JLL hires noted industry economist as chief strategist

Industrial real estate services and investment management firm JLL has appointed Walter Kemmsies managing director, economist and chief strategist for its U.S. Ports, Airports and Global Infrastructure Group.    Industrial real estate services and investment management firm JLL has appointed Walter Kemmsies managing director, economist and chief strategist for its U.S. Ports, Airports and Global Infrastructure Group.
   In this position, Kemmsies will carry out initiatives for public and private sector clients who have interests in or properties near seaports and airports throughout North America. He will also expand JLL’s infrastructure group’s activities and assist both public agencies and investors in underwriting, financing and evaluating new investments and opportunities.
   Mark Levy, JLL’s Greater Baltimore market director and head of the U.S. Port, Airport and Global Infrastructure Group, said Kemmies is “skilled at global trade forecasting, international logistics/sourcing, freight infrastructure investment and development and freight infrastructure policy and will be an incredible asset to JLL.”
   Prior to this appointment, Kemmsies served as chief economist for Moffatt & Nichol, a global infrastructure consulting firm where he directed market studies, financial analyses and global trade forecasts for projects ranging from strategic development plans for ports and terminal operators to mergers and acquisitions transactions worldwide. Before that, Kemmsies was head of European strategy at JP Morgan in London and, earlier, head of global industry strategy at UBS in Zurich and London.
   Kemmsies regularly contributes to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Professional Forecasters, is a member of various professional associations at which he speaks regularly and publishes a regular industry outlook column in American Shipper. He is an advisor to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness and the Department of Transportation’s National Task Force on Transportation Infrastructure Valuation.