NAREIM’s Gunnar Branson To Join AFIRE As Next CEO
James A. Fetgatter will be retiring from the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate after 27 years as its head.
WASHINGTON, DC–The Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE) — the organization that brings us every year a ranking of US and global cities where foreign-based real estate investors intend to invest — will have a new CEO this September after its long-standing head, James A. Fetgatter, retires.
He will be Gunnar Branson, who is currently the CEO of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers, where he has served for seven years. According to his LinkedIn profile, Branson has held positions at Transwestern, Heller Financial and GE Real Estate. He’s also an alumni TED speaker and in 2012, long before WeWork became a household world, told an audience that real estate was about to go through one of the most incredible changes it had ever experienced since 1450.
Edward Casal, chairman of AFIRE, took note of Branson’s renaissance-man creds as he welcomed him aboard. “His leadership skills and intellectual curiosity regarding the economic and technological forces that shape the real estate industry will ably lead the Association into the future,” he said.
Fetgatter is leaving AFIRE having grown the organization from a small group of Dutch pension funds to a member of 200 global institutions from 21 countries, Casal also said. “He has led the organization in conducting conferences in 18 countries across Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Asia.”
AFIRE has also grown in stature under Fetgatter’s leadership. Two former US presidents, four former secretaries of state, four former secretaries of defense, and former prime ministers of the UK, Ireland, Spain, and Australia have addressed AFIRE conferences over the years. Fetgatter was also AFIRE’s first and only full-time chief executive.
“I am excited to begin work with AFIRE and to continue the high-level relationships fostered by Jim Fetgatter for so many years,” Branson said. “AFIRE is an essential forum for navigating the unique challenges of global institutional real estate investing, and I look forward to participating in that discussion.”