Dutch property fund VastNed Retail has appointed Taco de Groot as new Chief Executive Officer, effective September 1.

De Groot is already a director of VastNed Management, which conducts the management of VastNed Retail and VastNed Offices/Industrial. His appointment follows the announcement in March that VastNed Retail and VastNed Offices/Industrial would abandon their joint management structure from January 2012.

An update of the company's strategy will be presented on September 14, 2011, the Amsterdam-listed fund said in a statement on Friday.

Reinier van Gerrevink, the current CEO of VastNed Retail and VastNed Offices/Industrial, will stay with the company until the end of 2011 to support the new management board where necessary. He will retain the role of CEO of VastNed Offices/Industrial until the merger of the company with Nieuwe Steen Investments is completed.

De Groot previously worked as a letting agent and investment broker with DTZ Zadelhoff, was CEO at Cortona Holdings and founder and CIO of GPT Halverton. Most recently, De Groot was a partner with property consultants MSeven Real Estate.

VastNed Retail, with a portfolio of EUR 2 bn, invests in high-street shops, shopping centres and retail warehouses in the Netherlands, Spain, France, Belgium and Turkey.