Morgan Stanley’s former global head of real estate, Sonny Kalsi, is to form an investment and advisory firm that will focus on properties in the US, Japan and western Europe.

John Carrafiell, who had co-headed the New York-based bank’s real-estate business, and Fred Schmidt, who previously led Morgan Stanley’s property division in Japan, will join the company as partners, Kalsi said in a phone interview today. The firm will start operations in the coming months and have offices in New York, London and Tokyo, he said.

Kalsi aims to capitalize on opportunities in developed markets including Japan, the US, the UK, Germany and Spain, he said. The US housing market is showing signs of stabilizing, Japanese property purchases are rebounding after prices fell to 36-year lows and luxury-home prices in the UK are estimated to have been recovering since last year.

bloomberg.com