GPT Group could look close to home for new CEO

One One One Eagle Street in Brisbane, owned by the GPT Group and the GPT Wholesale Office Fund.

The favourite to win the GPT Group chief executive job is shaping up to be chief financial officer Anastasia Clarke, according to sources.

One story doing the rounds was that GPT had been looking for a new CFO as well as a CEO, but that has been dismissed by the company.

Still, most are betting that Ms Clarke is the candidate to beat when it comes to replacing outgoing boss Bob Johnston.

GPT confirmed prolonged speculation in the market on February 10 when it said that Mr Johnston would be retiring in December.

Ms Clarke joined the GPT Group in 2009 and has previously worked as a CFO at New City Australia and Singapore Treasurer, and head of finance at Dexus Property Group, and has held corporate treasury and project finance roles at Lendlease.

Other suggested candidates for the GPT role include Charter Hall’s head of office, Carmel Hourigan.

Ms Hourigan was previously global head of real estate at AMP and had been the chief investment officer at GPT in the past.

One source said that while she had been approached for the job, she had declined the role.

Another suggested candidate has been AMP Capital’s head of real estate, Kylie O’Connor.

Mr Johnston’s departure and the appointment of a search firm to find his replacement was first flagged by The DataRoom in October.

His departure comes amid a broader changing of the guard in the property industry, where Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz has recently stepped down as the Mirvac Group chief executive and replaced by Campbell Hanan, while Grant Kelley was last year replaced as the Vicinity Centres managing director by Peter Huddle, the chief operating officer and more recently the acting CEO.

Scentre Group boss Peter Allen also left and was replaced by CFO Elliott Rusanow.

The Australian flagged on February 10 that Ms Clarke was seen by market analysts as the best positioned internal candidate for the GPT CEO role.