AEW makes appointment to grow debt funds business

Fund manager AEW Europe has hired a new head of debt funds to oversee its existing real estate finance business and raise new funds.

Thibault Chauvin is moving over from Colony Capital, where he was managing director for real estate debt strategies and origination in Europe; before that, Chauvin headed international real estate finance at Crédit Foncier. He will report to Raphael Brault, head of funds and separate accounts.

Brault said: “Thibault brings a wealth of experience of the European debt markets to the firm and will help us expand our debt business as investors’ interest in this sector continues to increase.”

AEW is one of several fund managers looking to make inroads into the real estate finance market in Europe. In 2012, alongside Natixis Asset Management it raised €323m for its Senior European Loan Fund, which is due to be fully deployed across the UK and Europe by the end of the year.