HOUSTON- Charles N. Hazen, a tenured senior managing director and divisional CEO in the Hines' investment management group, will retire from certain president and CEO positions effective March 15. Replacing him as president and CEO of several Hines-sponsored investment funds will be Sherri W. Schugart.

According to a press release from Hines, Hazen will remain with the company for a year as a consultant. Since joining Hines in 1989, Hazen has managed investment vehicles representing approximately $12 billion of real estate in eight countries and has been involved in raising more than $6 billion from institutional and retail investors globally. Hazen's decision to retire from Hines was based on his desire to invest personally on a smaller scale.

"My career with Hines has been filled with extraordinary people and opportunities that few in the industry get to experience," Hazen says, in the press release. "I will always look upon the past quarter century as the most professionally rewarding time I could have ever imagined."

Schugart, a senior managing director, has been with Hines for 17 years, during which time she was responsible for arranging more than $10 billion of equity and debt capital for several of Hines' public and private investment funds in the United States and internationally. She has also had leadership and management responsibilities for product structuring, capital raising, portfolio strategy, asset management, investor relations, finance and accounting relating to certain funds.

"I am very excited for the opportunity to expand my roles at Hines, and I look forward to working with our extraordinary investment management team to maximize our funds' performance for the ultimate benefit of our investors and shareholders," Schugart says in a prepared statement.

Hines President and CEO Jeff Hines comments, "We very much appreciate the contributions Charles has made to our firm. He has executed his duties with passion, dedication and a commitment to quality, integrity and delivering superior results to our investors, all characteristics that are highly valued within Hines. Though Charles will be missed, we are fortunate that the management team he leaves behind is a very deep and talented organization and well-positioned for the future. Sherri has been an integral part of these investments funds since their inception and is perfectly suited to assume chief executive roles. Given that she and Charles have worked hand-in-hand for nine years to build an extraordinary team, we expect the leadership transition to be seamless."