Doug Harper has joined Principal Real Estate Investors as managing director of real estate sales. Based in Atlanta, Harper will lead U.S. real estate investor sales for the Des Moines-based firm, which manages or subadvises $35.4 billion in commercial real estate assets. Harper most recently worked as an executive director with UBS Realty Investors in Hartford, Conn., where he was responsible for the development and marketing of various real estate fund products. In his new role, Harper will work closely with Principal Global Investors’ sales teams to raise capital for the firm’s U.S. real estate and global property securities products. He started his new role on April 11. Principal Real Estate Investors is the fourth largest institutional real estate manager in the United States.