JLL appoints new Asia Pacific leaders for energy transition team
The hires involve Andy Powell, who joins as Head of Energy & Infrastructure for Australia and New Zealand, and JC Champalaune, who will lead the Energy and Infrastructure team's efforts across Asia excluding India. Both professionals bring considerable industry experience from their previous roles at prominent financial advisory and banking organisations.
Regional appointments
According to JLL, the Asia Pacific region continues to offer wide-ranging opportunities in both the energy transition and infrastructure sectors. The regional market is characterised by increasing activity in emerging areas such as battery storage and related real asset segments. "Asia Pacific presents JLL's clients with a wide range of opportunities to support the region's diverse energy transition and infrastructure needs," said James Cameron, Head of Energy & Infrastructure, Asia Pacific. "We continue to see new opportunities for dedicated energy and infrastructure clients as well as real estate players looking to move into broader real asset sectors such as battery storage. Given the diversity of opportunity and markets, the arrival of Andy and JC will allow us to provide the relevant sector and market expertise required by JLL's clients to navigate this exciting opportunity."
Powell will be based in Sydney and take responsibility for advising on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), capital raising (on both buy and sell sides), project finance, and land acquisitions connected to energy transition and infrastructure projects. His prior experience includes a role at Green Giraffe Advisory, a firm focusing on the energy transition, as well as positions at Macquarie Group and KPMG, where he gained significant insights into the Australian market.
Based in Singapore, Champalaune steps into the role of leading energy and infrastructure activities across Asian markets outside India. His remit will cover advising clients with M&A, capital raising, and financing requirements in both established renewables markets such as Japan, Taiwan, and Korea, and active ASEAN markets including the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. His previous experience spans advisory roles at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, BNP Paribas, and ENGIE across multiple Asian jurisdictions.
Sector alignment
JLL stated that its ongoing investment in energy and infrastructure advisory services across Asia Pacific is in line with prevailing macroeconomic trends, reflecting the increased integration of energy, infrastructure, and real estate strategies. The firm noted growing convergence among investors and developers who are considering opportunities that span adjacent sectors, particularly around decarbonisation goals. "This broader investment is consistent with JLL's commitment to be a global market leader in providing capital market solutions to the energy and infrastructure sector. We see a substantial need in Asia Pacific to help clients meet the accelerating thematics of decarbonisation, digitalisation, economic growth, and rapid urbanisation. There is a significant overlap in clients as well as market and sector thematics across the regional energy and infrastructure and real estate sectors. We have already see how a focused team, combined with JLL's existing platform and full investment lifecycle approach can be a key differentiator to clients in the region," says Stuart Crow, CEO, Capital Markets, Asia Pacific, JLL.
Powell and Champalaune will oversee broader teams of specialists in Australia and Singapore respectively, working in partnership with JLL's Capital Markets, Investment Banking, and Debt Advisory departments. The teams' focus will be on originating opportunities for capital raising and providing transaction advice for large infrastructure and renewable projects. Their clients include institutional investors, private equity, asset managers, strategic operators and developers in the renewables sector, as well as high net worth individuals and family offices.
Recent acquisitions
Earlier in the year, JLL expanded its Energy & Infrastructure services with the acquisition of Javelin Capital, a US-based energy transition advisory firm. JLL's leadership stated that combining the new US capabilities with its established EMEA presence and the expanded Asia Pacific team supports the firm's objective to consolidate its role as a globally active capital advisor in the energy and infrastructure market.
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