Global Leadership

Andrew Yoon is a Managing Partner and the Chief Operating Officer at BentallGreenOak responsible for day-to-day operations of the global business. In this role, Andrew leads a team of executives responsible for the firm’s human resources, information technology, new products and innovation, M&A and change management activity, PR & communications, marketing, and corporate philanthropy. Andrew is a member of the Firm’s management committee and investment committees for various Firm managed funds.

Andrew was a Partner and served as Chief Operating Officer at GreenOak Real Estate, a predecessor firm to BentallGreenOak, since its inception in 2010. Prior to joining GreenOak, he was a managing director, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer for Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing in Asia. Andrew was responsible for capital markets and strategic business growth during his tenure in Asia from 2001 through 2010. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Andrew worked as an investment banker in leveraged finance at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette/Credit Suisse.

Andrew holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

Devinder Gill is a Managing Partner and the Chief Financial Officer at BentallGreenOak. He has overall responsibility for all Finance functions, as well as assisting with strategic matters.

During his tenure, he has been involved in various corporate acquisitions, restructurings for BGO and new Fund structures. He has also been responsible for overseeing the IT and Internal audit functions. He continues to represent BGO at various Audit Committees and Boards.

Prior to joining the company in 2003, he was with Daimler Benz Aerospace. Previous to this, he spent five years at Arthur Andersen working in both the Assurance and Tax groups.

Devinder holds a degree in commerce from the University of British Columbia. He also holds his Chartered Accountant designation and has completed the two part CICA in-depth Taxation Course.

Julie Wong is the Managing Partner and Chief Client and Product Development Officer at BentallGreenOak. In this role, she is responsible for BentallGreenOak’s client and product development initiatives at the Firm.

Julie joined GreenOak Real Estate, a predecessor firm to BentallGreenOak, in 2010 and has overseen the formation and successful closing of over $15 billion of equity commitments for the firm’s commingled funds, co-investments, and the firm’s other investment opportunities. She has 20 years of experience in the real estate industry as an investor, advisor, and operator.

Previously, Julie was an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley in the real estate investment banking and investing division. She played a key role in the formation and fundraising of MSREF VII Global, a $5 billion opportunistic fund and Morgan Stanley’s principal acquisitions in Brazil, Mexico and the US. Julie began her career in real estate in 1997 with Sunterra Resorts focusing on acquisitions and the development of a club system for the portfolio of over 110 properties worldwide.

Julie graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and an MBA from Columbia University.

Jim Blakemore is a Managing Partner and the Global Head of Debt at BentallGreenOak. In his role as a member of BGO's global management team, Jim leads the firm’s global real estate debt strategies, managing approximately $16 billion of commercial mortgage loan assets across the globe. Jim founded BentallGreenOak's European debt team which has invested over $6 billion of capital from institutional investors and is an active lender on commercial real estate properties located in the UK and across Western Europe.

Prior to joining the firm, Jim was the European Head of Lehman Brothers' Global Real Estate Group for Europe and the Middle East. In this role, he oversaw Lehman Brothers European on-balance sheet real estate activities including commercial mortgage and mezzanine lending. At Lehman Brothers, Jim served on its European Operating Committee, European Fixed Income Executive Committee as well as its Global Fixed Income Operating Committee. Prior to that, he worked at Lehman Brothers in New York where he originated and structured mortgage loans and CMBS transactions. Jim began his career as an attorney at Thacher Proffitt and Wood (New York) where he practiced real estate and securities law.

Jim is a member of the Board of Trustees of Lewis and Clark College (Portland, Oregon) as well as a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council. Jim is a graduate of New York University School of Law and Lewis and Clark College.

Amy Price is president of BentallGreenOak (BGO). In her role, Amy oversees its U.S. and Canadian businesses, and works closely with the Capital Raising team. Amy is a member of the Global Executive Team, the Management Committee, and the US Investment Committees. Amy also leads BGO’s equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives globally and chairs the firm’s EDI Leadership Council.

Prior to joining the firm in 2012, Amy was a managing director and head of real estate investing for the western U.S. at Morgan Stanley, where she was an Investment Committee member, and built the real estate investment management business in San Francisco. Amy also spent time in Morgan Stanley’s New York and Hong Kong offices.

Amy is a member of the Global Board of Directors of Urban Land Institute (ULI), and a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of AFIRE. She is also involved in philanthropic endeavors, as a member of the Board of Directors of the YMCA of San Francisco, the National Charity League with her daughter, and Service Corp with her son.

Amy holds an MBA with distinction from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University.

Chris Niehaus is a Managing Partner and Head of the U.S. business for BentallGreenOak and is based in New York City. Chris is a member of the Global Management Committee and is a member of BGO's investment committees in U.S., Asia, Europe and Canada as well as for Strategic Capital Partners.

Chris previously was a partner and Head of the US at GreenOak Real Estate, a predecessor firm to BentallGreenOak. Before GreenOak, Chris spent 28 years at Morgan Stanley where he helped build and run one of the leading global real estate banking, lending, and investing businesses. He became co-head of global real estate investment banking in 1994 and vice chairman of investment banking in 2006. He served as the portfolio manager for Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund VI International from 2009 to 2010 and led the restructuring and stabilization of that fund, which had over $33 billion of assets across 71 investments in over 20 countries. Chris was an Investment Committee member for the Morgan Stanley Real Estate and Special Situations Funds from 1994 until he left in 2010. He served as lead director or board member of a number of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing investment companies.

Chris is a summa cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, where he chaired the Real Estate Advisory Council for over 10 years and serves on the Presidential Leadership Council for the past 10 + years. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1985. Chris serves as non-Executive Chairman of WP Carey, a ~$25 billion enterprise value NYSE REIT. He has been a trustee and member of the executive committee of the International Council of Shopping Centers since 1995 and a full member of the Urban Land Institute for over 30 years. Chris has chaired the board of Student Sponsor Partners for the past 8+ years. SSP addresses the education inequities in NYC by providing underserved students access to a quality high school education by providing financial support and one-to-one mentoring throughout all four years of their high school career.

Christina Iacoucci is Managing Partner, Canadian Chief Investment Officer, and Head of Investment Management at BentallGreenOak with overall responsibility for leading the firm’s real estate investment strategies for the Canadian Funds and Separate Account mandates.

Christina has over 30 years of commercial real estate experience specializing in portfolio management, investments, asset management, development, and valuation. Christina has been a leading force behind BentallGreenOak’s sustainable real estate investing and innovation initiatives.

Christina is actively involved in the real estate industry. She is a member of the board of directors of NAIOP - Greater Toronto Chapter and the 2023 President. She is on the board of directors of CREED Council. She is part of the ILEO (Inclusion and Local Economic Opportunity) Housing Steering Committee. Christina also helps shape the industry’s future leaders through mentorship for both NAIOP and served as a real estate mentor for the Rotman School of Management Master’s Program at the University of Toronto.

Keith Major is Managing Partner, Head of Canadian Real Estate Management for BentallGreenOak, based in Toronto. He is responsible for the overall property management and leasing for office, retail, industrial and residential across Canada. In addition, Keith works closely with the development team on new projects in Ontario.

Keith has over 35 years of experience in commercial real estate operations and management and joined the firm in 2000. Previously employed by Manulife Real Estate and worked in the Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto markets where Keith was responsible for major repositionings including Manulife Centre, foreclosed properties, development of a number of projects, and the asset management of third-party managed properties.

Keith is an honors graduate of the urban land economics program through the University of British Columbia. He holds the professional designation of Certified Property Manager and is a member of the Real Estate Institute of Canada and the Building Owners and Managers Association.

Jim Blakemore is a Managing Partner and the Global Head of Debt at BentallGreenOak. In his role as a member of BGO's global management team, Jim leads the firm’s global real estate debt strategies, managing approximately $16 billion of commercial mortgage loan assets across the globe. Jim founded BentallGreenOak's European debt team which has invested over $6 billion of capital from institutional investors and is an active lender on commercial real estate properties located in the UK and across Western Europe.

Prior to joining the firm, Jim was the European Head of Lehman Brothers' Global Real Estate Group for Europe and the Middle East. In this role, he oversaw Lehman Brothers European on-balance sheet real estate activities including commercial mortgage and mezzanine lending. At Lehman Brothers, Jim served on its European Operating Committee, European Fixed Income Executive Committee as well as its Global Fixed Income Operating Committee. Prior to that, he worked at Lehman Brothers in New York where he originated and structured mortgage loans and CMBS transactions. Jim began his career as an attorney at Thacher Proffitt and Wood (New York) where he practiced real estate and securities law.

Jim is a member of the Board of Trustees of Lewis and Clark College (Portland, Oregon) as well as a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council. Jim is a graduate of New York University School of Law and Lewis and Clark College.

Toby Phelps is a Managing Partner and Head of European Equity at BentallGreenOak. Toby has over 27 years of experience in European real estate markets and has been involved in over $20 billion of transactions across logistics, office, retail, residential, and healthcare assets.

Prior to his current role, Toby was chief executive officer at Investa Office Fund, an Australian office real estate investment trust. Before that, he was managing director and head of UK for Tishman Speyer Properties in London and managing director and head of UK and European hotel investing for Morgan Stanley Real Estate. Toby started his career at Jones Lang LaSalle in London.

Toby holds an honors bachelor of science degree from the University of Reading.

Dan Klebes is a Managing Partner and Head of Japan at BentallGreenOak, based in Tokyo. Dan is President and Representative Director of BentallGreenOak K.K.

Dan has over 30 years of experience in the Japanese real estate market as an investor and investment banker. Dan began his career in 1987 at Goldman Sachs and during his 17-year tenure founded and led Goldman Sachs’ Japanese Real Estate Principal Investment Area, acquired over $5 billion of Japanese real estate-related investments, and helped build Goldman Sachs’ property investment and asset management operations from startup to over 200 professionals. Immediately prior to joining GreenOak, a BentallGreenOak predecessor firm, Dan led GTO Capital Management, an investment firm he founded in 2010 where he advised and co-invested with clients in the United States and Japan. Prior to GTO Capital, Dan was chief investment officer for Japan at Aetos Capital Asia, where he led a Tokyo-based real estate team of over 100 professionals and grew assets under management by over $6 billion.

Dan holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a master’s degree in East Asian Studies from Stanford University. He serves as the Vice Chairman of the Urban Land Institute in Japan. He has lived in Japan for more than 20 years and is fluent in Japanese.

Marcus Merner is a Managing Partner and the Head of Asian Investments/Portfolio Manager for the Asia Value-Add Funds at BentallGreenOak. Marcus is also an Investment Committee member for all of the firm’s Asia funds. Since joining the firm, Marcus has been responsible for overseeing all acquisitions and asset management functions within Asia. Marcus is responsible for overseeing underwriting, execution, asset management, and risk management of investments made by the fund.

Prior to joining the firm, Marcus was the chief operating officer of Morgan Stanley Capital Japan and head of Japan for Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing. He joined Morgan Stanley in 1994 and was based in Japan from 1998 to 2010. Marcus was a key participant in the sub-performing loan and nonperforming loan transactions undertaken by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund (MSREF) in Japan. He was also the lead acquisitions officer on many MSREF Japanese investments. During his tenure at Morgan Stanley, he also worked in the Securitized Product Group and Corporate Finance Group. Marcus spent 1 year with The Shidler Group in Honolulu, Hawaii, from 1997 to 1998 prior to returning to Morgan Stanley in 1998.

Marcus graduated with a concentration in real estate finance from the University of Southern California. Marcus was born and raised in Japan and is fluent in Japanese.

Cherine Aboulzelof is a Managing Director and co- Head of Europe for BGO Strategic Capital Partners, based in London. With over 18 years of experience in real estate investing, she leads the sourcing and evaluating of investment opportunities in Europe and is a member of the Investment Committee. Prior to merging with BentallGreenOak in April 2021, Cherine held similar responsibilities under the firm name Metropolitan Real Estate Equity Management, wholly owned by The Carlyle Group

Prior to joining the firm, Cherine was a Partner and Head of Europe at 90 North Real Estate Partners where she led the firm’s investments in Europe for three years. Prior to that, she spent eight years at Arcapita, a global private equity firm where she was a Director and Head of Europe and responsible for acquisitions and asset management across a number of assets classes and countries. Prior to that, Cherine spent eight years in investment banking in London and New York at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.

Cherine is an INREV Young Professionals mentor and a member of the GRI Europe Women Leading Real Estate Advisory Board. She is also a board member of the Women in Safe Homes Fund (WISH fund) all – women advisory board.

Cherine holds a Masters Degree in Finance and Entrepreneurship from E.M. Lyon in France, and received an M.B.A from INSEAD.

John So is the Managing Director and Co-Head of BGO Strategic Capital Partners based in Hong Kong. With more than 30 years of experience in real estate investing, John chairs the Investment Committee, co-manages the Co-Investment funds and leads the sourcing/evaluating of investment opportunities in Asia Pacific. Prior to merging with BentallGreenOak in April 2021, John held similar responsibilities under the firm name Metropolitan Real Estate Equity Management, wholly owned by The Carlyle Group.

Prior to joining Metropolitan, John was Director of Grosvenor Asia Pacific and held responsibilities including Managing Director of Investments, Head of China, Head of Fund Management Asia (serving on the Global Fund Management Board), and CEO of the Grosvenor Land Property Fund (a joint venture with Hongkong Land). He was also previously a Director of Jardine Fleming Securities, where he headed the Regional Real Estate Research team and was a top-ranked analyst.

John received his B.A. in Urban Studies from Brown University, his Masters in Urban Design (with Distinction) from the University of Hong Kong and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He is also a Global Trustee of the Urban Land Institute, Co-Chair of the UrbanPlan Program in Asia Pacific and a Founding Committee Member of the Asian Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles (ANREV).