In a shakeup of top real estate executives, Apollo has hired an industry veteran from Invesco Real Estate, which immediately announced a pair of replacements.
Apollo tapped Bert Crouch as partner and head of real estate equity, where he will lead the firm’s business in the sector, including overseeing recent acquisition Bridge Investment Group.
Courtesy of Invesco
Apollo’s new head of real estate equity, Bert Crouch, was until recently Invesco’s head of North American real estate.
Former Bridge Executive Chairman Robert Morse was named partner and head of real estate equity in February when Apollo and Bridge struck their $1.5B deal, but he will now transition into a vice chairman role at Apollo and make room for Crouch.
“We see clear market opportunities emerging, particularly in sectors where Apollo has strong conviction, including housing, industrial, net lease and other key verticals,” Crouch said in a statement.
Crouch served as Invesco Real Estate’s head of North America since 2020, as CEO of Invesco Commercial Real Estate Finance Trust since its launch in 2023 and lead portfolio manager of various opportunistic and credit funds dating back to 2010.
“Bert is an industry veteran with deep investment experience, leadership acumen and a strong track record of driving growth initiatives, and his hiring underscores Apollo’s commitment to support a best-in-class real estate equity business,” Apollo Partner and co-head of equity David Sambur said in a statement.
Apollo’s acquisition of Bridge, which closed in September, nearly doubled the finance giant’s real estate assets under management, bringing it to $110B. Bridge is expected to continue to operate as a standalone business with more than 300 employees.
Jonathan Slager will remain in his role as CEO of Bridge.
With Crouch leaving the company, Invesco Real Estate named Chase Bolding as its new head of North America. The company also named Charlie Rose, its global head of real estate credit, as Crouch’s replacement as CEO of Invesco Commercial Real Estate Finance Trust and on its board of directors.
Bolding joined Invesco in 2010 and has led the firm’s U.S. opportunistic business for seven years, launching and building Invesco’s first nontraded REIT and serving as chief investment officer of Invesco Real Estate U.S. for the past two years.
Invesco Real Estate hired Rose in 2017 and he has helped expand its real estate credit business. Over the past nine years, he launched the firm’s first dedicated real estate credit fund and led an acquisition to further establish the platform’s European presence.
“We believe real estate is entering a new cycle and we’re well-positioned for the opportunities ahead,” Bolding said in a statement.