Nick Loup Joining Board of London’s Chelsfield Group

London-based Chelsfield recently announced that Nicholas Loup, the long-time APAC head of Grosvenor will be joining the UK real estate investment firm’s board of directors.

Industry observers believe that the decision by Chelsfield to include Loup among its top decision-makers reflects a new focus on the Asia Pacific region, just as Europe enjoys an unprecedented wave of real estate deals funded by Asian investors.

Loup’s new role comes as he wraps up his time a chief executive of Grosvenor Asia Pacific, after serving with the real estate developer belonging to Great Britain’s Duke of Westminster and his family for more than 25 years.

“Over the last 20 years, he (Loup) has established Grosvenor as one of the leading investors and developers in the region. Nick has exceptional global real estate experience and remarkable knowledge of the Asia Pacific territory,” said Chelsfield Co-Chairman and founder Elliott Bernerd. “This cements Chelsfield’s long-term interest in further developing our relationships in Asia.”

Bernerd and Loup have known each other for decades, and Loup noted the potential for Bernerd’s UK-based property investment and asset management firm to benefit from closer ties to Asia.

Chelsfield Hopes to Forge Closer Ties with Asia

“At a time when the key cities of Asia are coming to maturity and showing enormous potential for growth, I am excited about the opportunity to extend the activities of the Chelsfield Group globally,” Loup said.

In recent years investors from Hong Kong and mainland China have rapidly stepped up their acquisitions of real estate in the UK and other parts of Europe, with property services company JLL finding that London alone received $2.3 billion in capital inflows from China during the first half of last year.

Loup, who will turn over his post with Grosvenor to Benjamin Cha in March, will be joining Chelsfield in April of this year. Cha who formerly worked with UBS, is the son of HKR International founder Dr Cha Chi Ming, and previously served as as director of the developer best-known for Hong Kong’s Discovery Bay.

Bernerd was able to build Chelsfield into a force in UK property through his ability to build relationships and forge deals with Russian oligarchs and Middle Eastern oil magnates, and now the one-time public school drop out could be teaming up with Loup to capitalise on a new wave of deals from Asia.