Private equity real estate investor Henley Investment Management (“Henley”) has added to its experienced Senior Management Team with the appointments of Karen Travis and Will Dickens as Directors in the firm’s Investor Relations and Capital Raising team.
Since its inception in 2006, Henley has doubled in size every year and is expected to do so again in 2016. With the firm’s ongoing expansion drive continuing apace, Karen and Will are going to be responsible for marketing the growing global pipeline of opportunities to investors. Both Directors join Henley with strong institutional real estate private equity backgrounds and will raise capital from a variety of channels including Institutional Funds, High Net and Ultra High Net Worth Investors, Family Offices, Private Wealth Management and other Investors from around the world.
Karen and Will are tasked with updating investors by liaising with them throughout the entire lifecycle of an investment, including the process of exiting assets under management. Henley’s track record includes having an average net IRR to equity of more than 40 per cent and an ROE of 1.8x, having completed 21 disposals to date.
Karen Travis has 19 years of real estate experience in investment banking, private equity, and brokerage, spanning across the equity and debt markets in Europe, Canada, and the US. Karen most recently held the position Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at LNR Partners Europe, which is owned by Starwood Property Trust. Previously, she held positions at Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREF), Lazard and Co. GmbH, and Colliers Macaulay Nicolls. Originally from Canada, Karen also has a Masters in Real Estate Finance from Cornell University.
Will Dickens has 17 years of experience in the Central London and South East UK real estate markets. He previously worked in a Director capacity for Squarestone Family Office Partners, as a Director in the Global Real Estate and Private Equity team at Citi Private Bank and as an Associate Partner in the Capital Markets team at King Sturge (now JLL).
With around $1.25 billion of assets currently under management (as at the end of June 2016), both appointments add to the significant expansion Henley has undergone over the past two years in particular.
Ian Rickwood, CEO of Henley, comments:
“We are very pleased to be welcoming Karen and Will to Henley. They join at an extremely exciting moment in the firm’s history as we approach our ten year anniversary and continue our expansion both into new geographies and sectors. The addition of these two experienced hires will further enhance the collective expertise of Henley’s Senior Management Team, and our reputation amongst current investors as well as securing new investors.”
The two new hires follow the appointment of Stuart Savidge as Chief Financial Officer in September, which enabled Andy Brandon, formerly Chief Financial Officer at Henley, to assume the role of Chief Investment Officer, leading Henley’s very active deal transaction processes.
Henley has also further diversified its broad range of investment platforms over the past year, with the launch of new divisions Henley Camland, Henley Outdoor Media Assets and Henley USA. The company opened offices in Boston and California last month to aid its US expansion.
Similarly, the company has continued its geographical expansion, purchasing its fourth and largest mainland European acquisition in Essen, Germany in January.