TIAA-CREF plans to combine its real assets units into a single business line, the asset management giant announced Tuesday.
The new standalone division will wrap in many of TIAA-CREF’s largest units, including global real estate, agriculture, timber, infrastructure, and energy. In addition, the real assets group is to take over subsidiaries TH Real Estate, Westchester Group Investment Management, GreenWood Resources, and Churchill Asset Management.
All told, TIAA-CREF expected the real assets business to comprise roughly 900 staff members in 16 countries. The New York-based firm managed $100 billion in real assets as of December 31, 2015.
Private Markets head Joes Minaya is to take over the new division as president, the company said, and supported by current private markets CIO Heather Davis.
TIAA-CREF scooped a COO for the unit from Nuveen Investments: John MacCarthy spent a decade there as chief legal officer.
Minaya said the reorganization would allow the business to be “more nimble” and “accelerate” its speed to market.
BlackRock undertook a similar restructuring of its real assets business lines last month, as part of a nearly firm-wide organizational shake-up.
Related: The New-Look BlackRock: All Change for Equities, Bonds, Real Assets