CBRE announces strategic hires in its growing Pacific Capital Advisory business

CBRE has further strengthened its Pacific Capital Advisory platform with the appointments of Hugh Thomson and John Cooley, further enhancing the firm’s capital raising and transaction execution capabilities across the region.

Mr Thomson has rejoined CBRE as a Director in the Capital Advisory team after five years at leading Australian real estate investment manager MaxCap, while Mr Cooley has been appointed after five years with specialist global industrial property and digital infrastructure group Goodman.

“These appointments reflect our continued investment in top‑tier talent and our commitment to delivering sophisticated capital solutions for our clients,” said Stuart McCann, Head of Capital Advisory, Pacific. “Hugh’s return to CBRE, combined with John’s funds management and capital raising expertise, significantly enhances our platform at a time of increasing complexity across global capital markets.”

Mr Thomson has extensive experience in institutional and private wealth capital raising, having led international fundraising across open‑ended commingled funds and played a key role in launching new separately managed account (SMA) and club investment products

During his MaxCap tenure, Mr Thomson successfully raised more than $750 million in equity capital across institutional and private wealth channels. This followed several years with CBRE in Singapore and Hong Kong, where he was involved in cross‑border capital raising and transaction execution across major Asia Pacific markets.

Mr Cooley brings deep experience in capital raising initiatives and business development across multiple Goodman investment vehicles, adding further strength to CBRE’s execution capability and client offering.

CBRE’s Pacific Capital Advisory team focuses on GP‑led recapitalisations, complex portfolio transactions, and M&A. Over the past five years, the team has completed more than 22 transactions and raised more than $12 billion in equity capital, reinforcing its position as a leading advisor across the region.