Invesco Real Estate Appoints Kim Hourihan Head of Global Strategy

August is typically a month of slower market activity and slower days. But 2025 is proving us all wrong. 

Invesco Real Estate just hired Kim Hourihan as head of global strategy, Commercial Observer can first report. 

In the newly created role, the industry veteran will co-chair Invesco’s chief investment officer council, lead the team’s strategy and analytics group, and work closely with Invesco Real Estate’s portfolio management teams. 

Hourihan will be based in New York, reporting to Bert Crouch, Invesco Real Estate’s head of North America, and her start date is Aug. 1. 

“Kim’s strategic acumen, leadership style, and proven track across diverse real estate sectors make her an invaluable addition to our team and reinforces our commitment to supporting clients in the rapidly growing private markets space,” Crouch told CO. 

Indeed, Hourihan has spent 25 years in the commercial real estate industry, and spent the past 17 years at CBRE Investment Management alone, most recently as the platform’s chief investment officer. 

Shortly after joining CBRE in 2007, Hourihan launched one of the company’s flagship real estate funds. She later scaled the ranks to become CBRE Investment Management’s CIO for the Americas in 2020, ultimately ascending higher to leading the firm’s global investment activities beginning in 2022. Today, CBRE Investment Management has $155 billion in assets under management and 1,000 employees across 30 offices globally. 

“I look forward to joining the Invesco Real Estate team to help drive investment strategy and deliver exceptional value to our clients,” Hourihan said. “As a firm known for its deep market expertise, commitment to innovation, and integrated global platform, Invesco Real Estate is uniquely positioned to navigate today’s dynamic environment.”

Previously, Hourihan held roles at Starwood Capital Group and TA Realty. She also worked for Malaysia-based George Town Holdings, buying and selling companies during the Resolution Trust Corporation days. 

While her industry experience began in construction lending, she very nearly became a tech millionaire at a young age. 

Hourihan was a Harvard Business School student in 1995 when she teamed up with two Massachusetts Institute of Technology friends who’d built a box that could be attached to TV sets for internet connection. Hourihan’s role was pitching venture capital firms that the then-newfangled creation called “the internet” was for the everyday man or woman. While it was a genius idea, the timing wasn’t right. Not long after, Microsoft’s Paul Allen founded a company called WebTV, then sold it for $425 million. “Not that I’m bitter,” Hourihan joked in a 2020 interview. 

Throughout the pandemic, Hourihan was unwavering in her stalwart leadership of CBRE’s investment platform, overseeing acquisitions, dispositions, asset management investor relations and capital raising during a time when the world was turned upside down. 

Now, as she steps into her new role at Invesco Real Estate, Hourihan is joining another leading investment management business with $90 billion in assets under management and 605 employees in 21 offices across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Invesco plays up and down the capital stack, across asset types, and both domestically and overseas.

In December 2024, CBRE had announced that Hourihan would be stepping down effective March 31, but didn’t give any details on Hourihan’s next move. Adam Gallistel was named as her replacement, with Hourihan staying on through Gallistel’s transition to CIO.

 “Kim has made a lasting impact over her 17 years at our firm, most notably as the architect of our top-performing U.S. Core Partners Fund and the ‘OCDE 2.0’ investing strategy,” a CBRE spokesperson said. “We thank Kim for everything she has done for CBRE IM and wish her all the success in her next chapter.” 

Cathy Cunningham can be reached at ccunningham@commercialobserver.com