ARA Asset Management Limited has appointed David Blight as chief investment officer of its private funds division, ARA Private Funds (APF).
The appointment follows ARA’s recent acquisition by ESR that created Asia Pacific’s largest real asset manager and the third-largest listed real estate investment manager globally, with total assets under management of over US$140 billion.
APF is led by ARA CEO Moses Song, in partnership with Blight in his new role.
Blight was chairman and CEO of the global ING Real Estate Investment Management platform between 2005 and 2008, and has been CEO of ARA Australia since co-founding it in 2015. ARA Australia is now a multi-billion dollar platform with a portfolio that includes Melbourne’s Southgate Complex and the recently refurbished 320 Pitt Street in Sydney.
“With the scale, capabilities and resources of the enlarged ESR Group and the deep bench strength of talent within our ranks, the platform is superbly positioned to capture the opportunities arising out of the largest secular trends in APAC real estate,” Song said:
Chairman of ESR Group, Jeffrey Perlman, said, “Given the strong growth potential of the ARA private funds platform, it was clear from the start that we needed highly experienced leaders who are integral to the group’s private funds ecosystem to harness the potential of the platform. Moses and David, with their deep investment experience and strong track record, are the right leaders to oversee a business that has a dynamic team, an investor-operator mindset and access to an unrivalled group network across the entire APAC region.”
ARA’s private funds business has US$95 billion of assets under management in private investment vehicles.
