Digital Infrastructure Forum Global Summit 2020

Jussi works as a Senior Investment Manager at Finnfund, leading the origination and execution of Telecommunications, Technology, and Fintech -sector investments.

Recent transactions include investments into Lebanese Telecom-ESCO company IPT Powertech, South African based financial technology firm JUMO World, and a leading telecommunications operator in Iraq, Zain Iraq.

Prior joining Finnfund Jussi was a corporate finance advisor at EY and worked in various emerging markets investment banking roles at Standard Bank plc. Jussi holds a master’s degree in finance from Durham University and a bachelor’s degree in international business.

Finnfund

Finnfund is a development financier which builds a sustainable world by investing in responsible and profitable businesses in developing countries. We provide businesses operating in developing countries with risk capital, long-term investment loans, mezzanine financing and expertise on how to invest in the developing markets.

We expect our projects to be profitable, socially and environmentally responsible and produce measurable development impact in their target countries. Finnfund invests in businesses that drive sustainable development, whether they are companies are already operational or in the process of being set up.

Every year, we make 20-30 new investments worth 180-250 million euros and our current portfolio plus undisbursed decisions is nearly 1 billion euros.

Matteo leads Whitehelm’s equity investment activities in Europe & North America for economic infrastructure and digital investments. He is a partner of Whitehelm’s European Infrastructure Fund, a mid-market focused core infrastructure strategy, and the Smart City Infrastructure Fund, a global investment program with a unique focus on next generation digital infrastructure and smart city applications.

Matteo is a board member of SiFi Fullerton, one of the largest community-wide open access fiber network in the USA, and Saren Infrastructure, the owner of energy-related investments in the Nordics with focus on sustainable technologies and circular economy. His investment experience at Whitehelm also includes Kvitebjørn Varme, Vopak Terminal Eemshaven and Pioneer Public Properties. Prior to joining Whitehelm, Matteo held roles at Macquarie, Societe Generale and Natixis where he was involved in the development of private financing for major infrastructure projects in continental Europe.

Matteo holds an M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from the Ecole Centrale Paris and the Politecnico di Torino, and studied finance and business administration at the Collège des Ingénieurs in Paris.

WHITEHELM

Whitehelm Capital is one of the world’s most experienced infrastructure investors. They have an outstanding track-record spanning over 22 years, with €6.1 billion in direct infrastructure debt and equity investments made since inception, and €3.0 billion of funds currently under management.

Whitehelm invests in true infrastructure assets that protect investment value, while providing predictable cash returns. The firm is majority staff-owned and the business benefits from an independent perspective and experienced investment managers. Whitehelm has successfully generated attractive returns from infrastructure assets for its investors for over two decades and through several economic cycles.

Whitehelm focuses on working with local communities to provide sustainable infrastructure that meets the highest Environment, Social and Governance standards. Whitehelm is proud to be a signatory to the United Nations backed Principles for Responsible Investing (UNPRI) and a member of GRESB infrastructure.

Canan leads business development efforts for Mubadala’s ICT unit. She has been with Mubadala for 9 years focusing on business development in various sectors including Semiconductors, Aerospace and recently Information and Communication Technology. Prior to joining Mubadala, Canan worked in McKinsey primarily on telecommunications, infrastructure and real estate development projects. Canan holds an MBA from INSEAD and MSc in Earthquake Engineering from Bogazici University.
Canan is married and has two young kids.

Mubadala Investment Company is a sovereign investor managing a global portfolio, aimed at generating sustainable financial returns for its shareholder, the Government of Abu Dhabi.

Mubadala’s US $229 billion portfolio spans five continents with interests in multiple sectors including aerospace, ICT, semiconductors, metals and mining, renewable energy, oil and gas, petrochemicals, utilities, healthcare, real estate, pharmaceuticals and medical technology, agribusiness and a global portfolio of financial holdings across all asset classes. Mubadala has offices in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, New York and San Francisco, with a joint venture in Hong Kong.

Mubadala is a trusted partner, an engaged shareholder and a responsible global company that is committed to world-class standards of governance.

Dr. Dmitriy Antropov is Co-Head Private Infrastructure Integrated Investments, based in Zug. He is a member of the Private Infrastructure Investment Committee with a joint responsibility for managing Partners Group’s EUR 10bn infrastructure investment portfolio. Dmitriy is involved in a number of telecommunication infrastructure investments executed by Partners Group and is particularly focused on the datacenter and connectivity space. He has been with Partners Group since 2008 and has 15 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at UniCredit Group, L.E.K. Consulting and Apax Partners. He holds a PhD in world economics from Financial University under the Government of Russian Federation, Moscow, and Master’s in European Business from ESCP Europe, Paris.

Partners Group is a global private markets investment management firm with EUR 80 billion (USD 91 billion) in investment programs under management in private equity, private real estate, private infrastructure and private debt. The firm manages a broad range of customized portfolios for an international clientele of institutional investors. Partners Group is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and has offices in Denver, Houston, Toronto, New York, São Paulo, London, Guernsey, Paris, Luxembourg, Milan, Munich, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Manila, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo and Sydney. The firm employs over 1,300 people and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (symbol: PGHN) with a major ownership by its partners and employees.

Oliver Bradley is Managing Director at Macquarie Capital, the advisory, capital markets and principal investment arm of Macquarie Group. He leads the Digital Infrastructure Investment strategy, which invests directly in and supports the growth of companies that are facilitating the increasing data consumption of businesses and consumers, including fibre networks and data centres.

Prior to re-joining Macquarie earlier this year, Oliver was Corporate Finance Director at CityFibre, where he played a leading role in their transformative FTTH contract with Vodafone, infrastructure debt raise and sale to infrastructure funds. Before CityFibre, Oliver was a commercial specialist at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, part of the UK government. There he advised ministers on digital infrastructure policy and was responsible for the Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund, which saw the UK government commit £400m, matched by private sector investors on the same terms, to a commercial investment fund focused on investing in full fibre infrastructure.

Uwe Fleischhauer, born 1964, is Founding Partner and Managing Director of YIELCO Investments AG, Munich (Germany) – YIELCO, established in 2011, is an innovative alternative investment boutique with focus on the asset class Infrastructure as well as Private Debt and Private Equity (emphasis on Special Situations) offering Multi Manager Portfolio products as well as Managed Account solutions and advisory. The company presently manages approximately EUR 1.6 billion of capital commitments by institutional investors and family offices and has currently three Multi Manager Portfolio products, discretionary FOF products (Infrastructure already on its second generation, Private Debt and Special Situations), in the market.

Before YIELCO, Uwe worked almost 14 years (1998 to 2011) in his own private equity advisory firm Fleischhauer, Hoyer & Partner (FHP), Private Equity Consultants, as independent consultant and advisor for institutional investors.

YIELCO Investments was established in 2011 and is an alternative investment boutique based in Munich, Germany. YIELCO combines the experience of senior professionals with extensive experience in Alternative Investments. Over the years, its Partners have held senior positions focusing on setting-up, investing and managing Alternative Investment programs and companies. The core of YIELCO’s philosophy is to develop innovative offerings ensuring a high alignment of interest with its clients. The profound industry background of the international Advisory Board, broadens YIELCOs expertise.
Utilizing the advantages of multi-manager portfolios und separately managed accounts, YIELCO gives investors global access to investments in:
• Infrastructure
• Private Debt
• Private Equity - with emphasis on Special Situations
YIELCO is supported by a reputable group of international insurance companies, pension trusts and family offices.

Uwe performed advisory and consulting projects for institutional investors around the asset class private equity incl. all sub-segments as well as infrastructure. He has been one of Germany’s most respected independent researchers and published on a regular basis market surveys and studies on current topics in private equity / infrastructure.

Beforehand, Uwe was more than seven years a management consultant / project leader at international consulting firms Arthur D. Little and Mercer Management Consulting. He graduated in Business Administration from University of Bremen, followed by a postgraduate (Diploma) in “European Enterprise Management” at Dorset Business School in Bournemouth (England) and University of Barcelona (Spain).

Stefan has been active in financial services since 1999 initially focusing on M&A and from 2002 onwards on private equity, with over fifteen years’ experience in telecoms, media, information technologies and services.

Prior to founding investment42 in Düsseldorf, Germany, Stefan worked at GMT Communications Partners, where he was a Partner, focusing on small and midcap investments in the European communications industry.

Before joining GMT in 2010, he was a Principal in the London office of Cinven, focusing on large buyouts in TMT as well as other industries. He joined Cinven in 2002 from Merrill Lynch’s M&A team in London.

Current investments include an IT Services provider (MIVITEC GmbH) to the German “Mittelstand” as well as a project development business for fibre optics networks (BBV-Deutschland GmbH). Previous directorships include Karnov Group, MeetingZone, IT-Ernity and Grupo Redext.

Stefan has an engineering and economics degree from the Technical University in Berlin (Diplom-Ingenieur, Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen) as well as a Diplôme de l’ESCP from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris.

He is a German citizen and speaks fluent English, Spanish and French.

Matthias Hamel focuses on strategy development for European and Global telecommunication companies and transaction advice for leading International investors. He covers mobile, fiber, cable, data center, cloud / SaaS, and selected media clients. His projects also include the development of clients’ product portfolio, digitalization strategy and implementation, business planning and investment strategy.

Matthias Hamel joined Solon in 2005 and was one of the founding members of the Solon CEE office moving to Budapest in 2006. He moved back in 2008 and has headed Solon’s Technology and Innovation Practice since 2009. He has been a board member of CTAM Europe since 2011.

Solon Management Consulting

Solon Management Consulting supports companies that are active in the media, entertainment, telecommunications and technology industries. Solon advises leading media and telecoms firms as well as banks and private equity investors. Solon works with clients on the development and implementation of company strategies, creation of new business, performance improvement and capital market transactions. With offices in Munich, London, Warsaw, Milan as well as Paris and together with its US partner Altman Vilandrie & Company with offices in Boston, New York and San Francisco, Solon works on projects across Europe and Africa as well as across the Americas.

Dr. Ayesha Khanna is Co-Founder and CEO of ADDO AI, an artificial intelligence (AI) advisory firm and incubator. She has been a strategic advisor on artificial intelligence, smart cities and fintech to clients such as SMRT, Singapore's largest public transport company, SOMPO, Japan's largest insurance firm, and Smart Dubai, the government agency tasked to transform Dubai into a leading smart city. In 2017, ADDO AI was featured in Forbes magazine as one of four leading artificial intelligence companies in Asia and Ayesha was named one of South East Asia's groundbreaking female entrepreneurs by Forbes magazine in 2018.

Khanna spent more than a decade on Wall Street developing large scale trading, risk management and data analytics systems. She was cofounder of the Hybrid Reality Institute, a research and advisory group established to analyse the social and economic impact of accelerating technologies. She directed the Future Cities Group at the London School of Economics, and has been a Faculty Advisor at Singularity University.

Khanna has been named one of Singapore's leading female entrepreneurs and a leading Asian fintech influencer by Fintech Asia. She also served on the Singapore Ministry of Education’s Steering Committee on future skills and applied learning for emerging industries.

Khanna is author of Straight Through Processing and co-author of Hybrid Reality: Thriving in the Emerging Human-Technology Civilization. She is the Founder of 21C GIRLS, a charity that delivers free coding and artificial intelligence classes to girls in Singapore.

Dr. Bernd Kreuter is a Managing Partner and the cofounder of Palladio Partners. He has extensive experience in all areas of institutional asset management. For many years, he worked for a leading German consulting company, assisting German institutional investors with investments in illiquid assets, most recently as the Head of Alternative Investments. Previously, he worked for a corporate finance boutique and an IT company. Dr. Bernd Kreuter holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Paris) and successfully completed additional degrees in Economics and Law. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science (Humboldt University, Berlin) and is a CFA Charterholder.

Palladio Partners

Palladio Partners is an owner-managed investment boutique. Palladio specializes in providing independent advice on real assets for German institutional investors. In doing so, we implement customer-specific mandates across the entire investment process with a special focus on cost efficiency. A transparent, proprietary risk management system ensures stable returns and an attractive risk-return profile. The partnership structure of our company provides a sustainable perspective and continuity as well as fast decision making processes and a quick response to changing market conditions. In everything we do, we value independence and transparency. Our clients include leading German pension funds and insurers – selected references can be shared in course of a personal exchange.

Paul joined AIIB in 2018 and is currently leading the development of the Digital Infrastructure Strategy, which guides AIIB's engagements and investments in the sector. He has over 7 years of investment and corporate venturing experiences in technology, digital infrastructure and capital markets.

He was an adviser to UN High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation on digital inclusiveness in 2018 and selected as one of the G20 Global Young Changers during G20 Germany in 2017.

Paul holds Mphil in Economics and Finance from University of Cambridge and Certificate of Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurship (IDE) from MIT. Paul is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Fellow of Royal Society of Arts.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia. Headquartered in Beijing, we began operations in January 2016 and have now grown to 102 approved members worldwide. By investing in sustainable infrastructure and other productive sectors in Asia and beyond, we will better connect people, services and markets that over time will impact the lives of billions and build a better future.

Carlo Maddalena is a Senior Portfolio Manager in the APG Global Infrastructure team, focussed on origination and asset management activities across the infrastructure sector. At APG, he is a core member of the Smart City Infrastructure Fund team.

Prior to joining APG, Maddalena worked for Whitehelm Capital, Marguerite Fund and Antin Infrastructure Partners. Maddalena holds non-executive directorship at Brussels Airport, 2i Rete Gas, Compañia Logistica de Hidrocarburos and Noatum Ports.

APG Asset Management

APG Asset Management manages pension assets of approximately €520 billion (as of Q2 2019) on behalf of its Dutch pension funds. APG has been an active infrastructure investor since 2004, investing approximately €15.0 billion to date and managing more than 30 direct stakes in portfolio companies. APG’s investments include assets within energy and utilities, telecommunications, and transport infrastructure.

Cara is a seasoned business executive with over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications and internet industry. Before founding EdgeInfra she had various executive roles in marketing, product management and innovation with Eurofiber Group, Liberty Global and earlier Orange. Prior to the roles in fiber and cable she was Chief Marketing Officer at AMS-IX, the Amsterdam Internet Exchange, building the company to the leading IX worldwide. At Logica Consulting (now CGI) she spent several years in senior management consulting and interim roles in the telecommunication & media industry.

Cara holds a a dual degree MBA from TIAS University & Bradford School of Management and has a Computer Science & Telecommunications engineering degree from polytechnic University of Utrecht.

EdgeInfra

EdgeInfra B.V. is a new venture founded in Amsterdam that provides neutral micro-datacenter based colocation and interconnection services at the ultra local edge of fixed and mobile network infrastructure in Europe. We create ultra local interconnection and colocation micro eco-systems for content & application platforms, cloud operators and network providers in places where our customers need them.

Our high –end micro-datacenters will be the ultimate solution for edge computing and content distribution nearest to the user or IoT, including but not limited to edge processing for AI, IoT, gaming, smart industry, HD video and AR/VR applications.

The business model is neutral with regards to the different customer groups e.g. networks, content and compute platforms. We aim to bring to market a relevant and valued, highly distributed number of places throughout Europe where parties can do business with one another with a mutual benefit. Neutrality and trust are an integrate part of our business.

Roxanna, based in San Francisco, California, has more than 15 years of telecommunication and data center industry experience with extensive cloud services knowledge. Prior to joining e-shelter, Roxanna worked for Bridge Data Centres as VP of Sales focusing on APAC, and emerging markets. She was also a Hybrid IT Director at Level 3 Communications (acquired by CenturyLink in 2017) in a role responsible for all U.S. West Coast data centers and cloud transactions. Level 3 Communications acquired tw telecom in 2017, where Roxanna served as Alliances Director, managing technical projects between tw telecom and large data center REITs. Roxanna relocated from Sweden to San Francisco in 1998 where she completed her Science Studies and later received a B.A. in Advertising from University of Art, San Francisco, with a focus on Account Planning.

Alessandro is a Principal based in Analysys Mason's London office. He specialises in advising on organic and inorganic growth strategies and has completed approximately 100 growth-related assignments. Alessandro has advised clients across numerous geographies: Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia–Pacific. His areas of expertise include telecoms commercial and technical due diligence, market-entry strategies, business planning, valuation, IPO process support, market sizing and forecasting, spectrum strategy and valuation, cost modelling and telecoms regulation.

Alessandro has advised on some of the major transactions involving telecoms assets in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa, working for both financial and strategic investors. His experience covers telecoms infrastructure (access and long-distance fibre networks, coaxial networks, towers, data centres and submarine cables), operators (fixed, mobile, incumbents, cable and MVNOs), mobile money and fintech businesses, and vendors (hardware, software and telecoms infrastructure service companies).

Alessandro has a B.E. in International Markets and New Technologies and an M.Sc. in Management from Bocconi University, Italy.

With more than 20 years of experience in driving growth and innovation for technology and telecommunications enterprises, Tony Rossabi joined TierPoint as EVP and Chief Revenue Officer in May 2017. Tony is responsible for overseeing revenue growth, managing the daily operations of TierPoint’s national sales organization, and contributing to strategic planning, reporting to Chairman and CEO Jerry Kent.

Prior to joining TierPoint, Tony served as Managing Director for Digital Realty Trust’s colocation and connectivity business unit. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Strategy for Telx Group, Inc. His career also includes holding leadership roles at TATA Communications, WilTel (now part of Level3 Communications) and BellSouth (now part of AT&T).

In addition to his role at TierPoint, Tony supports several organizations including the Pacific Telecommunications Council, the Board of Surgeons Overseas, and the Board of Governors for LEAP (Learning through an Expanded Arts Program).

Tony holds BA, MBA, and Juris Doctor (JD) degrees.

TierPoint

TierPoint, LLC provides information technology and data center services. The company offers TierPoint Cloud, an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) that includes public, private, multi-tenant, and hybrid deployments for production, disaster recovery, and backup services. Its services include colocation, cloud computing, backup and business continuity, managed security, firewall, and professional services. The company serves education, energy, financial, healthcare, legal, manufacturing, public sector, retail, and technology industries. TierPoint, LLC has a strategic partnership with ScaleMatrix. TierPoint, LLC was formerly known as Cequel Data Centers. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It also has a facility in Hawthorne, New York. TierPoint, LLC is a former subsidiary of Cequel Data Centers, LLC.

Wessel heads the ongoing asset management of investee companies and is Whitehelm’s global head of Responsible Investing. He has extensive corporate experience in global energy and logistics markets, midstream and shipping industries, having worked over 17 years internationally in Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, UAE and Singapore.

Wessel has held senior international Management Team roles in mature and emerging markets across Europe, Middle East and Asia. A dual Belgian-Dutch national, he has global board-room experience and is fluent in Dutch, English, Swedish and German.

Wessel currently serves as a Director of PPP, SCIF Fullerton, Kvitebjorn Varme, Storrun, VTEH and SAE

Whitehelm Capital

Whitehelm Capital is one of the world’s most experienced infrastructure investors and investment strategy advisors. We have an outstanding track-record spanning over 20 years, with €5.8 billion in direct infrastructure debt and equity investments made since inception, and €3.0 billion of funds currently under management. Whitehelm offers infrastructure investment solutions covering direct equity, listed equity and debt. We invest in true infrastructure assets that protect investment value, while providing predictable cash returns. This is achieved by investing in assets with clear and measurable cashflows and adding value through active asset management. The firm is majority staff-owned and the business benefits from an independent perspective, long-serving and experienced investment managers and a long-term track-record. Whitehelm has successfully generated attractive returns from low risk assets for its investors over two decades and through several economic cycles.

Steven Sonnenstein is a Managing Director at Digital Colony. He is an accomplished telecommunications infrastructure executive with over 20 years of global mergers and acquisitions, asset management and operations experience.

Steven was most recently a Senior Director at PSP Investments, one of Canada’s largest pension investment managers, where he created a telecommunications infrastructure asset class within the broader infrastructure group. He can be credited with completing PSP’s first direct investment in the telecommunications infrastructure space and was responsible for PSP Infrastructure’s inaugural direct investments in France, India, and Turkey.

During his six years at PSP, he put in final bids worth more than C$7.5 billion of equity, closing on more than C$2.2 billion - predominantly in the telecom infrastructure sector - and co-led and asset managed over C$1 billion of additional investments.

Before joining PSP, Steven worked for Brookfield Asset Management in its Private Equity and Infrastructure Groups with particular focus and experience in South America. Prior to that, Steven spent several years working in mergers and acquisitions and distressed advisory.

Steven holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University, and a post graduate in Chartered Accountancy.

Darragh Stokes is a Managing Partner and Director of Hardiman Telecommunications Ltd., (“HTL”), which he joined in 1998. HTL advises major investment banks, private equity funds and telecommunications carriers on Company Valuations, Flotations, Mergers and Acquisitions, Performance Optimisation, Competitive Strategy, Market Entry, Market Positioning, Operations, Licensing, Service Development, Service Positioning, and Technology Management and Transition.

From locations in London and Singapore, the company's expertise spans Western Europe, Central / Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Rim. As measured by transaction value and volume, HTL is one of the leading telecommunications consultancy active in emerging markets worldwide.

Darragh has led have include strategy and market entry work for telecommunications operators, M&A work for telecommunications operators and towers operators, government consultancy work and extensive facilitation and support of project, debt and equity financing.

David Zimmer (born in 1973) has been an entrepreneur since 1990. He is founder of inexio and responsible for the strategic business development, corporate communications and sale of telecoms activities within inexio. David Zimmer was ‘Entrepreneur of the Year' in 2012 in the category "start-up companies". In 2016 he receives the Titel “Technologierat” from the prime minister of the Saarland.

Inexio is based in Saarlouis and is investing in the development and extension of the most modern telecommunication infrastructure in the Land of Rhineland-Palatinate, at Saarland, Luxemburg, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.

Inexio

Founded in 2007 inexio has become a leading provider of fibre-optic broadband networks in Germany. The Company benefits from a state-of-the-art fibre optic network with over 10,000 km of modern fibre optic lines and operates six wholly owned data centers, bringing customers both security and high performance. inexio provides high speed internet access to business and residential customers in underserved, primarily rural areas across Germany. Over 6,000 commercial customers – from corporations to small and medium sized enterprises (“SMEs”) – and over 110,000 households rely on the internet access provided by inexio.

Adam has been an ESG specialist for over 27 years (12 years in private equity). He is a Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (FIEMA), Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) and a Chartered Member of IOSH (the Institution of Occupational Safety & Health). He holds a BSc (Honours) in Environmental Science, MA in Environmental Law and a higher-degree in Occupational Health and Safety.
Adam has experience in most aspects of ESG implementation and management, including as a trainer and coach, incident investigation and crisis management, and safety culture. He has delivered ESG risk mitigation and value creation programmes across most industry sectors in over 50 countries worldwide. As a member of Coller Capital’s Investment Team, Adam has responsibility for integrating ESG within all investment decision-making and management processes, working across all funds with underlying managers and on occasion their portfolio companies. Prior to joining Coller Capital in 2016 he was an ESG Operating Partner and Head of Sustainability at Doughty Hanson.

Ms. Rosenthal is a Managing Director, Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer of TowerBrook.

Prior to joining TowerBrook, Ms. Rosenthal was a corporate partner in the London office of Kirkland & Ellis advising U.S. and European private equity clients in cross-border leveraged buyouts. Ms. Rosenthal received a B.S. from the Wharton School (finance) and a B.A. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from Columbia University Law School, and an M.Phil. from Queen’s College, Cambridge. Ms. Rosenthal holds the Series 7, 24, 63, 79 and 99 licenses.

Ada Arevalo is currently the Vice President of Fund Management at Avanath. In this capacity she oversees all aspects of Capital Raising, Investor Relations, Impact Investing and Fund Performance. Prior to being promoted to Vice President of Fund Management, Ada was the Director of Accounting where she led the development of the current accounting platform. Ada has been with Avanath for over 8 years in the previously mentioned roles and her contributions to the organization have led to many of the processes we employ to date. Prior to joining Avanath, Ada owned and operated a successful consulting firm in which she
functioned as an interim Controller, Tax Advisor and Operations Consultant for a diverse client base, including CPA firms, real estate private equity ventures, and tech companies among others. Prior to owning her own consulting firm, Ada was as a Senior Staff Accountant for Smith, Linden & Basso, LLP & VELAH Group, LLP where she was responsible for the preparation of high net worth individual, partnership, corporation, estate, gift and trust tax returns. Ada attended Cal Poly Pomona with a focus on Finance, Real Estate and Law.

Chris Beall is the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of NOVA Infrastructure. He has over 20 years of experience in private equity, investment banking and infrastructure operations and engineering. Chris leads NOVA’s execution of infrastructure investments in the target sectors of transportation, environmental services, and energy and serves as Chair of NOVA’s Investment Committee.

Prior to NOVA, Chris was a Managing Director and Co-Portfolio Manager for Oaktree Capital’s Infrastructure Investing strategy, following Oaktree’s acquisition of Highstar Capital in 2014. He was one of four owners and a Partner of Highstar Capital, an infrastructure private equity firm responsible for over $6.3 billion of infrastructure investments. Earlier, Chris worked in Lehman Brothers’ energy investment banking group and as an engineer in the oil and gas industry. Chris currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Passenger Rail Corporation (Amtrak), the largest provider of passenger rail service in the U.S. He also serves on the Boards of Jaguar Transport Holdings, LLC, a short line rail transportation, storage, and logistics platform, and Integrated Waste Solutions Group, a vertically integrated waste platform that he co-founded.

Chris holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University.

NOVA Infrastructure

NOVA Infrastructure is an infrastructure investment firm that invests in transportation, environmental services, energy, and other sectors in North America. We focus on differentiated, value-added strategies in the middle market infrastructure segment. NOVA seeks investments with significant downside protections and then capitalizes on its expertise to catalyze operationally-focused upside generation for our investors. We build value by combining deep infrastructure finance and operations expertise with a unique ability to manage complicated transactions and develop portfolio companies. NOVA is both a capital provider and a trusted partner.

Alberto Agazzi is the Head of Global Fund Management of Generali Real Estate since November 2017. In his current role, he is in charge of setting up and managing cross-border and local GRE funds, defining their asset allocation and selections, and managing the transaction and portfolio management activities for the indirect fund investments.

Alberto, who is also the Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Generali Real Estate SGR S.p.A., joined the Generali Group in 2005 as an asset and fund manager for the Group's Italian real estate portfolio. In 2009 he became Head of Fund Management for Generali Immobiliare Italia SGR, before taking over as the Managing Director of Generali Real Estate – RE Services Italy four years later.

Prior to joining the Group, he had worked in the real estate advisory team of Mediobanca, and as a project manager for an engineering company.

Alberto Agazzi holds a Master in Business Administration from SDA Bocconi and a Degree in Building Engineering from the Politecnico of Milan.

Generali Real Estate

Generali Real Estate S.p.A. is one of the world’s leading real estate asset managers with around €30 billion of assets under management as of year-end 2018.

By managing a unique mix of historical and modern properties, Generali Real Estate as developed best-in-class skills in the fields of technological innovation, sustainability and urban development.

Generali Real Estate is part of the Generali Group, an independent Italian Group with a strong international presence. Established in 1831, it is among the world’s leading insurers and it is present in over 60 countries with total premium income exceeding €66 billion in 2018.

Allison is a Partner and a Founder of NOVA Infrastructure and has nearly 20 years of experience working in infrastructure, project finance, investment banking, and risk.

Allison was formerly an early member of Reformation, an infrastructure debt fund targeting global infrastructure loans. She also originated and executed bespoke debt and mezzanine transactions for anchor PartnerRe’s principal finance portfolio. Previously, Allison worked at Ambac focusing on U.S and emerging markets project and structured financings. She started her career at Lehman Brothers in the M&A and power groups.

As a political economist and tenured professor, Allison published academic research on risks in infrastructure investments and taught over forty courses at University of Vermont, New York University, and Yale University.

Allison holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University, an M.S.L. from Yale Law School, and a B.A. cum laude from Rice University.

Afsaneh Beschloss is the founder and CEO of RockCreek, a leading global investment firm that applies technology and innovation to investments. Previously, she was Managing Director and Partner at the Carlyle Group and President of Carlyle Asset Management. She was Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer of the World Bank and worked at Shell International and J.P. Morgan. Ms. Beschloss has advised governments, central banks, and regulatory agencies on global public policy and financial policy.

She led the World Bank’s energy investments and policy work on infrastructure, and sustainable investing in traditional and renewable and clean energy and power projects to reduce carbon emissions. She founded its Natural Gas Group to invest in natural gas and power projects in emerging economies.

Ms. Beschloss is on the boards of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the World Resources Institute, the American Red Cross, the National Geographic Society, and is the Vice-Chair of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). She is on the Visiting Committee at the Center for Development Economics at Williams College and is a member of the World Economic Forum and the Council of Foreign Relations. Ms. Beschloss is a past Trustee of the Ford Foundation, where she chaired the Investment Committee.

She is a recipient of the Institutional Investor Lifetime Achievement Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award. She was recognized as one of American Banker’s Most Powerful Women in Banking. Ms. Beschloss holds an MPhil (Honors) in Economics from the University of Oxford, where she taught international trade and economic development. She is the co-author of The Economics of Natural Gas and author of numerous journal articles on energy and finance.

Over ten years of experience investing in private equity, growth equity and venture capital. Directed private investments for the Sackler family office.
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Adam Plotkin is a Partner at ff Venture Capital, a NYC based early-stage venture capital firm with $180mm AUM. In this capacity he provides targeted strategic counsel to a range of ffVC investments, with a focus on technological innovation in logistics and manufacturing, insurance, e-commerce, financial services and media. Adam has experience serving on the boards of Drop, Rhino, PlusOne Robotics, Estify and Parsely, to name a few.
Prior to ffVC, Adam spent several years in business development, advisory and operational roles with several startups in New York and Los Angeles. Adam was the first hire at Lake Baldwin Management, a Princeton, New Jersey opportunistic hedge fund, where he was a generalist investor, managing an array of public and private market investments. Adam began his career at Goldman Sachs in the Leveraged Finance Group where he advised clients in the telecom and insurance industries, and in the Risk Markets Group, where he was involved in the design, structure and marketing of two of the early catastrophe risk-linked bonds.
Adam holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Business School. He also holds Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Applied Sciences, and Bachelor of Science in Economics degrees, cum laude with distinction from the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Wharton School, at the University of Pennsylvania, as a Benjamin Franklin Scholar and a Joseph Wharton Scholar. He grew up in New Jersey, where he operated a Commodore-64 based BBS before Middle School.

Mr. Blumenthal was the founding partner of Blue Wolf in 2005. He has served on the board of directors of numerous middle market companies over the course of three decades. Currently, he serves on the board of directors of Finch Paper Company LLC, Twin Rivers Paper Company, Elara Caring, and StateServ Holdings, LLC.

From 2011 through 2017, Mr. Blumenthal was a Trustee, and Chair of the Investment Committee, of the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, a $60 billion fund that pays retiree health benefits for over 700,000 UAW employees of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors.

From 1989 to 2002, Mr. Blumenthal built and managed American Capital Ltd., a publicly-traded buyout and mezzanine fund (NASDAQ: ACAS). Mr. Blumenthal played a central role in building it into a publicly-traded buyout and mezzanine fund with a portfolio of over $1 billion invested in sixty-three middle market companies by the time he left in 2002. From ACAS’s 1997 initial public offering until 2002, Mr. Blumenthal served continuously on ACAS’s board of directors, was a founding member of its investment committee, and held positions including Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, President and Vice Chairman. Over this time, ACAS produced a 22% IRR to investors in its initial public offering.

Mr. Blumenthal served as First Deputy Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer for New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. from 2002 – 2005. In this capacity, he oversaw the capital markets activities of the Comptroller’s office, including overseeing the City’s debt issuance, managed the assets of the New York City Retirement Systems, and issued budget, financial, and economic analyses. During Mr. Blumenthal’s tenure, the City’s pension assets increased from $65 billion to $85 billion, primarily as a result of strong investment gains.

Mr. Blumenthal received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College, and a M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management. From 2004 to 2007, he served on the Yale SOM’s Board of Advisors, and is currently a member of the Advisory Board for Yale’s International Center for Finance. In 2009, he was named a Donaldson Fellow at the Yale SOM. He has been a trustee of, and Chairman of the Investment Committee of, the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Community Service Society of New York.