Meet our speakers
Head of Infrastructure and PPP Advisory Service,
Ernst and Young
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Managing Director,
Centre for sustainability and Excellence
Nikos Avlonas is one of the founders and Managing Director of the Centre for Sustainability & Excellence –CSE, a global Think Tank and Sustainable Development Strategic advisory Network, based in Athens and Brussels which is active in more than 12 countries.
Nikos is a well known international speaker in topics related to Sustainable Development and CSR and has delivered speeches all over the world (in Chicago, Kolkata, Beijing, Istanbul, London, Paris, Cairo, Madrid, Barcelona, Brussels, Rome, Budapest, Lisbon, Frankfurt, Hague, Moscow, Tehran, Luxemburg, Warsaw, Athens, Nicosia, Singapore and Dubai).
Nikos specialises in Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility & Governance, Business Ethics and Performance Management. He has carried out numerous projects in leading organizations including Fortune Global 500 Companies like BP, Dell Computers, Mc Cain, TNT, DHL, Lafarge, Deutsche Post, HSBC, Βank of Cyprus, TECOM ,DIFC and many others including the European Investment Bank. In addition he is the advisor of Lloyds TSB bank on Corporate Social Responsibility.
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chief Executive Officer,
Abu Dhabi National Energy Company "TAQA"
Peter E. Barker-Homek, Chief Executive Officer of TAQA has over 26 years of professional experience and has been involved in more than $30 billion of energy related transactions.
He joined TAQA from BP plc where he was a Senior Advisor in Mergers & Acquisitions leading and advising on upstream, midstream, downstream, chemicals, mining and renewable transactions. Peter has held positions with BG International as Director of Worldwide Downstream Gas Distribution Development, and Pacific Enterprises as Vice-President of Development for Eastern Europe and later Latin America.
Previously, he has worked with Merrill Lynch within their capital markets group. He holds a MBA from University of Southern California, a BS degree from Polytechnic University of New York. He has lived and worked, in addition to the UAE, the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe.
Peter is driving TAQA’s global growth agenda in upstream oil/gas, pipelines, gas storage, LNG Regas and power generation.
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President and Chief Executive Officer,
Saudi German Hospitals Group (SGH)
Eng. Sobhi Batterjee is the Founder President & CEO of Saudi German Hospitals Group, the largest Healthcare Developer in the MENA region. Eng. Batterjee graduated in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kansas, USA and has Masters in Electrical Engineering from University of Colorado, USA.
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Managing Member,
Bogan Associates LLC
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Managing Director,
Infrastructure Finance Corporation Ltd.
Mr. Lufkin has been active in international finance since 1981, when he ran a currency fund for HSBC, then a special situations equity fund. In 1989, he founded GPSC Group, which managed institutional investors’ voting rights over $200BN+ in stocks in 53 countries, later sold to ADP.
He has been investing in Asia since the mid-90’s, now focusing on urban infrastructure and the water sector. Since 1998, he has advised ADB on infrastructure, PE and carbon funds, business development and other matters. He is currently advisor to the Cities Development Initiative for Asia, the flagship urban infrastructure program of ADB, Germany, Sweden, Spain and China, arranging financing for water, wastewater and biogas projects.
A Yale graduate, he served on the Republican National Committee internationally, and assisted the US Treasury department with the SII talks in 1990-91. He is the author / editor / contributor to three books, recent major ADB studies on infrastructure investment and urban development, and other publications.
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As Principal of Nur Advisors, Kavilash is responsible for helping clients develop and execute more robust emerging market investment strategies. Prior to Nur Advisors, Kavilash was an equity capital markets specialist in the investment banking industry, focusing on billion dollar privatizations and other equity deals. Following the global financial crisis of the 1990s, Kavilash also worked as an advisor on capital markets development with the United Nations. Kavilash holds an MBA from the University Of Chicago Graduate School Of Business, a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University in New York, and a B.A. from Drake University, where Kavilash currently serves as a member of the board of advisors to Drake’s Center for Global Citizenship.
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Partner - IDB Infrastructure Fund,
Emerging Markets Partership
Most recently, Mr. Chowdhury worked as a Senior Advisor/Director with Credit Suisse Group, Australia, where he was instrumental in re-organizing its Equity Research (Listed Property Trusts) franchise in Australia. Prior to this, he was an Investment Analyst at Deutsche Bank Group, Australia, for four years and was responsible for analyzing and structuring infrastructure, real estate and asset backed investments across a range of products-listed securities, wholesale and private capital. Preceding that, Mr. Chowdhury was with Westpac Banking Corporation, Australia for six years in Corporate Banking, Structured Finance and Wholesale Investment Management.
Mr. Chowdhury is a graduate and associate member of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and holds post graduate degrees in Economics and Finance. Mr. Chowdhury is on the Board of EMPME and is an Alternate Director on the Board of TAV for the IDB Fund.
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Head of Infrastructure ,
APG Investments
Robbert Coomans is Advisor to the Board of APG Investments, the investments division of the APG Group, the pension management and investment company of the Dutch Civil Servants Pension Fund, with assets under management in excess of Euro 216 billion by the end of 2007. Robbert joined APG Investments in 1996 and at the Equity Department and has been a member of the Allocation Committee till 2004, responsible for the overlay portfolio. He was one of the founders of Alternative Investments and has been involved since the start in 2000. Within Alternative Investments Robbert has been responsible for Private Equity and started investing in Hedge Funds and Infrastructure. As Advisor to the Board he is involved in Infrastructure and Private Equity and any investment proposition the Board would like to have a first investment opinion on.
Prior to APG Investments, he spent 13 years in the Middle East, United Arab Emirates, from 1983 till 1992 with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and from 1992 till 1996 with Abu Dhabi Investment Company as Head of Asset Management.
Robbert Coomans is chairman of the Advisory Board of FinEdge N.V. and their subsidiaries RiskTec and Energy Global since 2001.
Furthermore Robbert is a member of the Advisory Board of DIF Management, the management company of Dutch Infrastructure Fund and DIF Renewable Energy Fund.
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Chief Executive Officer, General Partner and Manager IDB Infrastructure fund,
Emerging Markets Partership
Mr. Diwan was the CEO of the Asset Management Division of Atlantic Capital in Doha, Qatar in 2007. Prior to that he was Chief Executive Officer of the AIG Asian Infrastructure Fund from 2003 to 2007. From 1997 to 2003 he served as Managing Director of the AIG Asian Infrastructure Fund II, a US$1.7 billion fund. He has served on the boards of several Asian companies. He was instrumental in developing and executing EMP’s strategy in Korea. Prior to joining EMP, Mr. Diwan was with the IFC for 15 years. In 1997, he was Director of the Power Department of the IFC, responsible for investments in emerging markets worldwide. Earlier, he was Manager of the Power Division in 1996 and Division Manager of the East Asia Division from 1994 to 1995.
Mr. Diwan has a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University, where he was a DuPont Fellow. Mr. Diwan is also a graduate of the Stanford University Executive Program.
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chief financial Officer,
Airport International Group
Holds a Master Degree in Business and Administration from New York University (NYU), Stern School of Business (Promotion 2003) and a Bachelor Degree in Public Accounting from Universidad Central de Chile. Currently he is pursuing his PPP Specialist Certification at IP3 Institute in Washington D.C.
Rodolfo started his Finance career 20 years ago. In 1995, prior to its professional involvement in PPP/BOT/Airport Concessions he was a member of the Chilean Securities and Exchange Commission where he spent almost 5 years as a Senior Auditor.
In October 2007, Rodolfo joined Airport International Group P.S.C. as its Chief Financial Officer.
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President and Chief Executive Officer,
Gemini Industries
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Head of Corporate finance,
Oxera
With over ten years of experience in investment banking, consulting and business–government relations, Maciej specialises in finance and is the head of Oxera’s Corporate Finance team. He regularly consults on finance, competition and regulatory issues in the telecoms, energy, transport, water, and infrastructure sectors, as well as in the financial services industry, where he works with financial sponsors, asset managers and audit firms. Maciej typically works on projects related to valuations, analysis of financial structures, financial and business modelling, profitability assessments, investment appraisal, estimates of the cost of raising capital, and corporate governance issues. He is also an expert on structured finance and the author of several studies on the subject. Maciej has considerable experience in conducting economic and financial analysis in Europe and the USA, having worked at a number of investment banks and consulting firms, the United States Senate, and the Center for International Development at Harvard. He has also previously taught courses in finance and economics at Oxford and Harvard Universities.
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Executive Director,
Metitio Utilities
Rami founded Metito Utilities, which develops and manages the Metito Group’s equity investments into water and wastewater projects. Rami’s focus has been on providing complete outsourcing and partnership solutions to the end-users. As part of the Group’s strategic commitment to economic development, Rami has also spearheaded Metito’s industry leading corporate social responsibility efforts.
Prior to joining Metito, Rami was a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group in New York. His earlier background includes process engineering and project management for Bechtel in London. Rami has an MBA in finance and entrepreneurial management from the Wharton School, as well as an MEng, MA and BA in chemical engineering from the University of Cambridge.
Founded in 1958 in Beirut and headquartered now in Dubai, with 15 offices across the Arab and Islamic world and beyond, Metito is the region’s leading specialised multinational desalination, water and waste treatment company. Having implemented over 2,000 projects, Metito provides the full range of services from conceptual design, manufacturing, installation through to complete operations and maintenance services. Metito Utilities currently has 17 concessions in operation, and is a leader in the region’s water privatisation programmes.
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Chief Investment Officer,
ADIC - UBS Infrastructure Investment
Vincent Gilles, Senior Investment Executive, Infrastructure Asset Management, Managing Director, UBS Infrastructure Fund. Vincent has 17 years of investment industry experience. In Q3 2008, Vincent transferred to the ADIC-UBS MENA fund with a CIO function, based in Abu Dhabi. Based in London, Vincent was responsible for managing UBS’ European IAM business. Vincent joined UBS in 1998 having previously worked at J.P. Morgan and Société Générale. Prior to joining IAM in 2007, Vincent was an infrastructure and utility analyst for nearly 15 years. He headed the UBS European Infrastructure and Utilities (“I&U”) team from 2001 onwards and more recently was co-global coordinator of I&U. Since 2000, Vincent was consistently ranked amongst the top 3 analysts in Europe and was voted third best analyst all sectors in Europe in the 2001 Extel ranking. Under his stewardship, the European team constantly ranked amongst the top teams in internal (UBS) and external rankings. In the last few years, Vincent published some ground breaking research on the future of nuclear energy and infrastructure as an investment theme. Vincent was involved in the successful listing of Enel, Snam ReteGas and PPC in the last few years. Education: IEP Paris, Berlin Universitaet, Universite Solvay
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Khuram Hussain; After graduating with honors in Economics & Accountancy Mr. Hussain began his career as an Analyst with Guardian Investment Holdings. He then joined Ermgassen & Co. a leading European Cross Border Corporate Finance boutique in London. At Ermgassen & Co. he progressed to the post of Senior Trader and the Assistant Fund Manager for an Absolute US Equity Hedge Fund. Whilst at Ermgassen he completed his Investment Management Exams (IMC). Prior to becoming a Partner at Tabarak he was the Chief Executive Officer for iHilal Financial Services where he structured and launched some of the most innovative products in Islamic Finance. In addition, he has been responsible for Equity trading in London for a proprietary trading firm and is a General Securities Principal (Series 7, 55 and 24). He is also a Director for the Standard Bank-Tricon Trade Finance Fund.
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Executive Director,
Trimex International
Madhu Koneru is the face of a new breed of business leaders reigning in today’s global commodities business. Young and self-motivated, Madhu has transformed RAK Minerals and Metals Investments into a conglomerate with an asset base exceeding US$4 billion in a little over three years.
With the acumen and sheer daring of a true global entrepreneur, Madhu had built a solid reputation for RMMI as a world-leading mining solutions provider in the metals and minerals industry. Concurrently helming Trimex International, Madhu steered the rapid expansion of RMMI in key geographical regions including Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Armenia, Australia and Thailand.
Madhu joined the Trimex Group as trainee in 1992 shortly after obtaining his Bachelor Degree in Commerce from the Delhi University. He rose through the ranks and became General Manager and Trimex International’s Executive Director in 1996.
Besides crucial management roles in RMMI and Trimex International, Madhu is a member of the Board of Directors of Al Ghanem Industrial Company Kuwait, TJ Shipping and Logistics, and Padaeng Industries PLC, a zinc mining and smelter company that owns the only zinc smelter plant in Southeast Asia. Socially, Madhu is an active member of Young Entrepreneurs Organisation, a Charter Member of the Indus Entrepreneurs in Dubai and a member of the Indian Business and Professional Council in Dubai.
Madhu has gained the respect of senior business and public sector leaders for his key contribution in facilitating bilateral initiatives between the Governments of Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah with India. His exemplary brand of business leadership has also earned him prestigious recognitions including the Young Mining Personality of the Year award at the Asia Mining Congress Sustainability Awards in 2008, and the Asia Business Award Middle East as “Young Achiever of the Year” in 2007.
Believing in the adage that success comes with accountability, Madhu endeavours to conduct his business with the highest ethical standards and social responsibility. In the host communities of RMMI, Madhu ensures the creation of social development programs that help address poverty and bridge gaps in education, healthcare and employment.
With a bold and resolute eye on loftier goals, Madhu continues to break new grounds to fulfil his very own brand of entrepreneurship, which to him is “the mission of imparting the stamp of your distinctive individuality into what you are passionate about, of taking risks and trusting yourself.”
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Chief Executive Officer,
MENA Infrastructure Fund (UAE)
Mark Lemmon, the Chief Executive Officer of the MENA Infrastructure Fund, was previously Deputy Chief Executive of HSBC’s global Project and Export finance business, responsible for growing that business over recent years to its current pre-eminent position in infrastructure and energy finance. He has substantial experience leading business development and winning and executing financing mandates across transportation, social infrastructure, power, water and energy sectors throughout the Middle East and elsewhere. An investment banker of twenty five years standing, he is a chartered accountant and holds a masters degree in finance from the London School of Economics.
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Founding Partner,
Capital Partners Worldwide
Over the last 35 years, Mr. Lyons has successfully secured financing for infrastructure projects throughout the Middle East and 48 countries worldwide. With an emphasis on a long-term equity investment perspective and the structuring of realistic public private partnerships, he has achieved sustainable and break through share holder value for projects in the petroleum industry, including sub sea infrastructure, LNG facilities, and next-generation transportation systems.
He has secured the infrastructure funding required to support game-changing technologies for clean alternative energy solutions, sustainable water resources, integrated transportation systems, and distance medicine communication networks.
Mr. Lyons has successfully setup and sold six companies, co-founded the venture capital company, Scotia Capital Corporation, served as Chairman of the Atlantic Provinces Chamber of Commerce, Founder & 1st Chairman Enterprise Forum, and President of the Marine Technology Society. He is a Founding Partner of Capital Partners Worldwide LLC, an international capital solutions and financial advisory company.
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Business Manager,
Metitio Utilities
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Head of Regional Research,
Standard Chartered Bank
Marios Maratheftis is an expert on the regional economy, FX strategy and financial markets. He has seven years experience in emerging markets, having graduated from the University of Warwick with an MSc in Economics and Finance and a BSc in Economics. He initially worked as an econometrician in his native Cyprus where he advised the Central Bank on foreign exchange related issues. Marios then took on the role of economist and Senior FX strategist with Standard Chartered Bank based in London, where he played an active role in the management of the Bank’s FX Strategy real money portfolio. He has attracted a large following with the accuracy of his forecasts and his ability to give engaging presentations on a wide variety of financial issues.
He has authored a number of financial and academic articles, and appears regularly in the international media. His job has taken him across the Bank’s franchises in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Marios was promoted to the role of Regional Head of Research for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia in 2007 and he is based in Dubai.
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Managing Director,
Instrata Capital
Mr. Simon Monk is a Managing Director with Instrata Capital and is responsible for infrastructure investment. During his career he has advised on over US$50 billion of equity and debt transactions for infrastructure projects and companies. He has extensive infrastructure experience and has worked across a range of sub sectors including power, water and transportation and with clients in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Mr. Monk holds a diploma in Corporate Finance from the ICAEW and a Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of Durham, United Kingdom.
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Managing Director,
Preqin
Mark O’Hare studied Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics at Cambridge University, where he graduated with First Class Honours and was awarded the Stokes Prize in Mathematics. He represented his college 1st VIII in rowing. Subsequent to this he studied Finance at London Business School.
Mark’s initial career was as a Manager with Boston Consulting Group, where he advised clients in Europe, the US and Africa, following which he founded Goodall Alexander O’Hare & Co, an independent strategy consulting firm.
In 1993 he founded Citywatch, the UK’s shareholder information service, which was acquired by Reuters in 1998, and now provides a global service on the ownership of listed equities. In 2002 he founded Private Equity Intelligence (Preqin), the alternative assets information service which provides extensive research, data and consultancy services on private equity, private real estate, infrastructure and hedge funds. Preqin is an independent business with 50 staff serving over 2,500 customers in 72 countries. Preqin tracks fund returns, fund raising information, fund terms and conditions, the GPs running the funds, and the LPs investing in them, and provides this information to its customers through a range of hard copy publications, online databases, and bespoke research projects.
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Honorary Director General,
International Road Federation
From November 2004 to January 2007 Anthony Pearce was Director General of the International Road Federation based in Geneva and Brussels. Since March 2008 he has been Honorary Director General.
He joined the IRF in February 2004 as Deputy Director General, then from June 2004 he was Acting Director General. Previously he was a Partner in the consultancy firm International Development & Strategies EEIG, a member of the International Road Federation. He is a specialist in European Union political affairs and in particular EU enlargement, and for 5 years he was an adjunct professor at Ecole Supérieure de Commerce, Rouen, France.
By profession Anthony Pearce is a chartered civil engineer and worked on projects in UK, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya and Turkey. In 1991 he founded the first pan-European public affairs grouping, and worked at the interface between the highest levels of international business and politics for nearly two decades. He has dealt with some of the most difficult and intractable problems in international affairs. Following the breakdown of the settlement talks between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots in The Hague in March 2003, he set up a group of academics from both sides in Cyprus, which has been approved by the presidents of both communities, and is working towards finding a path to a settlement in the island.
Before becoming Director General Anthony Pearce had worked with the IRF as a consultant. In the mid-1990s he was active in promoting the Eurovia project for developing the European highway infrastructure, he assisted with the programmes for the redevelopment of the Silk Roads, and the rehabilitation of roads in South-Eastern Europe.
Since January 2007 Anthony Pearce has been working on projects to coordinate the transport policies of the Central Asian Republics and working on a number of other consultancy projects including developing training courses on PPPs for the UN Economic Commission for Europe. He is advising the Ukrainian Government and the Economic Cooperation Organisation on road infrastructure. He is currently undertaking research for a PhD at the University of Birmingham on the factors for success in road PPPs.
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Managing Director, Private Equity,
Ithmaar Bank (Bahrain)
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Investment director,
MENA Infrastructure Fund (UAE)
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Head of Northern Gulf,
Jones Lang LaSalle
Avik holds a bachelors degree in Economics from the University of Rochester, USA, and an MBA in finance from the Australian Graduate School of Management in Sydney. He has advised on several large and high-profile projects in the region representing a combined investment value in excess of USD 25 billion. He is an accomplished development professional having provided development and financial advisory on over 30 large scale mixed use developments across the GCC and North Africa. Avik is currently responsible for the growth and performance of the Jones Lang LaSalle business throughout the Northern Gulf markets, inclusive of Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
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Director of Macroeconomics and Statistics,
Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFCA)
Holds a Ph. D. in Economics, from the University of Chicago, and is Director of Macroeconomics and Statistics, at the Dubai International Financial Center. Previously he held the position of Head of Economic Research, at the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting in Doha, the GCC regional institution focusing on economic diversification of member states. He has been Executive Director at Goldman Sachs International, from 2001 to 2003, Senior Economist and Adviser in the Research Directorate of the European Central Bank (ECB) from 1998 to 2001 and has held positions as an economist in various departments of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1992 to 1998. He has also worked as a consultant for major corporate clients, financial institutions, hedge funds and the European Union. He has taught in academic institutions in particular at the University of Chicago where he has been an assistant in Corporate Finance to the Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Merton Miller. His views and research pieces are often quoted on international media such as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The BBC, CNN, Reuters, Dow Jones News, Market Watch, Bloomberg, The New York Times as well as local media. Dr. Scacciavillani has published articles on macroeconomics and exchange rates in refereed international academic journals and has written numerous papers while at the IMF and the European Central Bank some of which re-printed in academic books. He has written reports issued by the IMF on member countries; research articles put out in the ECB Monthly Bulletin and issued numerous market analyses in the monthly, weekly and daily periodicals of Goldman Sachs. He is regularly invited to deliver speeches or serve as panelist in various leading conferences worldwide.
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Deputy Director General For Foreign Investments,
Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical
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President,
Capital Innovations
Michael is a founding partner and member of the management committee who oversees the Investment Management Process for the firm. Before founding Capital Innovations, he served as Managing Director at Pacific Corporate Group (PCG), where he was involved in direct private equity fund investment, co-investment and the private equity asset management across a $15 billion platform. Michael has held positions at various alternative and traditional asset management firms with both single and multimanager portfolios focused on investment strategy and management. These firms include Alliance Bernstein, AMVESCAP, PLC, Princeton Capital Management, Janus Capital and Lehman Brothers. Michael earned a BS in Economics from Pennsylvania State University. He has completed post-graduate coursework from Pepperdine University, Stanford Law School and participated in the Mercosur Economic studies at the Universidad Del Salvador.
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Managing Partner,
Crescent Capital
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Innovative Strategies
Exclusive Partner
Investment community partner
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