ARA ASSET MANAGEMENT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Analyst
- Commercial Real Estate
Alexandre is an analyst in the Commercial Real Estate Team providing support in the modelling, underwriting, structuring and management of deals across our lending sectors. Prior to joining Venn in 2021, Alexandre was an analyst at Barclays for two years within the Asset and Real Estate Finance Investment Banking Team. Alexandre has a Master of Finance from ESSEC Business School, Paris.
Angus is an analyst within the technology team, where he develops and maintains the VeRA system that underpins the firm's investment activities, together with the associated infrastructure supporting the business. Angus graduated from the University of Cambridge with a master's degree, having studied materials science and physics.
Annie works within the Operations team as an Operations and Finance Analyst. Annie holds a BSc in Finance and Accounting from Brunel University London, graduating with a first class honours.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Senior Member of Our Commercial Real Estate
- Commercial Real Estate
Beatrice is co-founder and senior member of our Commercial Real Estate business, having joined the firm in 2013 to set up the real estate franchise alongside Paul House. She has an extensive background in real estate and corporate lending gained over her previous roles at Citi, HSBC and the Bank of New York. At Citi, Beatrice was a lead on over 2.5 billion of successful loan restructurings and worked on the distribution of over 3 billion of CRE debt to a wide range of investors globally. Her corporate experience was gained from credit roles in Telecoms and Media team at HSBC and the Bank of New York. Beatrice holds a Master's degree in Economics and Finance from Bristol University, and a first degree from the Sorbonne in Paris.
Catherine is Chief of Staff at ARA Venn, where she is responsible for various internal corporate functions including communications, human resources, projects and initiatives. She is a qualified lawyer with ten years' legal experience, gained both in private practice as a litigator and as an inhouse solicitor at Smith & Williamson, where she dealt with a broad range of issues affecting all areas of the business. Catherine holds an honours degree in law from Durham University.
Charles has joined the firm in 2022 as Head of Capital Markets for the residential mortgage business. He has a number of years' experience within the financial service industry with a strong credit focus. Prior to joining ARA Venn, Charles was Senior Vice President at Kensington Mortgages, the largest UK specialist mortgage lender, where he structured and placed flow agreements, mortgage portfolio sales and Residential Mortgage Backed Securities. He has also spent a number of years trading structured credit and rate derivative products at Société Générale and HSBC. Charles holds an MSc in quantitative finance from ESSEC Business School and an engineering MSc in optics from Institut d'Optique Graduate School.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Chief Technology Officer
Chris leads the development of Venn's proprietary trade booking and valuation system (VeRA), supporting its integration with the firm's risk analytics framework and wider business activities. He additionally has technical oversight of the organisation's resilient computerised infrastructure. Prior to joining Venn, Chris was a Research Assistant at the University of Oxford, where he also obtained a master's degree and doctorate in computer science.
David joined ARA Venn having worked for ten years in investment banking as a quantitative analyst. His role at ARA Venn is to design and implement cutting-edge financial models and industry-standard risk reporting tools. These are bundled together into the firm's VeRA package, which is used internally and licensed to third party asset managers. He holds both an undergraduate degree and an advanced diploma in applied mathematics from Cambridge University.
Charlotte works within the Operations team as a Financial Accountant. She qualified with EY Jersey as a Chartered Accountant, where she worked within both the Banking & Capital Markets and Wealth & Asset Management teams. Charlotte holds a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Exeter.
Fares is an analyst on the Commercial Real Estate Team providing support in the modelling, underwriting, structuring and management of deals across our lending sectors. Prior to joining Venn in 2020, Fares was a Consultant at Deloitte US Consulting in New York. Fares has a Master of Finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management and a BSc in Management Science from University College London.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
Managing Partner and co-founder, with primary responsibility for managing the business. Gary also head's the firm's mortgage finance business and has over 20 years of experience in structured finance and private credit. He has led the structuring and execution on several mandates for Venn including the acquisition and refinancing of Venn's first Dutch residential mortgage portfolio. He was formerly co-head of alternative assets and structured credit solutions for Europe at Nomura, and a senior structurer in the European bank solutions team at Goldman Sachs. He started his career as a tax and structured finance lawyer at Linklaters, and has a degree in law from Oxford University.
George is a senior member of the Commercial Real Estate team and leads the origination, negotiation and execution of investments across Venn's commercial real estate strategies. George started his career as a lawyer at Macfarlanes LLP and has over 11 years of transactional experience. George holds a Masters in Finance from London Business School and a first degree from the University of Edinburgh.
Georgios works within the Operations team as the Operations and Finance Analyst. Georgios graduated from Essex Business School with a BSc in Accounting & Finance and also holds a Masters from King's College London in Accounting & Financial Management.
Job Titles:
- Analyst
- Commercial Real Estate
Hamzah is an analyst in the Commercial Real Estate Team providing support in the modelling, underwriting, structuring and management of deals across our lending sectors. Hamzah has an MPhil in Real Estate Finance from the University of Cambridge and a Master in Architecture from Yale University.
Job Titles:
- Analyst
- Commercial Real Estate
Harry is an analyst in the Commercial Real Estate Team providing support in the modelling, underwriting, structuring and management of deals across our lending sectors. Prior to joining ARA Venn in 2021, Harry was in the Leveraged and Acquisition Finance Team at Morgan Stanley. Harry has a Masters in American History and Politics from University College London, and a BA in History from the University of Cambridge.
James works within the Operations team, as Head of Operations and Finance. He has a number of years' experience within the financial service industry across alternative asset investment structures. He has worked predominately in credit covering a wide range of products and sectors. He qualified as a chartered accountant in Grant Thornton's audit team before joining Close Brothers in 2013. Prior to joining ARA Venn he worked at Pollen Street Capital as Head of Finance - Credit. James holds a BSc in Geography and an MA in Contemporary History, both from the University of Bristol.
Jon Taylor provides CRE underwriting advisory services to ARA Venn. He runs Northdale Asset Management, a real estate asset management company, and has been involved in the real estate industry for 20 years. His experience covers a broad range of originating, underwriting and asset managing debt and equity investments across the UK and Europe, and he previously worked at Citigroup and Merrill Lynch Real Estate Finance groups. Jon is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Justin works within the Operations team, as a Project Manager. He has over 10 years of experience working across alternative asset investment structures in both financial and operational roles. He qualified as an ACA with Deloitte LLP and subsequently worked for Europa Capital. Justin has a degree in Economics from the University of Leeds.
Katie is a consultant to ARA Venn, with responsibility for coordinating the firm's environmental, social and governance initiatives. She is a qualified lawyer having started her career as a commercial lawyer at Simmons & Simmons advising on a broad range of commercial contracts and projects. Katie holds an honours degree in law from Durham University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Executive
- Non - Executive Director on the Supervisory Board of Venn
Kees Engel is a non-executive director on the supervisory board of Venn's Dutch mortgage business. Kees is a senior executive with over 35 years of industry experience in the Dutch financial services and information technology market, including his role as CEO of Quion Group, a leading Dutch mortgage servicer. Kees has worked for several other companies at senior and executive positions, and is currently the Chief Commercial Officer of NINtec Groep B.V.. He has a degree in electric engineering and Information Technology.
Kobe works within the operations team as a treasury associate. Prior to working at Venn, he joined Goldman Sachs on their graduate program. During his two years there he worked within the treasury and prime brokerage businesses. He has a first class honours degree in Business & Management from the University of Kent.
Lachlan joined ARA in July 2019 and is responsible for origination and capital partner relationships. Lachlan has more than 10 years experience managing real estate funds, leading transactions and developing real estate investment strategies both as a portfolio manager in Europe and as an advisor for institutional investors in the Asia Pacific region. He was previously portfolio manager for the Cromwell European REIT, a £1.8 billion portfolio invested across 7 European countries, and before that spent four years in the real estate division of Morgan Stanley Capital International. Lachlan holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of New South Wales.
Laura works within the Operations team as Financial Controller. Laura qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers before working at Funding Circle, where she was responsible for the day-to-day operations and reporting of the Funding Circle-sponsored public and private funds. Prior to joining ARA Venn, she worked as a Director at an accountancy practice in Guernsey. Laura holds a BA(Hons) in History from Durham University.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Operating Officer
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Luke has over 22 years of experience in operational and infrastructure roles, with a particular focus on credit products. Before joining ARA Venn in 2015, Luke was Head of Operations at CQS, a $14bn global multi-asset hedge fund. Prior to that, he managed Product Control at Cairn Capital, a credit asset manager, and was an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs leading the structured credit middle office. Luke has a degree in Mathematics from the University of East Anglia.
Job Titles:
- Head of Compliance
- Compliance
Marianne is Head of Compliance. Prior to joining, Marianne has held several in-house compliance roles at Natixis Investment Managers and Aviva Investors. Marianne has provided in-depth compliance support specifically in relation to real estate (as an asset class) and her notable experience covers the full investment cycle. Marianne is a qualified solicitor, having trained at Macfarlanes and has also worked in compliance consultancy at KPMG. In addition, Marianne began her career working in the Enforcement & Financial Crime team at the FSA (now FCA).
Mark Prisk is an experienced company director and former Housing Minister of State, with a track record of leadership and delivery in both the public and private sectors. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, with considerable experience in the UK's residential and commercial real estate markets. Amongst several non-executive roles, he is Strategic Advisor to the Board of Benoy Ltd, a global practice of architects, master planners and designers.
As Housing Minister, he helped establish the UK's Build to Rent market and introduced a revolving Local Infrastructure Fund to deliver 78,000 new homes. He was responsible for establishing the UK Government's first Guarantee Schemes for both the Private Rented sector and Affordable Housing sector, each worth £3bn.
Mark served as a Member of Parliament between 2001-2019 and was a senior member of the House of Commons Housing & Local Government Select Committee between 2014-2019. He was appointed as the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to the Nordic nations in 2014, serving until 2019.
Mark is a qualified senior executive coach and works with business and public sector leaders.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chief Executive Officer of ARA Europe
Mr Mark Ebbinghaus is Chief Executive Officer of ARA Europe, responsible for identifying and executing business and investment opportunities in Europe. He covers both private and public markets, funds management initiatives, and drives acquisitive and organic growth in the platform. Mr Ebbinghaus is concurrently Chairman of both ARA Dunedin, ARA's joint venture (JV) with Dunedin Property Asset Management to invest in and manage real estate assets in the United Kingdom, and ARA Venn, ARA's JV with Venn Partners to invest in and manage funds and other ownership vehicles covering real estate credit strategies in Europe. He is also responsible for the Group's real estate credit initiatives and a member of the ARA Group Business Development Committee which drives and coordinates all new business initiatives.
Job Titles:
- Non - Executive Director
- Group CEO of ARA Asset Management Limited
- Group CIO
Mr Moses K. Song is Group CEO of ARA Asset Management Limited. Mr Song concurrently serves as Group CIO, where he is responsible for leading all principal investing activities, establishing new investment platforms, group strategy and overseeing ARA's Country Desks. In addition, Mr Song leads the Group Business Development Committee, which drives and coordinates all new business and product initiatives, and serves on the ARA Group Investment Review Committee. He is also a Non-Executive Director of the Managers of ARA US Hospitality Trust.
Job Titles:
- Non - Executive Director
- Deputy Group CEO and Group COO of ARA Asset Management Limited
Mr Ng Beng Tiong is Deputy Group CEO and Group COO of ARA Asset Management Limited. He oversees the performance of the Group's business units globally and is responsible for the integration of and coordination among the various divisions in the Group. Mr Ng concurrently holds the position of Executive Chairman of APM Group and oversees the property management and MICE management business. In addition, he has oversight of the Group Corporate Division which includes corporate services, technology, analytics, governance and sustainability. Mr Ng is a member of the ARA Group Business Development Committee which drives and coordinates all new business and product initiatives, a member of the ARA Group Investment Review Committee which oversees its global investment strategy, and Deputy Chairman of the ARA Group Digital Strategy Committee which is responsible for leading the transformation of ARA into a smart enterprise and growth into the digital marketplace. He is a member of the Investment Committee and Executive Committee of the ARA Private Funds (APAC Real Estate) division. Mr Ng is also a board member of the Group's Infrastructure Division and ARA Private Funds (Logistics Real Estate) Division.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Real Estate
- Senior Member
Oriane is a senior member of the team and leads the origination, negotiation and execution of our social housing investments, and is Deputy Portfolio Manager for the £3 billion Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme 2020. Oriane has over 13 years of corporate lending experience and was a Director in the social housing team at M&G plc prior to joining ARA Venn in 2020. She holds a Master in Management from EDHEC Business School and a MSc in Finance from the University of Strathclyde Business School. Oriane is a CFA Charterholder.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Real Estate
- Senior Member of the Commercial Real Estate Team
Pablo is a senior member of the Commercial Real Estate team. Prior to joining ARA Venn in 2019, Pablo was a Director within BNP Paribas' Real Estate Finance team, leading the origination and execution of CRE transactions in Spain and Portugal. With over 11 years' experience, Pablo has completed over 1.6bn of commercial real estate financings across Europe covering a cross section of senior and whole loan lending strategies. As Head of Venn Spain, he is responsible for all the firm's in-country activities including sourcing, structuring and managing real estate debt investments in the Iberian market. Pablo holds a postgraduate degree from the London School of Economics (LSE) and an undergraduate degree from Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE).
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner
- Managing Partner and Co - Founder of Our Commercial Real Estate
Managing Partner and co-founder of our Commercial Real Estate business. Before joining Venn in 2013, Paul spent over 20 years with Citigroup, heading Citi's European Real Estate business. Paul has a wealth of experience in loan origination, transaction structuring, advisory and loan distribution. Paul benefits from an extensive list of key relationships with sponsors and market participants, and has led a number of landmark transactions including the largest hotel deal in Europe. Paul started his career with Citi in 1993 in Canada, before moving to Citi New York, and then to Citi in London in 2000. Paul is a member of the CFA Institute and holds an MBA from Schulich School of Business in Toronto, Canada.
Job Titles:
- Non - Executive Director of PRS Operations Limited
- PRS Operations Ltd
Peter Impey is a non-executive director of PRS Operations Limited, a 100% subsidiary of Venn Partners and the operator of the £3.5 billion UK government guaranteed funding scheme for PRS loans. Peter's career encompasses over 40 years in commercial banking and social finance, with a particular focus on risk management, risk assessment and credit approval. He has been responsible for the development and operation of risk management and analysis techniques across a wide range of commercial and social sectors. Since 1995, he has focused on the development and implementation financial structures for the delivery of social programmes. More recently, he provided commercial advice and support for the design and implementation of the Housing Guarantees Schemes to, firstly, HM Treasury and, thereafter, to the Department for Communities and Local Government. He serves on the Board of Affordable Housing Finance PLC as a DCLG nominee and in August 2015 he was also appointed as an independent director of PRS Operations Ltd, the delivery vehicle for the Private Rented Sector Guarantees Scheme.
Job Titles:
- in - House Legal Counsel for Venn
- Legal
Priya is in-house legal counsel for Venn, primarily supporting the execution and structuring teams and also providing legal support across the business. Prior to joining Venn in March 2021, Priya spent three and a half years as an associate in Taylor Wessing LLP's Banking & Finance team, where she advised on a broad range of debt finance transactions, with a particular focus on real estate investment and development finance. Priya also has experience in project finance, acquisition finance and general corporate finance transactions.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Commercial Real Estate
Richard is a partner in the Commercial Real Estate business and was part of the founding team at ARA Venn. Formerly in the asset backed financing groups at JP Morgan and Fitch Ratings, he has over 21 years' experience in the asset finance and credit markets having worked across a spectrum of asset classes including commercial and residential real estate financings. He has a proven track record in building and managing innovative financing platforms, as well as the development of risk management tools. Richard has a Master's in finance and a degree in law.
Job Titles:
- Non - Executive Director
- Chairman of PRS Operations Ltd
Roger Bright was appointed Chairman of PRS Operations Ltd in August 2015. Roger's career spans some 40 years at the public/private sector interface, much of it in the real estate and housing sectors. Following 17 years in Whitehall at the Department of the Environment, he became Deputy Chief Executive at the Housing Corporation where he led the introduction of risk-based regulation for the housing association sector as it became increasingly reliant on private finance. After a stint in financial services regulation, he became Chief Executive of The Crown Estate in 2001, where he led the modernisation and commercialisation of the business until retiring in 2011. He now holds a number of non-executive roles, including board member at London First, where he chaired a task force which published "Home Truths - 12 steps to solving London's Housing Crisis" in 2014. He chairs the Advisory Board at Curtin&Co, a public affairs company specialising in planning and development; is deputy chairman of the council at City University London, a council member of the Royal Veterinary College and a board member of The Royal Parks.
Sarah is our Executive Assistant and Office Manager at ARA Venn. She has extensive experience supporting partners, teams and leaders in management at law firms in London, including at Macfarlanes and Fasken Martineau. Prior to that, Sarah managed land titles for public listed mining and exploration companies in Australia.
Sarah Wall has over 20 years' experience as a senior funder to the social housing, real estate and infrastructure industries. She has served as a Non-Executive on the Social Housing Regulator and is currently Non-Executive Director at Sixty Bricks Ltd., a property development company owned by Waltham Forest Council. In her executive career, Sarah was most recently a senior portfolio manager at Aviva, responsible for managing over £1bn of pension and insurance assets. She previously ran the £2bn illiquid credit portfolio at the Pension Protection Fund and was Director of Credit Research and Debt Restructuring at M&G. Sarah also has a strong background in risk management, having been Head of Investment Risk at Pension Insurance Corporation, where she set up the function and co-authored the company's first ORSA. She rated social housing bonds at Fitch Ratings and CMBS at DBRS. Sarah has mentored women in the investment industry and was a Timewise Power Part Timer. She has a Masters' degree from St. John's College, Oxford and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Real Estate
- Senior Member
Sarwesh is a senior member of the team and leads the risk and portfolio management for the commercial real estate business. He is responsible for the loan portfolio monitoring, development of the risk infrastructure and for providing inputs on new deals and fund raising. Prior to joining ARA Venn in 2021, Sarwesh had over 11 years of experience in commercial real estate including 8 years at Moody's. He holds a Masters in Real Estate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.
Simon works within the Operations team as a Financial Accountant. He qualified with PricewaterhouseCoopers Dublin as an ACA, where he worked within their asset and wealth management department. He has a Masters degree in Accounting from the National University of Ireland Galway. CLOSE
Susan has over 25 years of leadership in senior finance roles and is an experienced non-executive director. She brings extensive relevant experience to the Board of Saltaire, having spent 10 years as CFO of Peabody Trust, one of the oldest and largest affordable housing providers, where she played a key role delivering significant business growth and change, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and debt raising for their development pipeline.
She had previously spent a further eight years in the affordable housing market with Hastoe Housing, as Finance Director, and at Richmond Housing Partnership. Prior to that, she worked in banking and accountancy. Her other current non-executive roles include LandAid and VSO International.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Commercial Real Estate
Vicky is an associate in the Commercial Real Estate Team providing support in the modelling, underwriting, structuring and management of deals across our lending sectors. Prior to joining Venn in 2019, Vicky was on the Financial modelling team at the UK property company, Telereal Trillium for 2 years providing support to the asset management and investment teams. Vicky has a Masters in Chemistry from the University of Chicago and a first class undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Oxford.