Mercer names real estate head

Mercer has promoted Simon James to the head of real estate for the Pacific.

James was elevated from the role of principal - alternativesJ

He joined the asset consultant's Sydney office almost seven years arriving from Tesco Pension Investment in the UK.

There,  he was a real estate asset manager for the property and alternatives portfolio.

James has worked for KBC Bank & Verzekering, the British Council and RO Real Estate.

Padraig Brown, Mercer's head of real estate for the Pacific for 11 years and now investment chief for New Zealand, congratulated his sucessor.

Brown commented that James will now oversee the Mercer Australian Property Fund (MAPF) that Brown had managed since 2013.

"I'm extremely pleased with the track record that Simon and I delivered to our loyal clients over the past decade as we grew the Fund from $400 million to over $3.5 billion," he said.