LONDON—James Raynor will succeed Jeffrey Weingarten in June as chief executive of Grosvenor Fund Management as Weingarten joins the Grosvenor Group's board of directors.

Raynor joined Grosvenor in 2004 and is currently chief investment officer of GFM, based in London.  Previously he spent seven years based in Paris as the Royal Bank of Scotland's senior director of European real estate.

“I'm delighted to have James taking over the reins to build on the growth strategy we have put in place at GFM. His international vision and experience will stand us in good stead,” said Mark Preston, chairman of GFM and group chief executive of Grosvenor. “I'm very grateful to Jeffrey for his wise guidance of GFM over the past two years and am very pleased he is joining our main Board.”

Raynor said:

“This is an exciting time for GFM. We have a number of terrific new initiatives underway across our regions, which will build upon the investment strategies and skills that we have developed over time. We continue to believe that as property specialists we will be able to create good investment opportunities for our clients, as we have in 2012.”

Weingarten said:

“I am delighted to retain my connection with Grosvenor whilst handing over the reins of fund management.  The industry's obsession with creating value is important for all parts of the Group.” 

The Grosvenor Group has been investing in real estate in partnership with investors since the 1950s, launched its first fund in 1976 and founded Grosvenor Fund Management as a separate business in 2005. Funds under management totaled $7.6B (£5B) at the end of 2012.