Real estate fund manager Centuria Capital has appointed multiple senior roles, including a newly created chief investment officer (CIO) position.
As part of a strategic plan by the asset manager, Andrew Essey has been promoted to the CIO role responsible for the group’s investment strategy, transactions, and institutional capital. Previously, he worked as group head of transactions and joined Centuria in 2013.
Commenting on his appointment, Essey flagged a focus by the firm on growing assets under management across its vehicles, both domestically and abroad.
“We have a significant appetite to grow our assets under management to deliver healthy recurring revenue for the group, our REITs and unlisted funds. We also maintain focus on furthering our institutional partnerships, domestically and abroad, to support our growth objectives.”
Also promoted is Jesse Curtis who moves up from head of industrial to head of funds management, responsible for the firm’s listed and unlisted vehicles. He joined Centuria in 2019 and previously worked on the capital and corporate transactions team at Dexus.
Joining Curtis on the fund management team is Grant Nichols who has been promoted from head of office to head of listed funds. He also joined in 2019 from Australian Unity where he was the fund manager of its Australian Unity Office Fund.
Jason Huljich, Centuria joint chief executive, said: “The new senior roles are part of a strategic plan to ensure Centuria is well-positioned to capitalise on market growth as the green shoots of real estate transactions gain momentum, indicating the potential eve of a new property cycle. We are proud to announce these senior roles have been filled by longstanding current members of the Centuria team who build on the legacy they have helped create.”
In light of these promotions, Belinda Cheung has moved up from assistant fund manager to fund manager of Centuria Office REIT to replace Nichols, and Nathan Guo will assume Curtis’ role as head of transactions. Cheung has worked at Centuria since February 2018 and joined the fund management team in April 2022, while Guo joined the transactions team in October 2017.
Huljich added: “As Centuria evolves, we adjust our management structure to reflect our growth and ensure the most adept personnel are in place to lead each of our business divisions. We congratulate Andrew, Jesse, Grant, Nathan and Belinda on their promotion and are confident they will build on Centuria’s success in their new roles.”
