Cushman & Wakefield (CWK-N) has named Walid Cheaib as its vice-chair, taking on responsibility for expanding and strengthening its institutional capital markets practice across Canada.

Cheaib brings over 25 years of industry experience helping clients navigate complex acquisition, disposition and capital strategies, and has been directly involved in over $40 billion in commercial real estate and capital raising transactions.

“We are thrilled to welcome Walid to Cushman & Wakefield’s Canadian Capital Markets team," Allison Marsales, president, advisory, Canada said in the announcement. "His extensive expertise in capital markets, strategic advisory and large-scale transactions will be invaluable as we work to grow our presence in institutional capital markets across Canada.”

Cheaib will support institutional and private clients, including pension funds, REITs, private equity and high-net-worth individuals, with a concentration on large-scale, strategic transactions. He will be based in Toronto.

Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, Cheaib was managing director and head of North American real estate brokerage at BMO Capital Markets, where he led a team advising institutional, public and private clients across North America. 

Cheaib holds an M.A. in economics from the University of Toronto and is a CFA charterholder.

Coyles appointed to CPP Investments board

Stephanie Coyles has become the newest member of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s board of directors.

Coyles is an experienced director, currently serving on the boards of Metro Inc., and Sun Life Financial Inc., where she chairs the governance committee. She has previously served on three other publicly listed company boards.

Before her board career, Coyles was an executive and chief strategic officer at LoyaltyOne Inc. and previously worked as a management consultant, including as a partner at McKinsey and Company. 

She holds a master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a bachelor of commerce (honours) degree from Queen's University.

Collings becomes MD, British Columbia at Canada ICI

Canada ICI Capital Corp. has hired Graham Collings as its managing director, British Columbia.

Collings brings over 20 years of experience building and scaling investment platforms, leading teams and structuring transactions.

Before joining Canada ICI, Collings spent 18 years at ACM Advisors, one of Canada’s largest alternative asset managers, as executive vice-president, investments. During his tenure, he helped scale ACM from a regional fund manager to a national platform with over $5 billion in AUM, leading expansion into Toronto and Montréal.

Earlier in his career at Colliers International, he closed more than $2.7 billion in transactions.

He is also a founder of Vancouver’s Young Urban Professionals in Real Estate (YUPRE) and recent president of the Mortgage Investment Association of B.C.

2 new senior executives at Fengate

Fengate Asset Management has added two senior members to its real estate asset management team, Jennifer Matthews and Tony Visconti.

Matthews joins as vice-president, commercial asset management, bringing over 15 years of experience in commercial real estate spanning investments, development, valuations, asset management and leasing. 

Prior to joining Fengate, she spent a decade at Choice Properties REIT in progressively senior roles, most recently as director, commercial development. She led a national retail intensification strategy and managed its largest development – a 340-acre, 6.5-million-square-foot industrial park in Caledon, Ont.

Matthews will lead strategic planning and execution for Fengate’s commercial portfolio.

Visconti becomes vice-president, commercial property management. He joins Fengate with over 17 years of experience in commercial property management, most recently from Panattoni Development Company/Cap Ontario Inc. There, he was responsible for over 12 million square feet of industrial space and led the development of CAP’s ESG program, which included BOMA Best and Energy Star certifications, GRESB reporting, utility benchmarking and carbon reduction targets.

Visconti will oversee property management across Fengate’s CRE portfolio.

Four directors added to Starlight board

Starlight Investments Capital GP has increased the size of its board to seven members, adding Jasmin Jabri, Gajan Kulasingam, Mandy Abramsohn and Sandra Levy.

Glen Hirsh, Leonard Drimmer and Harry Rosenbaum have resigned from the board.

Jabri is the director, regulatory compliance and legal risk management at Osgoode Hall Law School. She brings over 30 years of financial services expertise, with senior compliance roles including SVP and head of compliance for Invesco Canada's $30-billion Canadian division, CI Investments, Sentry Investments, TD Mutual Funds, TD Waterhouse Canada, among others. She is also currently faculty at the University of Ottawa Law School.

Kulasingam, is a CFA, CPA, CA and managing partner at BOF Capital. He brings over 20 years of investment management expertise, executing complex transactions across the full capital structure in both public and private markets globally. He has participated in over $500 million in principal transactions and managed more than $2 billion in assets.

Abramsohn is a CPA, CA, CFA, CBV and the president of Wand Advisory & Investments. She is also a board member at Boardwalk REIT, Seasons Retirement Communities and West Side Square Development Fund.

She has held senior real estate capital markets and investment roles at Canadian financial institutions, including leading real estate capital markets at EY Canada, acting as senior vice-president for real estate at DBRS, leading Canadian real estate equity research at Raymond James, and as an investment manager at Great West Life.

Levy, LL.B, B.A. is a board member at GFL Environmental and Sir Royalty Income Fund.

She has over 25 years of executive leadership experience in human resources and legal roles at major global and national organizations including the Canadian Olympic Committee, RioCan Management, First Capital REIT, Ply Gem Canada, Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) and Magna International.

Ringham returns to Colliers in Vancouver

Colliers has hired Devin Ringham to return to its Vancouver brokerage team as vice president, with a focus on office leasing.

Ringham brings over 15 years of commercial real estate experience back to Colliers. Throughout his career, he has represented clients with the acquisition and disposition of commercial real estate, complex and high-value leases, expansion and contraction negotiations, early renegotiations, and office strata purchases and sales.

Ringham sits on NAIOP’s board of directors and was previously chair of NAIOP’s Developing Leaders Committee.

Antenucci, Holman move to Lennard

Lennard Commercial Realty, Brokerage has brought Rob Antenucci on board as vice president and hired Andrew Holman as associate vice-president.

Antenucci has over 35 years of experience in commercial real estate and the broader business community, across operations, engineering, corporate services and real estate services. 

A Ryerson University graduate and licensed Realtor Broker in Ontario, he has managed initiatives involving the purchase, lease and sale of real estate assets, new construction, property management, contract negotiations, logistics and more.

Holman brings a background in industrial tenant and landlord representation, strategic advisory and investment transactions to his new role. A 10-year veteran of the industry, Holman spent over eight years at CBRE prior to the move to Lennard.