Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top London based Partner operating in the Asset Management space. If you think a Partner is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Emmet Keeffe
Operating Partner, Founder Insight Ignite of Insight Partners
Emmet B. Keeffe III is the Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of Irise. In the early 1990’s Emmet set two goals – to start a software company that would achieve $1 billion in revenue and to start a Formula One team. In the late 1990’s, Emmet and Maurice Martin co-founded iRise with a vision to transform how business and IT stakeholders would communicate about requirements for custom and packaged business software. In 2000, Emmet and Maurice invented the market for “Software Visualization” and have built iRise into the world’s leading provider of enterprise visualization for business software. Over the last 20 years Emmet has applied his philosophy of “the network is the business” to become one of the most well-connected CEOs in the software industry. As CEO & Co-Founder of iRise, Emmet has leveraged his network to close over $60 million in investment funding and drives leadership of sales, marketing and business development at iRise. Prior to co-founding iRise, he built a top-selling region at NetDynamics, a pioneer of the Web application server market that was later acquired by Sun Microsystems. Earlier in his sales career, Emmet earned over 15 national sales awards, including being named “National Top Performer” by NetDynamics, Auspex Systems, Diasonics and Minolta. In 2005, Emmet founded the “iRise Executive Roundtable Series” with a vision to deliver world-class content and networking with no selling which has been attended by hundreds of CIOs from the world’s largest global companies. Since the program’s inception, he has delivered roundtable partnerships to iRise with TRG Motorsports in the Grand Am Series, PKV Racing in the Champ Car Series, KV Racing Technology in the Indy Car Series and most recently with the Lotus F1 Team in Formula One. Emmet is a Strategic Partner at Lotus F1 Team and supports the sales organization in their efforts to bring new sponsors into Formula 1. In addition, Emmet is a Founding Board Member of the Corporate Coalition at Peace One Day, an organization focused on institutionalizing an international day of cease fire and non-violence on September 21st of each year. Outside of his role at iRise, Emmet is passionate about his family, driving Radical SR3 race cars, running, skiing, music, travel and entrepreneurship. Emmet earned a B.A. in Political Economies of Industrial Societies from the University of California at Berkeley and lives in London, England.
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About Insight Partners, iRise: Insight Partners is a private equity firm that invests in growth-stage technology and software companies.
Lucian Schönefelder
Partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
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About Kohlberg Kravis Roberts: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is a global alternative asset manager focusing on private equity, fixed income, and capital markets.
Daniel Pietrzak
Partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
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About Kohlberg Kravis Roberts: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is a global alternative asset manager focusing on private equity, fixed income, and capital markets.
Jurcell Virginia
Director, Client and Partner Group of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Jurcell Virginia (London) joined KKR in 2012 and is a Director in the Client and Partner Group. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Virginia was responsible for the business development activities for EIM SA in the Netherlands and Southern Africa. Previously, he was engaged with a number of entrepreneurial companies. Mr. Virginia started his career with ABN AMRO where he worked for 7 years in the corporate finance department in Amsterdam and Sao Paulo. His most recent position was as VP Corporate Finance. Mr. Virginia holds a Masters in Econometrics from Tilburg University, The Netherlands.
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About Kohlberg Kravis Roberts: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is a global alternative asset manager focusing on private equity, fixed income, and capital markets.
Juan de Ochoa
Partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
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About Kohlberg Kravis Roberts: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is a global alternative asset manager focusing on private equity, fixed income, and capital markets.
Clayton Perry
Managing Director, Client and Partner Group of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Clayton Perry (London) joined KKR in 2014 as part of Avoca Capital and is responsible for the strategic development of KKR’s collateralized loan obligation business. Before joining Avoca in 2010, he worked for Credit Suisse for sixteen years in a variety of roles, most recently running the collateralized loan obligation arranging business. Mr. Perry has a B.A. from Otago University and an M.Sc from the London School of Economics.
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About Kohlberg Kravis Roberts: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is a global alternative asset manager focusing on private equity, fixed income, and capital markets.
James Marsh
Director, Principal, Client and Partner Group of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
James Marsh (London) joined KKR in 2012 as a member of the Client and Partner Group. Prior to joining KKR, he worked at Barclays Capital in its power, utilities & infrastructure group, where he was involved in a variety of merger, acquisition and financing transactions. He also worked for three years at the quantitative investment strategies division of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He holds an M.A. from Harvard University and a B.A. from the University of Cambridge.
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About Kohlberg Kravis Roberts: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is a global alternative asset manager focusing on private equity, fixed income, and capital markets.
Daan Knottenbelt
Partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
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About Kohlberg Kravis Roberts: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is a global alternative asset manager focusing on private equity, fixed income, and capital markets.
Douglas Watt
Director, Client and Partner Group of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Douglas Watt (London) joined KKR in 2011 and is part of the Client and Partner Group. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Watt was with Goldman, Sachs & Co., most recently as part of the U.K. Institutional team at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Previously, he worked at BNP Paribas in their equity derivatives team, and with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Cayman Islands. He started his career with Arthur Andersen in Glasgow where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Mr. Watt holds a BAcc (Hons) in Accountancy and Marketing from Stirling University, and is a CFA Charterholder.
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About Kohlberg Kravis Roberts: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is a global alternative asset manager focusing on private equity, fixed income, and capital markets.
Andrea Fernandez
Partner, Head of Product Management and Investor Relations, European Credit of Ares Management
Andrea Fernandez is the Partner, Head of Product Management and Investor Relations, European Credit at Ares Management Corporation.
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About Ares Management: Ares Management is a global alternative asset manager focusing on credit, private equity, and real estate.
Blair Jacobson
Partner, Co-Head of European Credit of Ares Management
Blair Jacobson is the Partner, Co-Head of European Credit at Ares Management.
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About Ares Management, Said Business School, University of Oxford: Ares Management is a global alternative asset manager focusing on credit, private equity, and real estate.
Eric Kump
Managing Director and Partner of The Carlyle Group
Eric J. Kump is a Managing Director and Partner. He is Head of the Carlyle Sub Sahara Africa Fund and an advisor of the Carlyle European Partners investment committee. He is based in London. Eric Kump has more than 20 years of private equity experience spanning four continents and numerous sectors. Prior to joining Carlyle European Partners in 2010 , Mr. Kump was a Managing Director and Head of the European Private Equity team of Dubai International Capital (DIC). Prior to that, he was a Managing Director with Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity (MLGPE) where he was a member of the global investment committee. Mr. Kump is on the Board of Directors of MPS, TiAuto Investments and J&J. Mr. Kump received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and he received a B.A. in finance and accounting from Pace.
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About The Carlyle Group: The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm that caters to early and later stage companies.
Alex Wagenberg
Managing Director and Partner of The Carlyle Group
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About The Carlyle Group: The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm that caters to early and later stage companies.
Pinal Nicum
Partner of Adams Street Partners
Pinal is a Partner who specializes in the sourcing and execution of secondary investments. He actively participates in all secondary investment decisions at Adams Street.
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About Adams Street Partners: Adams Street Partners operates as a global private market investment management firm.
Mattias de Beau
Partner of Adams Street Partners
Mattias de Beau is a member of the research team and focuses on European investments and secondaries. Prior to StepStone, Mr. de Beau was a principal at Greenpark Capital, a secondaries firm based in London. Before that he was an analyst with Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners, a global private equity fund focused on direct investments in real estate. Mr. de Beau graduated with an MSc from Stockholm School of Business.
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About Adams Street Partners: Adams Street Partners operates as a global private market investment management firm.
Ana Maria Harrison
Partner of Adams Street Partners
Ana Maria works closely with clients in the management of their portfolios, including providing assistance in the development and monitoring of their private equity programs. Additionally, she is actively involved in the portfolio construction and ongoing monitoring of the various fund of funds programs and separate accounts. She is also involved in the tracking and analysis of portfolio performance measurement and the development of consultant relationships. Ana Maria is fluent in Spanish.
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About Adams Street Partners: Adams Street Partners operates as a global private market investment management firm.
Ross Morrison
Partner of Adams Street Partners
Ross Morrison is the Partner at Adams Street Partners.
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About Adams Street Partners: Adams Street Partners operates as a global private market investment management firm.
Ross Morrison
Partner of Adams Street Partners
Ross Morrison is the Partner at Adams Street Partners.
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About Adams Street Partners: Adams Street Partners operates as a global private market investment management firm.
Manish Madhvani
Co-Founder and Managing Partner of GP Bullhound
Manish Madhvani is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of GP Bullhound. Manish has executed M&A and capital raising transactions since 1997, involving some of the best known global internet, software and media companies, including: Spotify, King.com, Believe Digital, WPP, Wipro, Fjord, Hearst Corporation, Accenture, Newscorp and Experian. Manish who was selected as one of the top 40 dealmakers globally by M&A Advisor, started his career at Barclays Capital’s Private Equity team. He has advised the Treasury on Entrepreneurship and graduated from Southampton University with an LLB in Law / MA in Marketing. Manish is a regular speaker on Bloomberg and CNBC and is currently an Ambassador for London Technology Week. He was recognised as one of the leading Entrepreneurs in the UK by the Sunday Times / Maserati 100.
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About GP Bullhound: GP Bullhound is a technology advisory and investment firm that provides transaction advice and capital to entrepreneurs and founders.
Robert Ahldin
Partner of GP Bullhound
Robert Ahldin is a Partner at GP Bullhound Asset Management, advising the GP Bullhound Funds on investments in technology companies. Robert did his first public equity investments as a teenager in the 80’s. His professional careeer started in the mid 90’s as Equity Analyst focusing on the IT/Internet sectors. At the turn of the century, Robert went on as an entrepreneur being co-founder of an investment bank, a VC-fund and later two investment companies. Robert´s curriculum vitae contains several high profile investments, trade sales, block trades and IPOs. In 2014 Robert became a partner at GP Bullhound with the mission to help scaling up the firm´s investment activities.
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About Edastra Venture Capital, GP Bullhound: GP Bullhound is a technology advisory and investment firm that provides transaction advice and capital to entrepreneurs and founders.
Claudio Alvarez
Partner of GP Bullhound
Claudio joined GP Bullhound in 2007 and is a Director. He focuses on the Digital Media, Internet and Software sectors, and has been involved in some of GP Bullhound’s most high-profile transactions, which include Figleaves.com, eCommera, Fjord, Euroffice.com and Sunglassesshop.com. Claudio previously worked as an equity research analyst at Execution Noble in the telecoms group, where he covered large cap fixed and mobile telecom operators in Western Europe. Claudio graduated from Wesleyan University with a dual BA in Economics and Philosophy.
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About GP Bullhound: GP Bullhound is a technology advisory and investment firm that provides transaction advice and capital to entrepreneurs and founders.
Graeme Bayley
Partner & Group CFO of GP Bullhound
Graeme joined GP Bullhound in 2009 and is responsible for GP Bullhound’s Finance, Compliance, IT, HR and Operations. He started his career at Deloitte Haskins & Sells (now PwC) where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant before working in corporate finance. He then moved to HSBC Investment Bank where he ran the Growth Companies Team, later joining Noble & Co as a Director in Corporate Finance before taking on the management of Noble’s finance, compliance and operations. Graeme is a Fellow of the ICAEW and holds their Corporate Finance qualification along with a BSc in Physics from Southampton University.
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About GP Bullhound: GP Bullhound is a technology advisory and investment firm that provides transaction advice and capital to entrepreneurs and founders.
Andre Shortell
Partner of GP Bullhound
Andre joined GP Bullhound as a Partner in 2010. Prior to joining, Andre was an independent adviser to companies and investment funds in the clean tech sector. Andre also spent 26 years in a number of senior roles in Citigroup including MNC Corporate Banking Head for CEEMEA, India Corporate Head, Global Autos Specialist and New Issues Head in London. He also ran Merchant Acquiring for Citibank and led the sale of that business in 2005. Andre brings to the team 10 years of involvement in renewable energy as well as experience in Corporate Finance, M&A and Emerging Markets. He also brings a broad international experience having spent much of his career in Europe and Asia as well as close personal ties to Brazil. Andre has a MA degree in International History from the London School of Economics.
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About GP Bullhound: GP Bullhound is a technology advisory and investment firm that provides transaction advice and capital to entrepreneurs and founders.
Simon Nicholls
Partner of GP Bullhound
Simon is a Partner of GP Bullhound, which he joined in 2011 and where he is one of Europe’s most active advisers to high growth technology, digital media and internet companies, particularly in the digital marcoms and adtech arenas where he has led more than 20 transactions. With a career spanning 20 years focused on these sectors, Simon has advised on a wide range of M&A and capital markets transactions. He has advised on transactions in digital media, e-commerce, adtech, mobile applications, consumer internet, data analytics, digital and diversified marketing & communications, broadcasting, video on demand, television production, professional and business information, consumer publishing and music. Simon started his banking career at UBS Warburg in London, where he advised on large-cap international media & internet transactions. He then went on to be a managing director at Ingenious Corporate Finance, the M&A advisory business of the Ingenious Media Group. He qualified as a chartered accountant with Deloitte & Touche and is a graduate of Durham University.
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About GP Bullhound: GP Bullhound is a technology advisory and investment firm that provides transaction advice and capital to entrepreneurs and founders.
Guillaume Bonneton
Partner of GP Bullhound
Guillaume was a senior banker at Jefferies in their European digital media practice and was previously part of the team at LongAcre, a corporate finance boutique acquired by Jefferies in 2007. Advisor and investor to the tech economy, Guillaume is a renowned investment banker, an expert in M&A and private placements for technology businesses in Europe. Over the years he has applied his passion for deal-making to exciting and amazing businesses such as: Prodigy Finance, Synthesio, Monese, Ecovadis, Dailymotion, Hyves, VNU, Yahoo!, Marco & Vasco and Zoover. Guillaume started his career at The Boston Consulting Group, and moved to investment banking after his MBA at INSEAD. He has since worked for Deutsche Bank, LongAcre and Jefferies International. He graduated from ESCP in Paris, and holds an MSc in Management and Finance, a Masters in Corporate Law, as well as an MBA.
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About GP Bullhound: GP Bullhound is a technology advisory and investment firm that provides transaction advice and capital to entrepreneurs and founders.
Guillaume Bonneton
Partner of GP Bullhound
Guillaume was a senior banker at Jefferies in their European digital media practice and was previously part of the team at LongAcre, a corporate finance boutique acquired by Jefferies in 2007. Advisor and investor to the tech economy, Guillaume is a renowned investment banker, an expert in M&A and private placements for technology businesses in Europe. Over the years he has applied his passion for deal-making to exciting and amazing businesses such as: Prodigy Finance, Synthesio, Monese, Ecovadis, Dailymotion, Hyves, VNU, Yahoo!, Marco & Vasco and Zoover. Guillaume started his career at The Boston Consulting Group, and moved to investment banking after his MBA at INSEAD. He has since worked for Deutsche Bank, LongAcre and Jefferies International. He graduated from ESCP in Paris, and holds an MSc in Management and Finance, a Masters in Corporate Law, as well as an MBA.
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About GP Bullhound: GP Bullhound is a technology advisory and investment firm that provides transaction advice and capital to entrepreneurs and founders.
Co-Founder and Partner of Alpha Wave Global
Navroz D. Udwadia is the Co-Founder and Partner of Falcon Edge Capital. He was an investment professional in Eton Park’s Emerging Markets team in London. Mr. Udwadia graduated from Columbia University in the City of New York with a BA in English & Political Science and received an LLB in Law at the University of Oxford. Navroz also received an NCAA Post Graduate Scholarship Award and Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar Award.
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About Alpha Wave Global: Alpha Wave Global is a global alternative asset manager that offers a variety of investment products.
Maina Bhaman
Partner of Sofinnova Partners
Maina Bhaman is Director of Healthcare Investments at Imperial Innovations. Maina has led a number of investments in Imperial Innovations’ healthcare portfolio including recent investments into Psioxus Therapeutics and Cellmedica. Maina currently serves on the board of Autifony Therapeutics, Cell Medica, Ixico, Psioxus Therapeutics and Topivert Pharma. Maina was also served on the board of Acrobot and Molecular Vision Ltd. Maina joined Innovations in 2006 and prior to that worked in the research and development team at Celltech (previously Oxford Glyco Sciences). Maina’s experience includes Chimeric Therapies, a cell therapy start-up based in Philadelphia and GeneMedicine, a gene therapy company based in Houston, Tx. Maina has a BSc from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the Imperial Business School.
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About Imperial Innovations, Sofinnova Partners: Sofinnova Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in the life sciences sector, from seed to later-stage.
Tom Burt
Partner, Crossover fund of Sofinnova Partners
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About Sofinnova Partners: Sofinnova Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in the life sciences sector, from seed to later-stage.
Richard Hurwitz
Partner of THE TIFIN GROUP
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About THE TIFIN GROUP: TIFIN is a platform that creates and operates fintech companies in wealth management, investments, and personal finance
Alberto Matta
Managing Partner of Optimum Asset Management
Alberto has 20 years of experience in the investment business. After obtaining a university degree in Finance at Northeastern University in Boston, he relocated first to New York and then to London where he has taken various responsibilities at different organizations. After working for Merrill Lynch and Bankers Trust where he contributed to the development of the derivatives business for the Italian market, in 1998 he took a role with Paribas (now BNP Paribas) on the Origination side, where he worked for 7 years, focusing on complex securisation and structured credit derivatives transactions and effectively creating and sourcing investment instruments for institutional investors around the globe. In 2001 Alberto was appointed European Co-Head of the Origination business for Financial Institutions. He moved to ABN AMRO Bank in London in 2004 and Barclays Capital in 2006 where he focused on the distribution side of the investment business. In this capacity, Alberto was able to work closely with large institutional investors (Banks, Insurance Companies, Pension Funds) and address their investment/portfolio needs. In 2007 Alberto left his position as a Director at Barclays Capital in London to assume responsibilities as Managing Director of BMB Investment Management Partners, SL in Barcelona and as Board Member of Optimum Evolution Funds SIF. After leaving his role at BMB Investment, Alberto founded and assumed responsibility as CEO of Luxembourg based Optimum Asset Management (Luxembourg) SA. In 2017, he was appointed Chairman of the firm.
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About Optimum Asset Management: Optimum Asset Management is a boutique real estate investor and developer.
Martin Newson
Chief Executive Officer & Chief Investment Officer & Partner of Optimus Capital
Martin is the CEO and CIO of Optimus Capital, and he chairs the Investment Committee meetings. Martin NewsonIn 2015 Martin took control of Optimus Capital. Until recently he was CEO of Religare Capital Markets an Emerging Markets investment bank headquartered in London with offices in eight countries. Prior to that he was Head of Global Equities, Equity Capital Markets and Hedge Fund Solutions at Dresdner Kleinwort Investment Bank (DKIB) and a member of DKIB’s Executive Committee. He has been Head of US Equities at Deutsche Bank based in New York where he was also a board member of Deutsche Bank Securities and member of the Global Equities Management Committee. At Credit Suisse he was latterly Global Head of European Equities, a member of the Global Equities Management Committee, board member of CSFB Europe Ltd and Deputy Chairman of CSFB Germany. Martin has also been involved in various entrepreneurial ventures and started his career as an equities analyst. In this capacity he was latterly a number one ranked analyst in the equity research department of Goldman Sachs in London and a member of the department’s stock selection committee. He holds a B.Sc.(Econ) from the London School of Economics and holds the UKSIP Level 3 Certificate in Investment Management. He is married with two children and enjoys tennis, skiing and the theatre.
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About Optimus Capital: Optimus Capital provider of asset and portfolio management services.
Jerome Camblain
Partner – Sales of Smart Lenders Asset Management SA
Marketplace Lending. We invest our clients money through online lending marketplaces. Platforms selection, Due diligence, Algorithm loans selection… Where big data meets finance.
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About PrestaShop, Smart Lenders Asset Management SA: French AMF registered Asset Manager specialised in investing in loans through online marketplaces.
Erich Bonnet
CEO, Partner of Smart Lenders Asset Management SA
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About Smart Lenders Asset Management SA: French AMF registered Asset Manager specialised in investing in loans through online marketplaces.
Marco Knaap
Strategic Partnerships of Cassini Systems
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About Cassini Systems: Cassini Systems is a new financial technology company.
Boe Pahari
Global Head and Managing Partner of AMP Capital Investors
Boe Pahari, Global Head of Infrastructure Equity, Managing Partner, joined AMP Capital in March 2010 and is responsible for leading AMP Capital’s global infrastructure equity activities. Boe Pahari has over 20 years of experience in the industry having started his career at Citigroup in Sydney and subsequently worked for more than 13 years with ABN AMRO based in Singapore, Amsterdam, New York and London. During this period, Boe Pahari worked in regional and global positions. Subsequently, in Royal Bank of Scotland Boe Pahari was appointed Global co-Head Principal Strategies.
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About AMP Capital Investors: AMP Capital Investors is an investment house with heritage and strength in real estate and infrastructure.
