Amro plans UK student expansion with new hire

Amro Partners has appointed Leo Hertog as managing director and chief investment officer at its student housing arm, Amro Student Living, to accelerate the firm’s growth in the European student housing sector and support its planned expansion into the UK student housing market in 2025. Hertog will also take on the interim role of acting co-head for Northern Europe alongside Pablo Garcia-Morales Osorio, replacing Rainer Nonnengässer, who will depart the firm at the end of this year. Hertog was previously director of real estate at APG Asset Management, and he has also held roles as director at Scape Living and asset manager at DTZ Zadelhoff. Based in London, he will work closely with Amro chairman and chief executive Raj Kotecha, European managing director for investment Pablo Garcia-Morales Osorio and the in-country investment teams to originate, structure and deploy capital across Amro’s existing student housing markets of Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal, as well as support its planned expansion into the UK student housing space. Hertog said: “As a vertically integrated developer and operator with local teams in five key European countries, Amro Partners is very well positioned to create a sizeable next-generation ESG-leading student housing platform. The European student housing market has excellent fundamentals: growing demand, a severe supply-demand imbalance and a large number of existing public student housing assets which fail to meet student expectations and ESG standards. “Combined with the proven counter-cyclical performance, student housing is top of every investor’s wish list. Leveraging my strong experience and relationships in the European student housing space, I look forward to working with the team to build on their track record and grow the company’s presence in existing and new markets.” Kotecha, added: “Leo is well known to the Amro team, and we are delighted to have him join us at this crucial stage in our growth journey. He brings a wealth of experience to the table, which will prove invaluable as we strengthen our proposition as a specialist European living sector asset manager working with larger-scale institutional capital partners. “Rainer Nonnengässer leaves with our very best wishes for the future, and I would like to personally thank him for his important contribution. We are at an advanced stage of closing our investment partnerships for Northern Europe, and I look forward to announcing these together with new senior team hires for the region in the coming weeks.” Photo © Amro Partners