, which hired Ms. Pressler with much fanfare just a year ago, announced in a news release that she had turned down another senior position with the global company for personal reasons and would resign immediately.
The sources said Ms. Pressler's mother has been seriously ill, and that the new job as global chief investment officer overseeing Europe and Asia involved extensive travel, which meant Ms. Pressler wouldn't take it.
News of her departure caught most of those in the real estate and pension world by surprise. But it was no surprise to those in the know, particularly people who had worked for her at Lend Lease.
One former Lend Lease executive, who requested anonymity, said that Ms. Pressler's tough management style alienated many people in the company, which hurt morale. "It had been obvious for months that she wasn't working out. People are very happy she's leaving," said the executive. "They see it as a positive step for the company."
Fred Pratt, former chief operating officer at Lend Lease, will succeed Ms. Pressler as CEO. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Boston Financial Group, Boston, which Lend Lease bought in November 1999.
Her response
Ms. Pressler, who was the high-profile CIO at the $165 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, before joining Lend Lease, declined to be interviewed for this article. However, she did fax a statement to Pensions & Investments saying: "My decision to leave Lend Lease was very difficult to reach. I have nothing but the highest regard for the organization, but personal issues made it difficult for me to take on the new assignment."
Jonathan Miller, principal at Lend Lease, would not describe the position that had been offered, but emphasized, "it was a very senior position."
Martin Nass, senior partner at TMP Worldwide Inc., New York, who recruited Ms. Pressler to run Lend Lease, said the company had wanted to move in another direction. "They needed to assimilate the several different businesses they had acquired before Sheryl got there into their core business, which is investment management. And under her watch they were not being assimilated as effectively as expected," Mr. Nass said. He added that during her tenure there were a lot of distractions resulting from Lend Lease's heavy merger activity in 1999, which included acquiring five businesses of AMRESCO Inc., Dallas, as well as Boston Financial and Bovis Group PLC, London.
Mr. Nass praised Ms. Pressler, however, saying: "She's a highly capable and competent professional, a very smart lady. She was hired to provide leadership, to access clients and to be a change agent, but it didn't happen because of facts beyond her control." He said he could not be more specific about what those "facts" might have been and declined to elaborate further.
Another source said the culture at Lend Lease was foreign to Ms. Pressler, and she found it difficult to make the necessary changes because so many people in the company fought her. "She was dealing with individuals who had a notion of entitlement after being there for a long time, which is unusual in the private sector."
People with knowledge of the matter said Ms. Pressler negotiated an excellent settlement. Her total compensation at Lend Lease reportedly was in excess of $1 million.
Lend Lease's Mr. Miller said the management shuffle won't affect Lend Lease's relationships with clients because there is an established team in place to manage the accounts, and that won't change. For now, Mr. Pratt will focus on enhancing the firm's industry leadership position. "He wants to be sure that we're delivering for our clients," Mr. Miller said.
`Some concern'
Clients are paying attention to the change. "Any time someone leaves an organization it causes some concern and heightens your oversight," said Robert Woodard, CIO at the $10.5 billion Kansas Public Employees' Retirement System, Topeka.
"We have worked with the same portfolio manager at Lend Lease since they started managing for us five or six years ago, but a change like this does have an impact and causes us to be cognizant." Lend Lease manages $250 million in a core separate account for the system, Mr. Woodard said, adding that Lend Lease is a "very broad, deep organization. At the end of the day her coming or going may not affect us that much, but it signifies that this company is continuing to evolve."
