NAI Hiffman names Assoian head of Asset Management, looks to ramp up office business

As seen in RE Journals
Commercial brokerage firm NAI Hiffman, a local powerhouse in the property management business, has tapped Bob Assoian as managing director of its Asset Management Group in a move that targets office sector growth.

Assoian brings a 25-year career in asset management to the Oakbrook Terrace-based firm and will oversee the Asset Management Group, which currently operates a portfolio of 58 million square feet of third-party assets for investor clients. He will also be active in new business development.

“I’m excited to work with a firm that is locally owned, yet has the size and capacity that NAI Hiffman does,” says Assoian. “I’ve been impressed with the growth of the company and my job now is to make a great firm bigger and better.”

Assoian is joining NAI Hiffman from Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors, where he oversaw various investor clients such as Prudential, with responsibility for assets in Chicago, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Denver, Miami, Portland, Detroit and Nashville.

However, it is Assoian’s experience on the institutional side, with firms like Travelers Insurance, and his exposure to office property management that has made him most appealing to Hiffman.

“Bob has spent many years as an institutional asset manager, which granted him an owners perspective and the ability to offer clients valued strategic asset management advice,” said David Petersen, NAI Hiffman’s CEO, in a statement. “His commitment to cultivating new relationships, as well as enhancing those we have with existing clients, fits perfectly with NAI’s dedication to client service.”

Assoian says that 80 percent of his background work has been with office product, both on the institutional and third party provider side. He plans to build on existing relationships to grow the office portion of Hiffman’s portfolio.

“We are growing all lines of our services, which include office, industrial and retail,” says Petersen. “We have had a tremendous increase in the office sector, to which Bob brings a unique perspective.”

He will be based out of the company’s Oakbrook Terrace headquarters, from which he will manage NAI’s six satellite management offices and the group’s 160 employees.

“I’ve had the job that my clients now have. I can take the best practices I’ve seen from those situations and bring them to a service company,” says Assoian. “It is refreshing that I’m not replacing anyone. NAI is actually adding people, making new hires. I’m looking forward to contributing to the continued success of the company.”