ICSC taps Charles Grossman to be next chairman (US)

Charles Grossman, a senior executive of one of the world´s largest real estate investment management firms, has been tapped by the nominating committee of ICSC´s Board of Trustees to be chairman for the 2005-2006 term.

Grossman, a managing director at ING Clarion Partners, has been active at ICSC for more than three decades. Among his many activities with the organization, he has vigorously promoted education within the industry. He serves on the Board of Trustees of ICSC´s Educational Foundation and is involved each year in selecting recipients for the John T. Riordan scholarship. He also serves on ICSC´s Executive Committee as treasurer and has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1999.

Leading industry observers credit Grossman with educating the industry in other ways, too, notably by sharing his expertise on the subject of shopping center finance through ICSC and other forums over the years.

Grossman has also made education a priority in his own life. He is a graduate of Harvard College, where he majored in government (B.A., magna cum laude, 1965), Columbia University School of Law (J.D., 1968) and Columbia University School of Business (MBA, 1969). Before joining ING, Grossman worked at international investment firm James D. Wolfensohn Inc. (founder James D. Wolfensohn now heads the World Bank) and was the founding partner and CEO of Schroder Real Estate Associates, an institutional investment management firm.

“Charles´ nomination to serve as worldwide chairman comes at a remarkable time,” said Michael P. Kercheval, ICSC´s president and CEO. “The global retail real estate industry is booming, driven by international capital flows. Charlie is uniquely qualified to articulate and guide this process as head of the world´s largest real estate association.”The unprecedented investment in retail real estate by the financial community comes from the sector´s being viewed as a bastion of growth during a time of economic uncertainty.

Few investment firms are as active in the world of retail as the ING Group, a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management services to private, corporate and institutional clients. With operations in 50 countries, ING bills itself as the biggest real estate management firm in the world. The firm manages some $600 billion in assets of all types, of which about 35 percent represents retail. ING Clarion, with $19 billion in public and private real estate assets, is a member of ING Real Estate, the global real estate investment arm of ING.

“It [retail real estate] provides the kind of stable and growing income that investors increasingly look for,” Grossman observed, predicting that the sector will continue to be a haven for the investment community.

“What ICSC is reflecting is the growing globalization of real estate and capital flows,” he added. “We´re now seeing developers and owners investing globally.”Besides overseeing some of his company´s client accounts, Grossman heads up the Lion Industrial Trust, is a member of the firm´s executive committee and serves on the Investment Policy Committee of ING Clarion Real Estate Securities.

If, as expected, his nomination is confirmed at ICSC´s Spring Convention in Las Vegas, Grossman will become the organization´s 46th chairman, succeeding the current chairman, James E. Maurin, CSM.

Source: ICSC

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