Stephen Hayes becomes the firm’s new head of property securities next month, replacing Andrew Nicholas who has left First State to “pursue new opportunities”.
Hayes is actually returning to First State – branded Colonial First State Global Asset Management in Australia – where he originally started work in 1999, with responsibility for building the firm’s global property securities business.
The announcement comes at a time when First State is seeking to boost its position in real estate securities across the globe. He left in 2006 to join another Sydney-based fund manager.
“We will continue to have team members based in Sydney, New York, London and Hong Kong,” commented First State chief investment officer David Dixon.
“We believe that a global approach, employing specialist property investors in each region, is the most effective way to manage global property securities portfolios and deliver superior investment returns for our investors”.
