By Muskan Arora
The C$646bn Canada Pension Plan Investment
board scooped up Sophia van Oosterom as head of real estate, from Schroders.
Van Oosterom has served as the global head
of real estate at Schroders since 2021 and will be replaced by the head of UK
real estate Nick Montgomery.
The search for a new global head of real
estate began for CPP earlier this year, following the departure of Peter Ballon,
as announced in July.
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Prior to working at Schroders, Van Oosterom
was at CBRE Global Investors for over seven years and joined as a head of special
programs EMEA in 2013.
“I extend my deep gratitude to Sophie for
her commitment to the business. It has been a pleasure to work with her and I
wish her every success as she embarks on a new role on the client side,” said
Georg Wunderlin, global head of private assets at Schroders Capital.
Montgomery joined Schroders 12 years ago
and has overseen the growth of UK business including the launch of Schroders
Capital’s Real Estate Impact Fund.
CPP has been major players within the real
estate industry for a long time, tapping into high-end office properties in cities
around the world. However, the changes in the current environment including
work-from-home trend and higher borrowing costs have ignited a revaluation of the
strategies and portfolio.
The Canadian pension plan faced a 5% loss on
its real estate portfolio in the fiscal year, that ended March 31. The
portfolio earned a return of 0.7% annualized over a five-year period.
