NETHERLANDS – Willem-Jan Pelle, the former head of legal and fiscal affairs at MN Services, has joined the new boutique set up by his former colleague, Erwin Stouthamer.

Pelle has been appointed director of Amsterdam-based fund manager Composition Capital Partners, which Stouthamer set up earlier this year. Stouthamer quit as MN’s head of international real estate in January.

Borge Tangeraas, 33, has also been recruited by CCP as fund manager for Europe.

He is a Norwegian citizen and a former real estate investment officer at CalPERS, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, and was involved in placing more than €500mn in real estate funds across the Continent.

CCP has so far established two funds: Composition Capital Europe Fund CV and Composition Capital Asia Fund CV, which it says is the first real estate fund of funds in Asia available for institutional investors.

Pelle, 46, was at MN Services for 11 years before going on ‘gardening leave’ in August. Prior to that he was at the leading independent property company Wereldhave.

During his tenure at the third largest Dutch asset manager, Stouthamer managed more than €2bn worth of global assets. He is now managing director of CCP.

Pelle, who has 20 years of experience as a legal and tax attorney, has been described as an expert in the field of deal structuring, acquisitions, business development and operational affairs.