Legal & General Investment Management America made two appointments to support the expansion of its real assets unit into U.S. real estate equity, a spokeswoman confirmed.
Alexia Gottschalch was named head of real estate equity, U.S., based in Chicago. Ms. Gottschalch is responsible for building out the new real estate equity platform in the U.S., covering acquisitions, asset management, operations, financial planning, marketing, product development and strategic initiatives. She reports to LGIMA CEO Aaron Meder and Bill Hughes, global head of real assets in London.
The firm also appointed Tim Watson as head of investment and portfolio management, U.S. real estate equity. Mr. Watson is also based in Chicago and is responsible for developing investment programs, identifying new investment opportunities and has oversight of investment and portfolio performance. He reports to Ms. Gottschalch.
The firm's U.S. real estate equity assets under management could not immediately be learned. LGIM's U.K. real estate equity AUM is £24.1 billion ($29.1 billion) on behalf of institutional and retail clients.
The U.S. real estate equity market is significantly larger and more liquid than in the U.K., LGIMA said in a news release. The new platform will support Legal & General Retirement America's U.S. pension risk transfer and third-party clients, and will focus on multifamily residential and life sciences opportunities. Executives will also implement environmental, social and governance considerations throughout the investment process.
"The launch of our equity capabilities in the U.S. represents a huge opportunity to mirror our success in the U.K., investing in the real economy to improve lives and deliver positive social outcomes," Mr. Hughes said in the news release.
LGIM Real Assets platform has £36 billion in assets under management, while LGIM has total AUM of £1.29 trillion.
Ms. Gottschalch was managing director, global head of client strategy, real assets and U.S. head of equity real assets at Aegon Asset Management. Mr. Watson was a portfolio manager overseeing investment performance and capital deployment for various strategies, also at Aegon. A spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
