CIC loses real estate head after just two months

In an email sent by to a friend dated February 7, Wu said he was leaving CIC "to take some time off and be with my family before my next endeavor," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Wu joined CIC in March 2008 and was appointed head of the real estate division last December, replacing Collin Lau, who moved to the fund's private equity unit. Lau had run the group for close to three years before the move.

Jinglei Chen, another director in the group, also resigned at the end of last year, people familiar with the matter told the newspaper.

The volatility within CIC's real estate group raises concerns about future property investments. In the recent years, the fund has increased its presence in the sector, making investments alongside the likes of The Blackstone Group, Morgan Stanley, Qatar Investment Authority, AREA Property Partners and Brookfield Asset Management.

Last November, CIC joined Blackstone to take a stake in a $1.4 billion commercial property project owned by Royal Bank of Scotland. The two parties each took 12.5% stake, worth a combined $100 million. Earlier, CIC was reportedly closing in US-focused real estate assets held by Harvard University's endowment, in a deal estimated to be worth $500 million.

In 2010, the fund achieved an 11.7% return on its offshore portfolio. In the same year, its exposure to alternative investments - include private equity, real estate and hedge funds - increased significantly to 21% from only 6% in 2009.

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• Topics
• People
• Real estate
• Greater China
• The Blackstone Group
• Morgan Stanley
• CIC
• Real estate