Edmond de Rothschild strengthens real estate investment and distribution with three senior hires
- DJ Dhananjai appointed Chief Investment Officer of UK Real Estate Investment Management business
- Robbert Zoet appointed Head of Real Assets Distribution
- Fabrice Lefevre-Sory appointed Senior Real Assets Sales
Edmond de Rothschild has hired three seasoned professionals to support the development of its Real Estate Investment Management (REIM) capabilities across Europe. Industry veterans DJ Dhananjai and Robbert Zoet join the group’s London office, respectively as Chief Investment Officer UK for Real Estate Investment Management and Head of Real Assets Distribution. Fabrice Lefevre-Sory joins the Paris office as Senior Real Assets sales.
Based in London and reporting to Edmond de Rothschild’s REIM UK’s Chairman John Partridge, DJ Dhananjai, Real Estate Chief Investment Officer for the UK, will lead Edmond de Rothschild REIM’s business in the UK, which has strategies in the residential sectors including affordable housing and build-to-rent (BTR). DJ is part of Edmond de Rothschild REIM’s European leadership team with a remit to service investors seeking enhanced exposures to impact UK living sectors, including affordable housing, BTR, student accommodation, co-living and senior living. DJ has more than 25 years’ experience of the living sectors in both the public and private sectors. He joins Edmond de Rothschild REIM from Royal London Asset Management, where he was Head of Living. Previously, he spent 14 years at CBRE Investment Management, managing global segregated account client portfolios and, latterly, establishing a UK residential platform with a fund focused on affordable housing, for which he was responsible for capital raising, product development, investment strategy and deployment. Before joining CBRE Investment Management, he was a senior manager at Homes England and a regeneration and regional economic specialist in the Thames Gateway region. DJ holds a Master’s in Urban Economic Development from University College London, a Post Graduate Diploma in Finance and Economics from University of London, and a Master’s in Real Estate Investment from Cass Business School. His career started as an architect designing low-cost housing and urban communities.
Based in London and reporting to Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management’s Global Head of Distribution, Marie Jacot, Robbert Zoet, Head of Real Assets Distribution, will be responsible for leading a team of four senior business development professionals dedicated to Edmond de Rothschild’s real assets investment strategies and capabilities. In addition to leading the business development team, Robbert will have direct client coverage responsibility as well as acting as a real estate product specialist and adviser to Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management’s local distribution teams across all international markets where the group is present. Robbert has more than 30 years’ professional experience in public and private markets. Prior to joining the firm, he built up his business development, alternative investment and financial services expertise in private equity real estate (Redevco and Moorfield Group, 11 years combined) and in public equity markets (Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Lombard Odier, 20 years combined) working with leading global institutional investors and multi-disciplinary, culturally diverse, international teams. Robbert holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Business from the European Business School.
Based in Paris and reporting to Robbert Zoet, Fabrice Lefevre-Sory, Senior Real Assets Sales, will be responsible for Edmond de Rothschild’s real assets business development with institutional and wholesale clients in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Sweden, French-speaking Switzerland, Southern Europe and the Middle East. Prior to joining Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, Fabrice spent four years as a senior business developer for alternative and real assets at Natixis Investment Management, covering EMEA and APAC. Previously, he was for five years a Managing Director, focusing on product and business development for real assets at European Equity and Advisory. Fabrice held international real estate sales director roles at Abrdn and UFFI REAM from 2006 to 2012. He started his career in 2002 as a Senior Investment Manager in alternative investments, covering EMEA and APAC for CNP Assurances. Fabrice holds a Master in Finance of Paris-Panthéon-Assas University and a Global MBA from NYU Stern Business School, the London School of Economics and HEC Paris School of Management.