Team By Service
Infrastructure
Theodoros Benavidis is an Analyst of Stafford Infrastructure and is involved in market research and due diligence for Infrastructure investments.
Prior to joining Stafford, he worked with Swiss Life Infrastructure and had various internships in the Risk Management division of NBG Securities and with Stafford Infrastructure.
He holds a MSc in Finance from University of Lausanne and a BSc in Banking and Financial Management from the University of Piraeus.
Malek Benlarbi Delai is Senior Investment Associate, and is responsible for the sourcing, acquisition, and financing of the STAR investments.
Richard co-founded Stafford Timberland and co-developed Stafford Private Equity’s initial international expansion plan. Prior to this, Richard was CEO of Pantheon Ventures. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in London and has a BSc Honours in Chemistry from Exeter University.
Elisa Dunisha is part of the Stafford Infrastructure team and is primarily involved in investment research, due diligence, and transaction execution.
Before transitioning to the infrastructure team, Elisa was a member of the Sustainability Team, where she worked closely with Stafford's Investment teams to integrate ESG factors into the investment process.
Prior to joining Stafford, Elisa worked as a Senior Consultant for Avanntive Consulting and at the same time served as a back-stopper expert in a joint capacity-building project with Roland Berger Gmbh.
She holds a Master of Arts in Corporate Finance from Toulouse School of Management, France and a BSc in Finance from the University of Tirana.
Niccolò Ferraris is Senior Business Controller and is responsible for the valuation and the optimization of operative plants in STAR project.
Eleonora Firrincieli joined the team in 2021 and, as a Senior Associate in Business Development, contributes to business growth by developing new opportunities and managing the UK market from an investment perspective.
Lane French is a part of the Stafford Infrastructure team and is primarily involved in sourcing, research and due diligence, and the structuring and execution of infrastructure secondaries investments in North America.
Prior to joining Stafford, Lane was an Associate underwriting infrastructure secondaries transactions at another secondaries firm. Before that, he worked as a Senior Analyst at BP Capital Fund Advisors and an Equity Research Associate at Baird.
Lane has been a CFA® Charterholder since 2018 and is a member of the CFA Society of Austin. He holds a BBA in both Finance and Entrepreneurial Management as well as a Certificate in Financial Risk Management & Insurance from the University of Iowa.
William manages various global investments for Stafford Infrastructure and contributes to Stafford Sustainable Capital investment activities. He has more than 10 years of industry experience and has held senior management roles with Macquarie Investment Management Private Markets, Swiss Re, and the Asian Development Bank, where he was responsible for sourcing, due diligence, and financing projects in the infrastructure and renewables sectors. William has a Masters in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters of Science in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University, and both a Masters and Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from The National Superior School of Hydraulics of Grenoble, France.
David is Stafford’s Chief Investment Officer
Prior to joining Stafford, David was, for 5 years Managing Director of Building Schools for the Future Investments LLP in the UK, which was successfully sold in August 2011. He previously spent 10 years with Barclays Private Equity where he was a founding member of their infrastructure team and earlier in his career he headed the London based corporate bank team of a Scottish clearing banking.
He received a Masters degree in Finance from the London Business School.
Konstantinos is an Investment Analyst involved in investment research, due diligence, portfolio management and marketing.
Prior to joining Stafford, he was a financial services consultant at PwC and has held a number of internships in various financial services firms.
Konstantinos holds a MSc in Economics from the University of Lausanne and a BA in Banking and Financial Management from the university of Piraeus.
Ingo is responsible for relationship management, portfolio construction, investment due diligence, negotiation and monitoring for Stafford’s infrastructure business. He also contributes to Stafford Sustainable Capital given the overlap of these business lines.
Prior to joining Stafford, Ingo worked with Macquarie Investment Management Private Markets in charge of a pioneer secondary infrastructure fund of funds, as well as the European aspects of its sustainable capital fund of funds. Prior to Macquarie, Ingo was a Director of Alternative Investments at Swiss Re, responsible for the development and management of one of the world’s largest sustainability-focused portfolios and also worked in Corporate & Strategy Development and Investment Banking at UBS.
Ingo holds a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. In addition to his PhD, he also holds a lic. Rer. Pol. Diploma (the Swiss MBA equivalent) from the University of Fribourg.
Giorgio Minciotti is a Valuation Intern, supporting financial analysis, modelling activities, and valuation processes within the team.
Enkeleid is responsible for the overall coordination and supervision of renewable asset management activities, encompassing the management of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs). He also contributes to the evaluation and acquisition of new assets, accounting and financial operations given the overlap of these areas.
Geoff co-founded Stafford Capital Partners and was Chair from 2000 - 2021.
Prior to this, he founded Pantheon Ventures’ Asia Pacific operations before it was acquired by Pantheon. Geoff holds Bachelor degrees in law and accounting from the University of Canterbury (BComm/LLB(Hons)), a Masters degree in Management (MS) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan Fellow), is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a New Zealand Harkness Fellow.
Alessia is a Senior Portfolio Manager and she coordinates and manages the construction of ground and floating PV plants in Italy, as well as the operating assets in the portfolio over Europe.
Cinzia joined Stafford’s Milan team (formerly Theia) in 2021. Manager of the finance team, she is responsible for accounting, tax and administrative activities in relation to both investment’s phases (acquisition and financing) and management’s phase (post-acquisition) of the real asset.
Within Stafford, Angelo leads the day-to-day operations of the STAR strategy for Stafford’s Repowering platform.
Daniel is involved in investment research, due diligence, transaction execution, portfolio management, and origination. He also works on various sustainability projects.
Prior to joining Stafford, Daniel was part of the assurance and advisory team at Deloitte in Australia, servicing listed, multinational, and private clients across a range of industries.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce with majors in Accounting & Finance from the University of Sydney, is a qualified Chartered Accountant with Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CA ANZ) and has completed level 1 of the CFA Program.
Chiara is Senior Finance Associate, the role provides full corporate governance support, including assisting the Board of Directors, managing corporate records, and ensuring legal and regulatory compliance for all group companies. She oversees relations with Italian authorities, handles KYC/AML processes, and coordinates notarial activities. Chiara also ensures that Italian holding companies meet all tax obligations accurately and on time.
At Stafford, Porfirio mainly manages investment operations, which include market analysis, sourcing, identifying, and evaluating new opportunities, along with negotiating, acquiring, and financing new assets.
William is an Investment Analyst at Stafford.
Prior to joining Stafford, William worked as an Investment Analyst with Cintra, a Ferrovial company. Before that, he held various internship positions relating to Civil Engineering.
William holds a master’s degree in Finance and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
Angus is responsible for all aspects of the business at Stafford, working across strategy formulation, team development, relationship management and investment evaluation.
Prior to Stafford Angus worked as a direct investor in the private equity and venture capital markets. He started his career with Thompson Clive & Partners, a life sciences and technology private equity firm with investments in Europe and the US. He then co-founded Solon Ventures, a UK venture capital firm.
He received an MA in Law from Cambridge University.
John is an Investment Manager involved in investment research, due diligence, portfolio management and marketing.
Prior to joining Stafford, John was at Grant Thornton Australia managing a broad range of clients across various industries. He has over ten years of experience in providing taxation and advisory services to private and entrepreneurial clients.
He has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Sydney.
Steven is involved in investment research, sourcing, due diligence, negotiation and monitoring for Stafford’s Infrastructure business.
He was previously with XL Catlin, a global specialty insurer and reinsurer, where he built and led the private equity and real asset investment activities comprising direct investments, co-investments and fund commitments. Prior to that, Steven was a member of the Alternative Investments division at Swiss Re, focused on private equity direct investments.
He earned a Master of Arts in Economics and Finance from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland and holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation.
Private Markets
Andrew works on venture capital and growth equity opportunities.
Prior to Stafford, Andrew worked with Macquarie Investment Management Private Markets and GKM Newport as an investment manager. In these roles, Andrew was responsible for due diligence of primary and co-investment opportunities.
He holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and a Bachelors degree from the University of California-San Diego.
Dan makes primary commitments to private equity funds in Australia and New Zealand (over $500m since joining in 2007). He sits on Investment Advisory Boards of a range of private equity funds. He also makes co-investments alongside the private equity funds, and acquires secondary private equity fund interests. Prior to joining Stafford, Dan spent three years in Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs, where he advised companies on mergers, acquisitions and capital raisings.
Lee is an Investment Associate for Stafford’s Private Equity group. He is involved primarily in due diligence, transaction sourcing and assists in manager research.
Prior to joining Stafford, Lee was a Deal Advisory Senior Associate at KPMG where he had experience in Lender Due Diligence and Corporate Finance practices.
Lee is a Certified Public Accountant and has a Bachelors Degree in Finance and Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Kurt is responsible for relationship management, sourcing and due diligence for sustainable investments.
Prior to Stafford, Kurt worked for Macquarie Investment Management Private Markets as Senior Vice President. He also spent several years identifying clean tech ventures and technologies, incubating start-ups for launch and growth, and consulting with sustainable start-ups.
He earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Texas-Austin and a Bachelors degree from Carnegie Mellon University.
Ryan Franz is an Investment Director in Stafford’s Private Markets team.
Prior to joining Stafford Ryan worked at Audant Investments, a Sydney-based family office, where he was focused on private capital investments. Ryan has a private equity and investment banking background and has worked across numerous industry sectors including Industrials, Technology, Real Estate and Agriculture.
He has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology, Sydney and a Masters of Science in Property Studies from the University of Cape Town.
Rick is involved in relationship management, due diligence and negotiation.
He was previously Managing Director for Macquarie Investment Management Private Markets which advised on over $7 billion of assets, including private funds, secondary investments and co-investments. Prior to co-founding MIMPM global private equity and real asset operations, Rick was Vice President at Pacific Corporate Group.
He earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Texas-Austin and a Bachelors degree from the United States Naval Academy.
Jesse de Klerk is Partner at Stafford Capital Partners in The Netherlands, with a focus on European private equity investments and global thematic private equity investments.
Prior to joining Stafford Capital Partners in June 2020, Jesse was Head of Private Equity at Robeco, where he worked since 2004. Prior to that, he worked as consultant at KPMG and Andersen, advising global organizations on risk management, financial management, and performance improvement. He started his career at Deutsche Bank in London, where he worked in the Global Markets Research division.
Mr. De Klerk holds an M.Sc. cum laude in Financial Econometrics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, an M.Sc. cum laude in M&A and Valuation from the University of Groningen, is a CFA-charter holder, and a CAIA-charter holder.
Jayden is an Investment Associate in Stafford's Private Equity team. Jayden is responsible for sourcing, due diligence, execution and ongoing investment management.
Prior to joining Stafford, Jayden was a Consultant at EY Port Jackson Partners where he was involved in Commercial Due Diligence for private equity funds.
Jayden holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of NSW.
Geoff co-founded Stafford Capital Partners and was Chair from 2000 - 2021.
Prior to this, he founded Pantheon Ventures’ Asia Pacific operations before it was acquired by Pantheon. Geoff holds Bachelor degrees in law and accounting from the University of Canterbury (BComm/LLB(Hons)), a Masters degree in Management (MS) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan Fellow), is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a New Zealand Harkness Fellow.
Kate Pargaman is a Private Equity Associate in Stafford's US Private Equity Team.
Prior to joining Stafford, Kate was an International Tax Senior Consultant at Deloitte where she helped clients with compliance and strategic planning around international M&A and financing.
Kate is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas and has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and Master degree in Professional Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin.
Stephen is involved in relationship management, strategy formulation and investment sourcing and evaluation for Private Equity in Australia and New Zealand. He co-founded Stafford Capital Partners in 2000.
Prior to Stafford Capital Partners, Stephen spent over 10 years at Macquarie Bank’s Asset Management Division, where he established and invested its $220 million private equity program. Stephen joined Macquarie Bank when it acquired Risk Averse Money Managers, of which he was an owner and director.
Angus is responsible for all aspects of the business at Stafford, working across strategy formulation, team development, relationship management and investment evaluation.
Prior to Stafford Angus worked as a direct investor in the private equity and venture capital markets. He started his career with Thompson Clive & Partners, a life sciences and technology private equity firm with investments in Europe and the US. He then co-founded Solon Ventures, a UK venture capital firm.
He received an MA in Law from Cambridge University.
Timberland
Stephen is co-Managing Partner of Stafford’s Timberland team and is responsible for client services, investment sourcing and due diligence.
Stephen was previously the Forest Business Manager for Willmott Forests where he managed large afforestation and acquisition projects. He was also a senior consultant at URS, specialising in plantation management, timberland appraisals and due diligence.
He holds a Bachelor degree in Forestry from the University of Melbourne.
James is responsible for portfolio management, origination, due diligence and investor reporting.
Prior to Stafford, James was a Senior Analyst at EBG Capital, an agricultural investment advisory firm, where he completed mandates for various Family Offices, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the German International Development Agency. Before this, James was an Investment Manager at EnerCap Capital Partners in Prague, focusing on wind farm project finance and M&A in central and eastern Europe. He also has experience in carbon finance (with Climate Change Capital) and public market transactions.
James holds an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London and a BA (Hons) in Natural Sciences from Clare College, Cambridge.
Richard co-founded Stafford Timberland and co-developed Stafford Private Equity’s initial international expansion plan. Prior to this, Richard was CEO of Pantheon Ventures. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in London and has a BSc Honours in Chemistry from Exeter University.
Marek is an Investment Manager focused on investor relations, industry research, asset due diligence and monitoring of investment performance.
Prior to Stafford, he was the Forestry Director at Green Resources, a vertically integrated forest products company operating across East Africa. Previously, Marek was a Principal with Pöyry Management Consulting where he led a team providing advisory services to a wide range of stakeholders in the forest sector.
He holds Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry from the University of Stellenbosch.
Andrew is responsible for oversight and strategy for Stafford's U.S. timberland investment portfolio.
Prior to joining Stafford, Andrew held roles in risk management at Alliant Insurance Services and as Portfolio Manager & Manager of Business Development at Campbell Global, where he focused on timberland portfolio operations, strategy, acquisitions, dispositions, analytics & fundraising.
Andrew holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon with a concentration in finance & economics.
Seb is an Anssociate with Stafford Timberland, and is involved in investor relations, monitoring and reporting of investment performance, asset due diligence and market research.
Prior to Stafford, he worked in the Technology Risk Management team at Natwest Markets.
Geoff co-founded Stafford Capital Partners and was Chair from 2000 - 2021.
Prior to this, he founded Pantheon Ventures’ Asia Pacific operations before it was acquired by Pantheon. Geoff holds Bachelor degrees in law and accounting from the University of Canterbury (BComm/LLB(Hons)), a Masters degree in Management (MS) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan Fellow), is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a New Zealand Harkness Fellow.
Gabrielle Obojememe is a Graduate Analyst within the Timberland team supporting market research, portfolio analysis and client reporting with a focus on ESG and sustainability metrics.
Daan is involved in relationship management, investment sourcing, due diligence, negotiation and research for investments in timber.
Daan was previously with URS as a senior consultant specialising in timberland appraisals and environmental audits.
He holds a Bachelor degree in forestry with honours from the University of Melbourne and a Graduate Diploma in applied finance (FINSIA).
Luke is an Associate in the Client Solutions team. He is involved in all aspects of client interactions from business development, investor relations and distribution and marketing.
Luke holds a Bachelor degree in Business Management from the University of East Anglia, UK.
Juliana is an Analyst with Stafford Timberland, where she is involved in all aspects of due diligence for Timberland investment opportunities. Prior to graduation, Juliana supported the Stafford Timberland team through conducting market research on a range of industry-relevant topics.
Jay Peay is a Vice President with Stafford Timberland and is involved in due diligence and transaction sourcing for Timberland investments.
Prior to joining Stafford, Jay was a Deals Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he focused on M&A valuations, market research, and analytics.
Jay is a Certified Public Accountant. He has a Master of Accountancy from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management as well as a BA in Finance and Accounting from Wofford College.
Dan is an Vice President with Stafford’s Timberland team. His focus areas are market analysis, investment due diligence and operational management of timberland investments.
Prior to Stafford, Dan worked as a Forestry, ArcGIS and Bioenergy Analyst at Pöyry in both New Zealand and Australia. His experience includes: forest appraisals, asset due diligence, market trends and analysis and forecasting with a focus on the Asia Pacific region.
Dan holds a Bachelor of Forestry Science from the University of Canterbury.
Carlos Ruiz is a Vice President with Stafford Timberland and is involved in due diligence and transaction sourcing for Timberland investments.
Prior to joining Stafford, Carlos was a Transaction Manager at Manulife where he focused on Farmland and Farmland plus acquisitions in US and Canada
Carlos holds a master’s degree from the University of Georgia as well as a BS in Industrial Engineering.
Jordan Vincent supports Stafford with sourcing, execution, and monitoring of investments within the Timberland team.
Prior to Stafford, Jordan oversaw finance and corporate strategy responsibilities serving on the leadership team of a private equity platform acquiring and managing renewable power and oil & gas mineral investments. Before this, Jordan worked at Equilibrium Capital and Lime Rock Resources, where he led and monitored private equity investments in sustainable agriculture and natural resources, and at Petrie Partners, where he advised on a variety of mergers, acquisitions and corporate restructurings.
Jordan holds an MBA from Northwestern University and bachelor's degrees from the Business Honors Program and Engineering Route to Business Program at the University of Texas at Austin.
Tom Williams is responsible for fund operations of the timberland products. Prior to joining Stafford, he worked at DWS across Private Equity and Infrastructure.
He trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and holds a a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Leeds.
Henry is a Vice President with Stafford Timberland, and is involved in investor relations, asset due diligence, market research and sustainability.
Prior to Stafford, he was a Consultant at AFRY Management Consulting where he managed a range of projects including asset due diligence, valuations and market studies.
He holds a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Forestry from the University of Bangor.
Amy Zhao is Portfolio Analyst with Stafford Timberland. Her focus areas are portfolio management, investment modelling, and investor reporting.
Prior to Stafford, Amy worked as a Senior Portfolio Analyst at Challenger where she was responsible for origination, due diligence, portfolio management, and credit reporting.
Amy is a qualified Chartered Accountant with Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CA ANZ) and holds a Master of Accounting from the University of New South Wales.
Sustainability
Marta Jankovic is the Head of Sustainability at Stafford. Marta works closely with Stafford’s Investment Teams and is focused on shaping Stafford’s sustainable investing strategy, fostering engagement with clients, policy and industry stakeholders.
Prior to Stafford, Marta was responsible for the delivery of client responsible investment policy objectives at APG Asset Management, representing the Responsible Investment team on the Committee for Investment Proposals, and later advised APG’s Private Markets teams on implementation of EU sustainability regulation (SFDR). Marta was also a Director in the Stewardship team at BlackRock.
Marta holds a Masters of Arts in EU Law from King’s College London and a Bachelors of Arts (German Studies) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales, in Sydney.
William Javaux is part of the Sustainability Team and supports the implementation of Stafford’s sustainability strategy and objectives, including the firm's Net Zero commitments and ESG integration effort.
Prior to joining Stafford, William worked for ESG Book and Iceberg Data Lab where he supported investment firms with integrating ESG, climate and biodiversity data within the investment process.
William holds a MSc in Climate Change Management & Finance from Imperial College London and both a BSc and MSc in Business Engineering from the Louvain School of Management.
Client Solutions
Valentina Abbott is Global Head of Client Solutions and is responsible for the development of Stafford’s Client Solutions and Relationship Management function.
Prior to Stafford, Valentina was Global Head of IFM’s Global Relationship Group where she was responsible for international business development and private markets capital raising programs, investor relations and product development efforts.
Valentina holds a Masters of Operational Leadership from Melbourne Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne.
Niels is a portfolio manager and private equity product specialist for Stafford’s Client Solutions team.
Prior to joining Stafford, Niels was co-heading the private equity activities at Robeco, which managed and advised over USD 2bln of assets in private equity. Niels started his career at ING Structured Finance.
Niels holds a Masters of Science in Business Administration from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
Isabella is a Marketing Manager at Stafford and is responsible for the fund marketing and branding across each business line.
Prior to joining Stafford, Isabella worked at an impact investing fund, Conduit Connect, where she headed its marketing activities.
Isabella holds a Bachelor of Arts and Science in History and Global Sustainable Development from the University of Warwick.
Jade Collins is Stafford’s Marketing and Communications Associate and is responsible for supporting the Client Solutions team and brand development. She contributes across digital publishing, content creation, events, and communications.
Prior to Stafford, Jade was a Marketing Executive at a venture capital firm that was an investment vehicle for the Mayor of London. There she was responsible for their marketing content and strategies, as well as their start-up accelerator programme for underrepresented founders.
Jade holds a MSc in International Marketing and BA in Film from the University of Surrey.
Laurence Gallo is a Natural Capital Client Portfolio Manager within Stafford’s Client Solutions Team, where she focuses on managing investor relationships and supporting capital raising initiatives.
Prior to joining Stafford, Laurence was a Product Strategist at BlackRock, where she specialised in fundraising strategy and client relationship management across a range of asset classes in both public and private markets.
Laurence holds an MSc in Economics and Mathematics from La Sorbonne, Paris, and an MSc in Investment Management from Bayes Business School, London.
Yoon Ku Kang is an Assistant Manager in Stafford's Client Solutions team in Asia.
Yoon Ku initially joined Stafford as an intern at the Seoul office before joining full time. Prior to Stafford, he interned as an equities analyst at Meritz Asset Management where he conducted due diligence on the Korean healthcare sector.
Yoon Ku attended the Georgia Institute of Technology and majored in Biomedical Engineering.
Gregor is responsible for business development efforts across Europe.
Prior to Stafford, he was Managing Partner at Cartesius Corporate Finance, an advisory boutique offering placement agent services for alternative investment managers and corporate finance services targeting the energy and cleantech sector. Previously, Gregor was Director and Head of Finance at KBR Finance, a corporate finance boutique, and a sell-side analyst for Sal. Oppenheim, covering European utility and renewable energy companies. Gregor started his career as a management consultant at Capgemini’s energy practice.
He holds a PhD in business administration from the University of Duisburg-Essen/Germany where he worked as post-graduate at the Chair of Energy Economics.
Ashley works on the client solutions team in North America.
Prior to joining Stafford, she worked in business development and client relations with DW Partners, a multi-strategy/special situations credit firm. Previously, Ashley was Director of Investor Relations at Meritage Capital, a boutique investment management firm specializing in differentiated hedge fund solutions and was a Senior Associate, Business Development with Pine River Capital Management, a global alternative asset manager. Ashley began her career in alternatives as an Investor Relations Analyst at King Street Capital Management.
She received a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial Management and Spanish Studies from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.
Dermot McCloskey is Head of Client Solutions in the UK.
Prior to joining Stafford Dermot worked for Inframation where he led the firm’s research across the infrastructure, power, energy and renewable energy sectors globally. More recently, Dermot focused on building out the firm’s fund and institutional coverage, producing regular commentary on the sector and building a market-leading data platform.
He holds an LLB in Laws from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Deborah Monney is an Analyst in the Client Solutions team in Zurich. Fluent in German, French, and English, she is involved in all aspects of client interactions from business development, investor relations and marketing.
Deborah holds a Bachelor of Science from EHL Hospitality Business School in Lausanne.
Elysse Morgan is the Head of Client Solutions Australia at Stafford Capital Partners.
In this role, she leads relationship management, business development and capital-raising efforts across the region.
Prior to joining Stafford, Elysse built a distinguished 15-year career in journalism, as the editor and presenter of the ABC's business television program The Business and as the network’s economics correspondent.
Elysse is a former trustee director of Media Super.
Christophe is Regional Lead for Europe. His focus markets include Switzerland, France, the Nordics, and the Benelux.
Prior to joining Stafford in 2020, Christophe worked as an associate with Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm, DWS, where he completed the global graduate programme and integrated the Insurance Coverage team. As part of his responsibilities, Christophe maintained relationships with insurance companies and supported senior management on various sales activities.
Christophe has a Master in Finance degree from EDHEC Business School, and a Bachelor’s degree from the École Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL).
Stafford Global Operations
José de Bruin is Head of Risk Management and is responsible for independent risk oversight and control at Stafford Capital Partners.
Prior to Stafford, José was an investment risk manager at Dutch pension investor PGGM where she provided independent risk advice directly to the pension fund board on strategic and fiduciary topics. She was also responsible for independent risk management for the Listed and Private Real Estate portfolios and led multiple initiatives focused on climate risk management and impact investing.
José is a CFA Charterholder and holds a master's degree in International Financial Management from Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and a master's degree in Business and Economics from Uppsala University.
Vicky is a Finance Assistant for Stafford, responsible for the management of corporate invoices received for the corporate entities within group.
Prior to joining Stafford, Vicky worked in finance for a digital print company, and has experience in company mergers.
Vicky is a part qualified AAT accountant.
Charlie Cushing is a Fund Associate in Stafford's Real Assets team, working in fund operations, finance and investor reporting, with a focus on Infrastructure.
Gurdeep Dhillon is Head of Technology and is responsible for setting and delivering the organisation’s technology strategy, ensuring systems and services are secure, reliable, and aligned with business goals.
Emma is a Fund Controller at Stafford working in the Real Assets Team.
Prior to joining Stafford, Emma initially worked in Assurance at both PwC, Jersey and Deloitte, Cape Town where she focused on asset management, trust and fiduciary services. More recently, Emma was a Junior Client Relationship Manager at Stonehage Fleming, Jersey working in the family office division with UHNW clients.
She is a qualified Chartered Accountant (South Africa), and holds both a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting from the University of Cape Town.
Sarah is Stafford’s Head of HR, and responsible for defining our people related strategies to ensure we attract, develop and retain our talent.
Prior to joining Stafford, Sarah worked at Insight Investment in both London and New York offices and across several HR specialisms.
Sarah holds a BA in History and Classics at Swansea University and an MA in Human Resource Management at London Metropolitan University.
Michael is Head of Fund Operations, and is responsible for the operation of the timberland, infrastructure and agriculture and food funds, including reporting, cash management, investor relations, assisting the investment team and administration.
Prior to joining Stafford, he worked in the oil and gas industry.
He trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales whilst at Stafford and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Sheffield.
Beth Greenhalgh provides administrative support to the Operations, HR, IT, General Counsel, and Compliance teams, as well as across all offices outside London. Some of her responsibilities include vendor management and onboarding/offboarding support.
Chloe is Stafford's HR Manager overseeing the day-to-day operations of our HR function whilst partnering with the business to deliver people focused and commercial outcomes.
Prior to Stafford, Chloe spent 11 years working within the legal sector across several HR specialisms and managed HR operations teams regionally and globally.
Chloe holds a BA in Business Administration at The University of Greenwich and an MA in Human Resource Management at London Metropolitan University.
Brett Himbury is Chairman of Stafford Capital Partners.
Brett is Non Executive Director and Senior Advisor to a number of Commercial, Charitable and Community Organisations. This follows a successful executive career spanning over 38 years in financial services. Brett was most recently CEO of IFM Investors for ten years where he led the transformation of the firm from A$20Bn to A$167Bn, with 89% of products and mandates outperforming on behalf of over 450 institutional clients across 23 countries.
Brett has an MBA (Exec) from the AGSM, University of NSW, and works closely with the team at Stafford providing strategic advice and support globally.
Charlie Kyaing is a Fund Controller in Stafford’s Real Assets team, responsible for overseeing fund operations and investor reporting, with a focus on Infrastructure.
Before joining Stafford, Charlie spent seven years at Kreston Reeves, an accountancy practice, gaining experience across multiple service lines, and later worked as a Fund Accountant at Praxis Group, a private equity real estate investment firm.
He is a Chartered Accountant (ACCA) and holds a First Class Honours degree in Business from the University of Brighton.
David is Stafford’s Chief Investment Officer
Prior to joining Stafford, David was, for 5 years Managing Director of Building Schools for the Future Investments LLP in the UK, which was successfully sold in August 2011. He previously spent 10 years with Barclays Private Equity where he was a founding member of their infrastructure team and earlier in his career he headed the London based corporate bank team of a Scottish clearing banking.
He received a Masters degree in Finance from the London Business School.
Juli is an investment analyst focused on providing project support across the Stafford Group. She delivers various business process improvements and special projects across the business.
Prior to joining Stafford Juli assisted in the development of research for Brazilian public agricultural research corporation.
Juli is a qualified Chemical Technician and Forest Engineer and is currently enrolled for a Masters in Business Administration specialising in Big Data and Market Intelligence.
Graeme is an experienced company director and executive with over thirty years' experience in banking and financial services.
Graeme has occupied numerous senior positions within the Commonwealth Bank of Australia involving audit, property investment, finance, operations and compliance. Graeme is a director of Solutions in Business Pty Ltd, a company that specialises in providing advice to the funds management industry. Graeme also currently acts as an independent director and executive director for a number of companies and as an external member on a number of compliance committees.
Graeme's qualifications include a Bachelor of Business, Postgraduate Diploma in Banking Management and a Masters of Business Administration from Macquarie Graduate School of Management. Graeme is a member of the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants, Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.
Jim is General Counsel of Stafford Capital Partners.
Prior to joining Stafford, Jim was Group General Counsel and Company Secretary at James Fisher & Sons plc, where he was responsible for supporting the board of directors, and for providing legal, company secretarial and insurance services to the group worldwide. Prior to James Fisher, Jim had inhouse roles at DS Smith plc and Thomson Reuters Group.
Jim is a qualified solicitor in England & Wales, having trained and qualified with Ashurst LLP, and has an MA in Japanese Studies from Cambridge University (UK) and Nihon University (Japan).
Lauren Masson is Chief Financial Officer at Stafford and is responsible for leading the firm's financial strategy, fund operations and tax functions globally. Lauren is also a member of Stafford's Executive Management Board (EMB) and works closely with the EMB to oversee and deliver on the firm's day-to-day operations.
Prior to joining Stafford, Lauren served as the Real Assets Finance Director at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). In this role she was a member of LGIM’s Real Assets Management and Executive Committees and led the transformation of LGIM’s finance operations and implemented robust controls to meet requirements from institutional investors. Lauren also held senior positions at Deloitte UK, including Director in Deloitte's Audit and Assurance practice.
Lauren received her FCA from the Chartered Accountants Ireland and holds a Bachelor degree in Business Studies and a Professional Diploma in Accounting from Dublin City University.
Lara Michael is Stafford’s Finance Manager, responsible for the corporate accounting function.
Prior to joining Stafford, Lara worked in assurance in the financial services industry at BDO, London and PricewaterhouseCoopers, Guernsey, with a focus on private equity and asset management.
She is a qualified Chartered Accountant (South Africa) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with majors in Accounting, Managerial Accounting and Finance, from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. Lara also has a master’s in Financial Leadership from BPP University.
Elizabeth is a tax manager and is involved with the tax compliance and reporting for Stafford.
Robert Noble is our Finance Business Partner and is responsible for leading and developing the Financial Planning & Analysis capability within Stafford, along with providing critical decision support and Board level deliverables.
Prior to Stafford, Robert has gained significant experience in Finance and FP&A from Financial Services, Energy and Retail sectors.
Robert has been ACCA qualified for over 10 years and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from University of East Anglia, which predominantly focused on Low Carbon Technologies.
Michael van Och is Stafford’s Compliance Officer based in Rotterdam.
Prior to joining Stafford, Michael worked at Knab for five years formerly as a Business Consultant and leaving as Compliance Officer. Michael started his career at Robeco where he was based in the Netherlands for ten years and Miami for a couple. He fulfilled different roles during his time at Robeco with a strong focus on Compliance.
Michael is a Certified Compliance Professional (certified by the Dutch Compliance Institute) and holds a Master of Science degree in Criminology from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
Chris is responsible for the operation of Stafford Private Equity’s funds, including cash management, processing of corporate actions and performance monitoring of investments. Prior to joining Stafford, Chris worked at Computershare for six years where he was a project manager in the corporate actions division. He holds a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance from Kaplan.
Rahul Patel is a Financial Accountant and is responsible for the Corporate Accounting at Stafford Capital Partners.
Prior to Stafford, Rahul worked across Fin-Tech and Professional Services sectors where he trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
Rahul is a Chartered Accountant with the ACCA and holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from The University of Nottingham.
Victoria is Chief Compliance Officer at Stafford and is responsible for all aspects of compliance across the business.
Victoria brings over 20 years of experience in legal and compliance roles within financial services. Most recently at gunnercooke LLP, Victoria advised investment managers on all aspects of private investment management, compliance strategy, and global regulatory matters. Prior to that, Victoria was General Counsel at MVision Private Equity Advisers for nine years.
Victoria holds a Batchelors degree in Natural Sciences, a Distinction in Legal Practice from BPP Law School and trained in the Private Equity Group at SJ Berwin LLP.
Dhara is Stafford’s Tax Manager and is Responsible for tax compliance, planning and reporting on behalf of the Stafford funds.
Prior to joining Stafford, Dhara worked as a Vice President in the transaction tax team at Duff and Phelps and as a Tax Manager in the KPMG private equity funds team.
She is a qualified Chartered Accountant, qualified Chartered Tax Advisor and holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from Reading University.
Syed Muhammad Abdul Raffay is a fund controller within Stafford’s Fund Finance team, leading the firm’s US private equity operations through fund operations, investor reporting, and financial oversight.
Prior to joining Stafford, Raffay worked at KPMG UK for over five years, rising to Assistant Manager within the Asset Management audit practice. There, he led audits for clients across private equity, real estate, and institutional asset management, with a focus on financial reporting, fund structures, valuation assessments, governance reviews, and fund-level control testing.
Raffay is an ACA-qualified Chartered Accountant through the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). He also holds a Master of Science in Business Analytics from Queen Mary, University of London, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Mathematics from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi.
Wes is Stafford's Rewards & People Data Analyst, and responsible for our HR & People data and reward structures.
Prior to joining Stafford, Wes worked in Herbert Smith Freehills’ HR department in various roles, where he was responsible for the entire employee lifecycle, people analytics projects and HR operations initiatives.
Justin is a Tax Transaction Manager within Stafford's tax team and is responsible for providing tax structuring and advice across Stafford's international investments.
Marcus Wallace is a Fund Controller, working in the Fund's Operations team and is responsible for the oversight of Stafford’s Timberland & Agriculture Fund's finances & operations.
Prior to Stafford, Marcus worked for Fund Operations at Pantheon, with specific focus on their Primary & Co-Invest Strategies and had spent 4 years with KPMG in their private equity audit department.
Marcus a holds a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Glasgow where he received the 'Adam Smith Scholar Award for Excellence' and is a Chartered Accountant with the ICAEW.
Angus is responsible for all aspects of the business at Stafford, working across strategy formulation, team development, relationship management and investment evaluation.
Prior to Stafford Angus worked as a direct investor in the private equity and venture capital markets. He started his career with Thompson Clive & Partners, a life sciences and technology private equity firm with investments in Europe and the US. He then co-founded Solon Ventures, a UK venture capital firm.
He received an MA in Law from Cambridge University.
Mark works as Fund Associate based in Sydney and focused on Fund Operations and Investment Support as well as other key duties for Stafford’s Australian Private Equity business.
Prior to joining Stafford, Mark worked at One Investment Group and Mainstream Group Holdings Limited in registry division.
Mark holds a Master of Commerce in Finance and a Bachelor of Commerce in Professional Accounting from Macquarie University, Sydney.