Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm has announced the appointment of a chief investment officer for real estate in Asia Pacific.
DWS has appointed Matthias Naumann as chief investment officer (CIO) real estate for Asia Pacific, according to a statement. He will relocate from Frankfurt to Sydney for the new role and report to Christopher Kimm, head of real estate, APAC.
In the role, Naumann will be responsible for identifying real estate investment opportunities across the region while working with the respective country heads in Australia, Korea, Japan and Singapore where DWS already has a presence as well as exploring new markets for strategic growth. He will remain as chief strategist for DWS Real Estate in EMEA, accountable to co-head of DWS’ global real estate platform Clemens Schaefer.
Property Experience
Naumann joined DWS in 2013 as head of European real estate strategy. He has served as the CIO of the European real estate platform since 2019 and covered APAC as the real estate CIO since 2021 while chairing the APAC real estate investment committee. Previously, he served as a senior analyst at AXA Investment Managers in London and Invesco Real Estate GmbH in Munich.
First «On the Ground» Role
According to DWS, Naumann becomes the firm’s first «on the ground» real estate CIO in Asia, «signaling the platform’s growth aspirations».
«Following extensive time spent in Asia Pacific, the timing was right to relocate,» commented Naumann. «As a new investment cycle emerges, we believe Australian real estate will offer immediate investment opportunities in BTR, Logistics and Next Generation Office, while we continue to test pricing to re-enter strategic segments of the Japanese and Korean markets very soon.»
