Avison Young appoints UK head of capital markets
Avison Young has appointed Chris Pilgrim as principal, managing director, and UK head of capital markets.
He joins from Colliers, where he was based in both London and Singapore as managing director of global capital markets for the Asia Pacific region and sat on the Capital Markets Global Executive Committee. Prior to his time at Colliers, he also spent a decade at CBRE across the London, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore offices.
At Avison Young, Pilgrim will look to bring a global-first approach to the UK capital markets team, focused on leveraging international capital deploying into the UK.
He brings over 18 years’ of experience, specialising in the deployment of capital into major real estate markets and asset classes, as well as a deep global client base. In his previous roles, Pilgrim has acted for sovereign wealth funds, REITs, developers, insurance companies, pension funds, and investment managers.
Nick Walkley, principal and UK president at Avison Young, said: “Chris brings vast expertise and is a landmark addition to our capital markets team. Bringing international knowledge, Chris will push forward global cross-collaboration across clients and services. This appointment will significantly strengthen our capital markets presence in London, whilst bolstering Avison Young on an international scale.”
Chris Pilgrim added: “Joining Avison Young is the opportune time to grow an international capital markets service to provide our clients best in class advice and access to global capital. Leveraging the existing strength of Avison Young’s diversified UK platform, I look forward to delivering outstanding outcomes for our people and our clients. Together with global colleagues, we will develop a collaborative team that is open for growth and new talent. The UK is the number one global destination for international real estate capital and we will grow out asset class specialism putting more specialists in place, as well as developing our debt brokerage and equity placement offer to align with our client’s strategies across the capital stack.”