Centuria Capital Group has appointed its second former sportsperson as its healthcare fund manager.
The real estate firm has appointed former Olympian Rod Owen-Jones who will oversee a healthcare real estate portfolio worth $1.5 billion. He will be based in Sydney and report to Jesse Curtis, head of funds management.
He will be responsible for the unlisted Centuria Healthcare Property Fund (CHPF), Centuria Healthcare Direct Medical Fund No. 2 (CHDMF2), Centuria Aged Care Property Fund No. 1 (CACPF1) and Nexus Property Trust.
Owen-Jones has been working at Centuria since 2020, when the firm acquired healthcare property fund manager Heathley, and has spent the past five years as Centuria’s healthcare portfolio manager. He has spent 28 years in the Australian property market across AMP Capital, Lendlease and Dexus.
Prior to joining funds management, Owen-Jones represented Australia at the Sydney 2000 Olympics in water polo and 12 years as a professional athlete.
Curtis said: “Since 2020, Rod has worked closely with our in-house funds management, transactions and development teams, which makes him the ideal candidate to take up the healthcare fund manager position.
“Rod joined the team shortly after Centuria acquired Heathley Limited. Since then, the sector has undergone significant change – including a global pandemic – and Rod has been a stalwart colleague, implementing effective value-add strategies to the benefit of our investors and healthcare operator tenants. He is a valued member of our team and will provide the inherent knowledge needed to manage our unlisted healthcare funds.”
This is the second former sportsperson that Centuria has hired in recent months as Centuria Bass Credit, a joint venture between Centuria Capital Group and Bass Capital Partners, appointed a former Wallabies player in January.
David Giffin was appointed as the firm’s deputy CEO in January, having played professional rugby for nine years including a period as vice-captain of the national Wallabies team. At Centuria Bass Credit, he will act as deputy CEO supporting joint CEOs Nick Goh and Giles Borten, as well as head of lending.
At the end of last year, wealth management firm Viola Private Wealth appointed former NRL player Cooper Cronk as a brand ambassador. Cronk played rugby for 16 years at Melbourne Storm and the Sydney Roosters, and won NRL premierships in 2012, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Viola said the firm is well-positioned to serve clients who need bespoke advice, which includes professional sports players such as Cronk.
