The manager has appointed DWS’s John Casasante as CEO and CIO, replacing current CEO William “Tripp” Gantt and deputy CEO Caroline Fong. Casasante will also replace current CIO Patrick Browne, who is based in the US.
In addition, CFO Robert Wong of the REIT manager will make way for Mushtaque Ali, who joins from sponsor Manulife Investment Management.
The four senior leaders announced their resignation concurrently on March 19. CEO Gantt has “pressing family needs that require his full time and attention”, while the other three cited a desire to “pursue other opportunities”.
Casasante will be appointed as CEO- and CIO-designate on April 8. He has been the regional director of real estate asset management alternatives and real estate assets at DWS, formerly RREEF, since 2006.
See also: Changes of CEO, deputy CEO and CFO at Manulife US REIT's manager
Ali will be appointed as CFO-designate on April 12. He is currently the head of finance, wealth & asset management, Singapore and Southeast Asia, Manulife Global Wealth and Asset Management; a role he has held since March 2022.
He has been in Manulife Group since May 2014. Both the appointments will be subject to regulatory clearance and will be effective on June 30.
Calling the exit a “complete shake-off”, DBS analysts note that Ali appears to have been “seconded” from the sponsor, Manulife Group.
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“The change in management team hopefully could see a refresh perception of MUST,” add the analysts.
This is the second US office S-REIT to announce management changes this week, following the resignation of Harmeet Singh Bedi, CEO of the manager of Prime US REIT, on March 15.
DBS is maintaining “hold” on Manulife US REIT with a target price of 10 US cents.
As at 9.42am, units in Manulife US REIT are trading flat at 5.7 US cents, down 79% over the year.
More on Manulife US REIT over the years:
- RHB downgrades Manulife US REIT to ‘trading buy’ as it sees ‘long road ahead’ (February)
- Manulife US REIT distributable income falls 15.5% y-o-y in FY2023, targets US$100 mil asset sales by 3Q2024 (February)
- Manulife US REIT’s lifeline in the hands of EGM (November 2023)
- MUST appoints Marc Feliciano as chairman of the board of directors (October 2023)
- ‘Absolutely’ possible to save Manulife US REIT, says sponsor but time not on its side (August 2023)
- Manulife US REIT halts DPUs in 1HFY2023; unencumbered gearing ratio down to 59.7% (August 2023)
- MUST’s portfolio valuation falls by 14.6% to US$1.63 bil; aggregate leverage breaches 50% limit (July 2023)
- Manulife US REIT announces proposed divestment of Phipps to sponsor (May 2023)
- Manulife US REIT's gearing rises further to 49.5%, Mirae proposal expected in 2Q2023 (May 2023)
- Manulife US REIT continues talks with bidder Mirae, divests property for US$0.35 mil loss (April 2023)
- US office REITs continue to face challenges (February 2023)
- Manulife US REIT reports 18.6% lower 2HFY2022 DPU of 2.14 US cents after capital retention (February 2023)
- Manulife US REIT's aggregate leverage now at 49% based on updated asset valuations (December 2022)
