New York
CBRE Global Investors Appoints Helen Gurfel to Spearhead Sustainability and Innovation Agenda
22 Jul 2021
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
Pam Barnett
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
Helen Gurfel has joined CBRE Global Investors as Head of Global Sustainability and Innovation. This newly created senior executive position underscores CBRE Global Investors’ commitment to be a market-leading innovative real assets investment management firm that delivers sustainable solutions to drive outperformance. Ms. Gurfel also is a member of CBRE Global Investors’ Executive Committee.
Ms. Gurfel’s leadership will be pivotal in realizing CBRE Global Investors’ Sustainability Vision, announced earlier this year, and ensuring the firm maintains a leading sustainability strategy in a rapidly evolving market. Ms. Gurfel will work closely with teams across the global business on sustainability and innovation-related matters, ranging from product architecture and capital-raising initiatives to asset-level strategies and solutions.
With an exceptional track record of developing and executing effective ESG and venture investment strategies during her 25 years in the industry, Ms. Gurfel has spoken regularly on the economics of sustainability. A true thought leader, she has championed environmental performance improvement across the real estate industry.
“We are thrilled to welcome Helen as Head of Global Sustainability and Innovation. She is an authority in this space and brings a deep understanding of our strategic ambition to be a market leader in innovative and sustainable real assets investment solutions,” said Chuck Leitner, CEO of CBRE Global Investors. “As the world emerges from a period of immense uncertainty, it is our mission to help our clients and our users make sense of this change. With professionals of Helen’s caliber within the team, we are increasingly well-positioned to optimize the vast opportunities within the real assets sector, with purpose and alpha in equal measure.”
Prior to joining CBRE Global Investors, Ms. Gurfel was a managing director for LENX, Lennar Corporation’s venture group, where she helped develop the firm’s venture capital investment strategy. Prior to that, she ran the Urban Land Institute Greenprint Center for Building Performance where she led a global consortium of 40 real estate owners, investors and partners to enhance returns through ESG data analysis, benchmarking and best practices. Helen started her career at PwC before going to GE Capital where she established GE Real Estate’s global ESG vision and strategy and advised the firm’s energy venture capital group on prospective investments.
Ms. Gurfel earned a Bachelor of Science from Columbia University, a Master of Arts in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. She is a member of ULI’s Technology and Real Estate Council and is on the board of the Columbia Engineering Alumni Association.
About CBRE Global Investors
CBRE Global Investors is a global real assets investment management firm with $129.1 billion in assets under management* as of June 30, 2021. The firm sponsors investment programs across the risk/return spectrum for investors worldwide.
CBRE Global Investors is an independently operated affiliate of CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE). It harnesses the research, investment sourcing and other resources of the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2020 revenue) for the benefit of its investors. CBRE Group, Inc. has more than 100,000 employees serving clients in more than 100 countries. For more information about CBRE Global Investors, please visit www.cbreglobalinvestors.com
*Assets under management (AUM) refers to the fair market value of real assets-related investments with respect to which CBRE Global Investors provides, on a global basis, oversight, investment management services and other advice and which generally consist of investments in real assets; equity in funds and joint ventures; securities portfolios; operating companies and real assets-related loans. This AUM is intended principally to reflect the extent of CBRE Global Investors’ presence in the global real assets market, and its calculation of AUM may differ from the calculations of other asset managers.
Ms. Gurfel’s leadership will be pivotal in realizing CBRE Global Investors’ Sustainability Vision, announced earlier this year, and ensuring the firm maintains a leading sustainability strategy in a rapidly evolving market. Ms. Gurfel will work closely with teams across the global business on sustainability and innovation-related matters, ranging from product architecture and capital-raising initiatives to asset-level strategies and solutions.
With an exceptional track record of developing and executing effective ESG and venture investment strategies during her 25 years in the industry, Ms. Gurfel has spoken regularly on the economics of sustainability. A true thought leader, she has championed environmental performance improvement across the real estate industry.
“We are thrilled to welcome Helen as Head of Global Sustainability and Innovation. She is an authority in this space and brings a deep understanding of our strategic ambition to be a market leader in innovative and sustainable real assets investment solutions,” said Chuck Leitner, CEO of CBRE Global Investors. “As the world emerges from a period of immense uncertainty, it is our mission to help our clients and our users make sense of this change. With professionals of Helen’s caliber within the team, we are increasingly well-positioned to optimize the vast opportunities within the real assets sector, with purpose and alpha in equal measure.”
Prior to joining CBRE Global Investors, Ms. Gurfel was a managing director for LENX, Lennar Corporation’s venture group, where she helped develop the firm’s venture capital investment strategy. Prior to that, she ran the Urban Land Institute Greenprint Center for Building Performance where she led a global consortium of 40 real estate owners, investors and partners to enhance returns through ESG data analysis, benchmarking and best practices. Helen started her career at PwC before going to GE Capital where she established GE Real Estate’s global ESG vision and strategy and advised the firm’s energy venture capital group on prospective investments.
Ms. Gurfel earned a Bachelor of Science from Columbia University, a Master of Arts in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. She is a member of ULI’s Technology and Real Estate Council and is on the board of the Columbia Engineering Alumni Association.
About CBRE Global Investors
CBRE Global Investors is a global real assets investment management firm with $129.1 billion in assets under management* as of June 30, 2021. The firm sponsors investment programs across the risk/return spectrum for investors worldwide.
CBRE Global Investors is an independently operated affiliate of CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE). It harnesses the research, investment sourcing and other resources of the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2020 revenue) for the benefit of its investors. CBRE Group, Inc. has more than 100,000 employees serving clients in more than 100 countries. For more information about CBRE Global Investors, please visit www.cbreglobalinvestors.com
*Assets under management (AUM) refers to the fair market value of real assets-related investments with respect to which CBRE Global Investors provides, on a global basis, oversight, investment management services and other advice and which generally consist of investments in real assets; equity in funds and joint ventures; securities portfolios; operating companies and real assets-related loans. This AUM is intended principally to reflect the extent of CBRE Global Investors’ presence in the global real assets market, and its calculation of AUM may differ from the calculations of other asset managers.