Léon Bressler, former chairman and chief executive officer of French property company Unibail, has joined Perella Weinberg Partners as a partner based in its London office.

Bressler will have responsibility for developing and executing the firm’s investment activities in real estate, including the launch of a global real estate fund in a joint venture with New York-based private property company the Fisher Brothers.

Perella Weinberg intends to become an equity investor in the fund and will seek additional funds from institutional investors. Bressler will function as the chief executive of the joint venture.

Joseph Perella, founding partner of Perella Weinberg Partners, said: ‘When we formed Perella Weinberg Partners we set out to build a business based on people and their commitment to clients. We are building such a team on the corporate advisory side of our business and Léon represents the extension of that philosophy into the asset management area.

Bressler added: ‘Launching the next stage of my career at Perella Weinberg Partners in conjunction with Fisher Brothers will allow us all to deliver high quality results to our investors. I am excited to work with my new colleagues at Perella Weinberg Partners towards our shared goal of building a financial services firm capable of delivering the highest quality investment management services to our global clients.’