Simon Pilcher, CEO of M&G's institutional fixed income business, will become executive chairman, providing strategic direction to M&G Real Estate in addition to his other duties.

Following the recent merger of M&G and Prudential’s UK and European business to form M&G Prudential, the role of executive chairman has been created to broaden the distribution of real estate strategies and accelerate growth.

Tony Brown, formerly chief investment officer at M&G Real Estate since 2014, will split his current responsibilities between two newly created roles. Martin Towns is promoted to head of UK commercial & capital solutions – a position which will encompass responsibility for the UK-based fund management, investment and asset management teams within real estate. A fund manager of 12 years’ experience, Towns has led the capital solutions business for the last three years, providing separate account strategies, joint venture deals and club transactions for large international investors.

A head of Investment strategy role will also be created to oversee investment governance and drive thought leadership in research and digital innovation. Both roles will report to Tony Brown and have a seat on the M&G Real Estate board.

Tony Brown said: 'I look forward to building upon our strong foundations as a major international real estate fund manager as we diversify and grow our activities whilst targeting exemplary investment performance.'