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- Sustainability and impact investing roles split to take them closer to the relevant business lines, better leveraging PATRIZIA’s internal expertise and broad global real assets platform
- Impact investing within PATRIZIA will be led by PATRIZIA Global Partners, headed by Mads Rude, who will be supported by Marleen-Bikker-Bekkers, key Fund Manager for the PATRIZIA Sustainable Communities Impact Fund
- Edward Pugh has been promoted to Head of Sustainability at PATRIZIA
- PATRIZIA’s new broader ESG leadership team combines deep sector experience alongside exciting future industry leaders
- Following a successful 3.5-year tenure developing PATRIZIA’s corporate ESG strategy, Mathieu Elshout has departed PATRIZIA for Aware Super
PATRIZIA, a leading partner for global real assets, has re-positioned its ESG team to further strengthen its commitment to sustainability and impact investing. Mads Rude will continue to lead PATRIZIA Global Partners and have overall responsibility for Impact Investing, supported by Marleen-Bikker-Bekkers as the key Fund Manager of PATRIZIA Sustainable Communities. Edward Pugh has been promoted to Head of Sustainability. Following a successful 3.5-year tenure developing PATRIZIA’s ESG strategy, Mathieu Elshout has departed the company to join Australian Superannuation fund Aware Super.
Mahdi Mokrane, Head of Global Investment Strategy, Research and Investment Solutions at PATRIZIA, said: “Mathieu has been instrumental in developing our strong ESG framework and central sustainability team that is the absolute foundation of our global sustainability and impact strategy. We wish him all the best as we build on his excellent work ensuring sustainability remains a key enabler for creating and protecting value for PATRIZIA’s investors and broader stakeholders in a world deeply in transition. With Mads and Edward, we are thrilled to have two exceptional industry professionals driving the future growth of our impact investing platform as we look to launch further vehicles, alongside ensuring the meticulous stewardship of our group-wide sustainability strategy.”
Mathieu Elshout said: “I am immensely proud of the progress we have made over the last 3.5 years developing PATRIZIA’s corporate ESG strategy and impact investing platform. Not only have we launched the group’s first SFDR Article 9 fund, Sustainable Communities, which saw one of our strongest fundraises in 2023, we have also broadened our central sustainability function to integrate key decarbonisation teams including our cutting-edge smart buildings platform Ambio. As one of the industry’s future leaders, I am truly excited to see where Edward takes PATRIZIA next on its sustainability journey.”
Combining deep sector experience with future industry leaders
Under the new structure, PATRIZIA will accelerate its ESG ambitions across its global real assets platform by deploying dedicated internal resources and expertise in impact investing and sustainability. With the changes, ‘Impact’ has been taken closer to where the investments happen, with Mads already overseeing the company’s impact investing strategy since it launched in 2022. Marleen continues to manage the investment as well as co-investment activities for PATRIZIA’s impact fund, Sustainable Communities. Central sustainability remains a core corporate function that connects PATRIZIA’s key operational decarbonisation teams, including Real Estate Development, Asset Management and the company’s smart buildings platform, Ambio. In his previous role as Director in PATRIZIA’s central sustainability team, Edward has played a key part in designing and executing the company’s corporate sustainability strategy, ESG governance and portfolio-wide decarbonisation initiatives.
The new leadership team combines deep sector expertise in real assets alongside next generation talent. Mads brings nearly 30 years of experience in the global real estate sector, with many years specifically in impact investing. His leadership demonstrates PATRIZIA’s ambition to accelerate the growth of its impact investing platform, with the close support of Marleen. Edward has over a decade of experience exclusively in specialist sustainability roles across the real estate industry. His promotion reflects PATRIZIA’s commitment to developing internal talent and investing in the future leaders of our industry.
Both the sustainability and impact functions will continue to have strong oversight from PATRIZIA’s Executive Committee, with Edward co-reporting into Amal del Monaco, CEO Asset Management and Development European Real Estate, and Mads reporting into Mahdi Mokrane.
Accelerating PATRIZIA’s sustainability ambitions
Under the leadership of Mads and Edward, PATRIZIA will continue to drive forward its global sustainability strategy that is focused on achieving four objectives to:
- Become a leading sustainable investor in real assets with consistent PRI 5* rating from 2025
- Achieve net zero carbon status across our corporate operations and portfolio by 2040 or earlier
- Become a leading global impact investor in the real assets sector
- Be an employer of choice in the real assets sector
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Impact investing remains a central pillar to the strategy as well as a flagship investment solution for PATRIZIA’s clients. The growth of the company’s impact platform will be led by its dedicated impact vehicle Sustainable Communities. PATRIZIA launched its impact strategy in 2022 and has since commenced its EUR 500+ million investment programme into social and affordable housing across Europe. Through its impact platform, PATRIZIA’s ambition is to house more than 7,500 residents in affordable housing across 25 countries.