July 24 2025 12:30
James Day, Emira Property Fund CEO
Diversified landlord Emira Property Fund has said that James Day has formally assumed his role as Chief Executive Officer, following the announcement of his appointment in May.
Day replaces Geoff Jennett who left the group after nearly 10 years in his role. Jennett had been Emira’s chief financial officer before. It is unclear why he left but it was possibly down to his board not agreeing with some of his recent strategic decisions, such as entering the Polish logistics market after Emira had said its offshore strategy was focussed in the US.
Day served as a non-executive director of Emira since October 2023 and now moves into executive leadership with first-hand knowledge of the business’s strengths, priorities and market position, Emira said.
“Emira is a business with strong fundamentals, a clear strategy and a highly capable incumbent executive team. It is positioned for continued, sustainable value creation,” said Day.
Day joins Emira’s leadership team alongside long-serving executives Ulana van Biljon, Chief Operating Officer, and Greg Booyens, Chief Financial Officer.
“A Chartered Accountant with a strong foundation in finance and real assets, Day brings extensive local and international experience to the role. As a CA(SA), his career began in audit and finance with BDO/Grant Thornton in South Africa and the United States, and went on to include roles at Brookfield Asset Management and Elanor Investors Group in Australia,” Emira said.
Day is from Cape Town and returned to South Africa to work in the property sector, including as chief financial officer of Botswanan-listed RDC Properties, which secured the successful takeover of Tower Property Fund during his tenure. Most recently, he served as Financial Director at Castleview Property Fund. Castleview’s CEO is James Templeton, a former Emira CEO. Castleview is Emira’s largest shareholder. Castleview also owns a significant stake in Accelerate Property Fund.
Emira said Day brings a practical, adaptable and long-term approach to his new role. It said he was “a systems thinker, he values foresight and risk mitigation, and works to cut through complexity and unlock performance efficiently and enduringly”.
“What excites me about Emira is the strength of the team, the quality of the platform and the opportunity to keep delivering value by doing the foundational things right and sharpening our strategic edge where it matters most,” said Day.
“Emira’s strategy remains consistent: keeping our capital productive through diligent asset management, disciplined capital recycling and continued value-accretive investment with the goal of meaningful stakeholder value creation,” said Day.
Emira’s share price is up 17.61% on a 90-day basis. It was at R12.15 at 12:45 on Thursday and the group had a market capitalisation of R6.11bn.
alistair@propertyflash.co.za
