Ian Gleeson, head of property at Ireland's €18.8 billion National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF), is to join Morley Fund Management.

It was not immediately clear what the departure would mean for the NPRF's target of allocating 8 per cent of its portfolio to real estate by 2009, from 2 per cent currently.

A fund spokesman declined to comment.

Morley said that Mr Gleeson would head up its international multi-manager property services from mid-May, reporting to Nick Mansley, director of strategy and indirect investment.

Mr Gleeson is Morley's latest senior appointment from pension funds. Last year it appointed ABP's Paul van de Vaart to head its global real-estate securities capability.

Mr Gleeson explained the NPRF's real-estate investment approach in an interview with IPE Real Estate earlier this year. He said: "The idea behind including real estate was to enhance returns without increasing the overall level of risk in the fund. It was part of a wider decision to include alternatives."

Mr Gleeson chairs the Investor Platform at INREV, the European Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles.

Before joining NPRF, Mr Gleeson was at fund manager F&C as director responsible for indirect property investment.

"At the NPRF, Ian established the real-estate investment programme, deploying over €1 billion in a range of investment vehicles across Europe, North America and Asia," Mr Mansley said.

Morley manages about $50 billion in real-estate assets.