Joe Valente has joined J.P. Morgan Asset Management's Global Real Assets business as head of Research and Strategy of Real Estate Europe.

Reporting to Peter Reilly, head of Real Estate Europe at JPMAM, Valente will be based in London. His main focus will be on continuing to build JPMAM's real estate capabilities in Europe by forecasting local economic and property performance, identifying strategic investment opportunities and working to achieve real estate investment objectives for institutional and high net worth investors.

'The European real estate market is experiencing a marked increase in activity. As we continue to expand our footprint across Europe, we look to employ the highest calibre individuals to support this activity. Joe's extensive knowledge and experience of investing in European real estate over a number of market cycles makes him a key addition to the team,' commented Peter Reilly.

'JPMAM's presence in the European real estate market has grown dramatically over recent years as they have been able to take advantage of investment opportunities for clients,' Valente added. 'The very experienced team is highly regarded and my focus will be to help grow the business with them through appropriately timed strategic investments for clients.'

Prior to his appointment, Valente was head of Investment Strategy for Allianz Real Estate since 2007 and prior to that he was global head of Research at DTZ.

JPMAM - Global Real Assets has approximately $50.6 bn (EUR 34.09 bn) in real estate and infrastructure assets under management worldwide.