BlackRock has appointed two global co-heads of real estate, the first time the top property position has been held by two people at the world's largest asset manager.
Paul Tebbit and Thomas Mueller-Borja have been promoted to the roles. A spokesman for BlackRock confirmed the appointments first reported by PERE.
The executives will be the first dedicated heads of real estate at the New York-headquartered group since Marcus Sperber left in 2019.
The duo will be based in London and will report to Brent Patry, global head of equity private markets. They will take over from Anne Valentine Andrews who left the business last month and jointly ran infrastructure and real estate.
Tebbit, who has been with the company since 2011, steps up from global chief investment officer of core real estate, while Mueller-Borja, who has been with the company since 2014, steps up from his position as global chief investment officer of the global value-add real estate platform.
BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager with its real estate business having $28 billion of assets under management according to its fourth quarter 2023 results.
In December BlackRock Private Markets announced it had raised $844 million, or 774 million euros, in investor commitments for the BlackRock Europe Property Fund VI at its first close.
BlackRock said the capital had been provided by a range of global institutional investors, including new clients and investors from previous funds as the "best real estate buying opportunity since 2008" has emerged in Europe.
It said European real estate markets have recently repriced more swiftly than other regions and that, amid stabilising interest rates and inflation, its latest value-add fund plans to take advantage of an "attractive entry point".
BlackRock follows Blackstone in promoting from within to global leadership roles. In January the latter readied for another massive global investment drive, including into real estate, with a series of promotions and leadership changes.