People on the Move – 24 April 2018

John Carfi returns to Australia to lead property group Aqualand and Steven Sewell steps into the big shoes of Abacus Property Group’s long-time leader Dr Frank Wolf, who sadly passed away recently.

John Carfi, Mirvac’s former head of residential, will lead property group Aqualand from 1 July. Established in 2014, Aqualand has a portfolio of 18 sites worth around $5 billion. Carfi will oversee Aqualand’s asset recycling strategy, and develop its masterplanned project portfolio, which currently includes Central Barangaroo. Carfi, who spent 15 years with Mirvac, returns to Australia after a stint in the United Arab Emirates, where he led a 1000-strong workforce and several large developments for Emaar Properties. Aqualand’s current chief executive Jin Lin will take up a group managing director role.

Tragically, Dr Frank Wolf OAM, former managing director of Abacus Property Group, has passed away after a brief battle with cancer. Wolf spent 21 years with Abacus, including 11 as managing director, growing a company that now boasts a market capitalisation of more than $2.3 billion. Wolf had been planning to step down later in the year. In January, he named Steven Sewell as his successor. Sewell joined Abacus after a stint overseeing Macquarie Group’s real estate strategies. Sewell was also the previous managing director and chief executive officer of Federation Centres, now Vicinity Centres.

Law firm Thomson Geer welcomes new partner, Arthur Koumoukelis and his team of eight. Koumoukelis is a retirement living and aged care legal specialist and will be supported by senior partners Lucinda Smith and Vicki Sharp.