Cain hires Orion’s Spillane and Hammerson’s Van Vliet

Cain has hired Orion’s John Spillane and Hammerson’s Robert van Vliet to bolster its European real estate equity team. Van Vliet will focus on the privately held investment firm’s UK development assets, including Islington Square, N1 (pictured), and The Stage. He joins Cain from Hammerson, where he was responsible for the asset management of prime shopping destinations including Brent Cross in London and Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin. Spillane will become vice president for portfolio management at the privately held investment firm, working across its European investment portfolios and strategies. He joins from Orion Capital Managers. Prior to that he worked for Rockspring Property Investment Managers and at a CMBS loan servicer in the US. Cain’s real estate equity team has increased by 50% in the last year as it launched two new strategies, a £1bn logistics portfolio acquired from Firethorn Trust and a joint venture with Fusion Students to build a £1.5bn portfolio of purpose-built student accommodation. Richard Pilkington, senior managing director and head of European real estate at Cain International said: “Having expanded our footprint with two major new investment strategies in logistics and PBSA, it is an immensely exciting time for Cain and both John and Robert bring impressive track records in asset management and investment. We very much look forward to benefiting from their expertise as we continue to build on our success to date in Europe and the UK.” To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews