Commercial real estate services firm JLL chose Philip Ward to serve as the company's new CEO of its Hotels & Hospitality Group in the EMEA region.
Ward was previously the managing partner and founder of Brookfield Financial's European operation division, and he has held a post in the finance industry for more than three decades. For the last 25 years he has worked in the hospitality, leisure and tourism space, acting as an investment banking advisor.
“Current and future clients will benefit from Philip’s wealth of experience in the sector, including sourcing, securing and arranging debt and equity capital, and structuring complex transactions through a range of market cycles,” Mark Wynne-Smith, global CEO of JLL's Hotels & Hospitality Group, said in a statement.
Ward's appointment to the EMEA region is strategic, as according to the company's Real Views report as of yesterday funds moving between the Middle East and Europe are growing in size and frequency, and investors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar are becoming more active in London's investment market. Claudio Sgobba, director of JLL's debt advisory team in London, said the UK is the No. 1 site for Islamic finance in the western hemisphere.
Furthermore, hotel investment volumes in the EMEA are expected to hit $25 billion this year, meaning it will continue to be the largest destination for offshore capital in the world.
"[Ward] joins during an evolutionary period as the universe of investors and lenders becomes more diverse within the hospitality sector as a whole,” Wynne-Smith said.