Angelo Scasserra will be CEO of CLI Australia and Rahul Bharara will be the CIO of CLI Australia. They are expected to join CLI in the first half of 2025.

CapitaLand Investment (CLI) has appointed a chief executive officer (CEO) and chief investment officer (CIO), two newly-created roles for its Australia market. The move comes in a bid to strengthen CLI’s bench and drive growth in its focus market.

Angelo Scasserra will be CEO of CLI Australia and Rahul Bharara will be the CIO of CLI Australia.

Both will be responsible for driving the growth of CLI Australia’s business including real estate private equity and credit funds. They will also work closely with CLI Australia’s managing director Paul Toussaint and team to manage CLI’s assets under management (AUM) worth around A$9 billion ($8 billion). CLI Australia’s assets span logistics, business parks, lodging and commercial assets. CLI also announced that it is committing up to A$1 billion ($878 million) to grow its funds under management (FUM) in the country.

Scasserra comes with over 25 years of experience in real estate funds management, corporate finance and law. Before joining CLI, he was head of real estate private capital, a division he led at Barrenjoey Capital Partners. Bharara comes with over 21 years in the real estate sector. Prior to joining CLI, he was partner, real estate private capital at Barrenjoey Capital Partners

Scasserra and Bharara are expected to join CLI in the first half of 2025.

“Angelo and Rahul have worked together for over a decade and have extensive experience in the private equity and real estate sector, making them excellent additions to strengthen our leadership team in Australia,” says Andrew Lim, group chief operating officer, CLI.

“A stable, open and developed market, Australia is one of CLI’s focus markets where we see huge potential for both organic and inorganic growth,” he adds.

On CLI Australia’s goal to invest up to an additional A$1 billion to grow its FUM, Lim says the contributions will fuel CLI’s efforts to expand its investment products, capabilities and network to drive value creation for our partners.

“We look forward to deepening our presence in Australia as we enhance our reputation as a global real asset manager,” he adds.

As at 1.50pm, shares in CLI are trading flat at $2.83.