Team
We are an experienced team with international experience and on the ground presence.
Executive Team
Executive Team
Nilesh Desai Group Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer
Nilesh Desai
Group Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer
Nilesh has over 25 years’ experience across private and public debt within Europe and North America. Previously, Nilesh was Managing Director at Ares Management, Europe, within leveraged and high-yield markets across multiple sectors. Nilesh spent 7 years in the Credit Alternatives Group at The Carlyle Group, London (as a credit committee member) and New York. He started at KPMG, then went to Citigroup’s Leveraged Finance Portfolio Group. Nilesh holds a BSc (Hons) in Management Science from the University of Warwick, is a chartered accountant and a CFA charterholder.
Iván Cristóbal Co-founder, Executive Chairman, Spain
Iván Cristóbal
Co-founder, Executive Chairman, Spain
Iván has over 20 years of experience in private markets. Previously, he was an Independent Insolvency Administrator, handling 150 cases with liabilities exceeding €1.5bn across various industries. Spain’s association of the insolvency administrators (REFOR) acknowledges Iván as a restructuring mediator. Iván holds degrees in auditing and economics plus a master’s from the University of Barcelona and Valencia. He also lectures at the University of Valencia and has joined numerous national discussions with Spanish courts regarding bankruptcy law.
Jocelyn Roberts Group COO & General Counsel
Jocelyn Roberts
Group COO & General Counsel
Jocelyn has over 15 years of experience as a lawyer, 9 of those in-house with financial services firms, including HSBC. Before joining Aptimus, Jocelyn was Head of Legal at Outlier Ventures. Jocelyn gained her private practice experience at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton and Hogan Lovells, focusing on cross-border corporate and financial transactions. Jocelyn is admitted to practice law in England and Wales and holds an MA, BA (hons) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University.
Investments & Origination
Investments & Origination
Carolina Jiménez Head of Capital Solutions
Carolina Jiménez
Head of Capital Solutions
Carolina is part of our investment team and has 14 years’ experience in restructuring and debt advisory within the Spanish middle market. Previously, Carolina was a Director in PwC Spain’s Restructuring and Debt Advisory team, responsible for business recovery, financial services and deal advisory for Spain’s Levante region. Since 2008 she has been involved in over 40 refinancing and underwritings, exceeding €7bn of negotiated debt. Carolina holds a degree in Business Administration from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
Fátima García-Nieto Co-Head of Credit Underwriting
Fátima García-Nieto
Co-Head of Credit Underwriting
Fátima is part of our investment team, overseeing the analysis, underwriting and execution of prospective investee companies. She has 18 years’ experience in corporate finance, credit analysis and credit solutions within the Spanish middle market. Previously, Fátima worked at Deutsche Bank as Head of Credit Risk for Spain’s SME portfolio and at Barclays Bank in the Corporate Banking area in various capacities within credit risk and client coverage. Fátima holds a BA in Business Administration from CUNEF, specialising in Financial Management.
Ignacio Madurga Co-Head of Credit Underwriting
Ignacio Madurga
Co-Head of Credit Underwriting
Ignacio is part of our investment team, overseeing the analysis, underwriting and execution of prospective investee companies. Ignacio has spent 30 years in credit risk analysis, credit structuring and debt restructuring for Spanish corporates. Ignacio has held senior positions at Sareb (Restructuring and Recovery of Spanish SME loans), Royal Bank of Scotland (Global Restructuring Group), ABN AMRO (Credit Structuring and Portfolio management), among others. Ignacio began his career at Banesto and holds a BA in Economics from Complutense University and an MBA from IESE.
Christian Juel Head of ESG and Impact Alignment
Christian Juel
Head of ESG and Impact Alignment
Christian heads up our impact offering and is part of our investment team, where he is responsible for underwriting and executing transactions for prospective investee companies. His 17 years of financial market experience includes over 9 years within the Spanish middle market and further experience across public markets, listed instruments, structured products, and debt capital markets. Previously, Christian worked at Cuantia Capital, advising Spanish SMEs on capital raising and researching secondary direct opportunities. Christian has a BA Hons from Newcastle University, an MBA from IE Business School, Madrid and has attended Impact Investing and Impact Measurement programmes at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
Antón Chaver Origination Managing Director
Antón Chaver
Origination Managing Director
Antón is part of our origination team, originating and structuring new transactions. Antón has 20 years’ experience across private markets within Spain and prior to Aptimus, was founder and CEO of Grachav PM Invest, a financial advisory boutique for SMEs, individuals and institutional investors. Antón is also a founding partner of International Business Hub SL, Beon Global Solutions SL and Electrico.es. He holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Lincolnshire and an Executive MBA from IE Business School.
Jesús Martel Executive Director
Jesús Martel
Executive Director
Jesús is part of our investment team, overseeing existing portfolios. His 10 years of financial industry experience include over 6 years within the middle market in alternative capital solutions across debt and equity. Jesús worked as senior credit analyst for a debt marketplace platform, offering SMEs unsecured asset-backed and equity solutions. He holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration from Universidad San Pablo CEU, a master’s in International Finance from Napier University in Edinburgh and a master’s in Tax Advisory from the University of Cádiz.
Jesús Martel Executive Director
Jesús Martel
Executive Director
Jesús is part of our investment team, overseeing existing portfolios. His 10 years of financial industry experience include over 6 years within the middle market in alternative capital solutions across debt and equity. Jesús worked as senior credit analyst for a debt marketplace platform, offering SMEs unsecured asset-backed and equity solutions. He holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration from Universidad San Pablo CEU, a master’s in International Finance from Napier University in Edinburgh and a master’s in Tax Advisory from the University of Cádiz.
Miguel Ángel Plaza Associate Vice President
Miguel Ángel Plaza
Associate Vice President
Miguel is part of our investment team and has over 6 years of experience in private markets and alternative investments. Previously, Miguel was part of the investment team at alternatives firm RM Funds in London, where he underwrote, executed, and monitored private debt investments, and was involved in the execution of capital raising mandates. He has experience in corporate private debt and equity, real estate, and infrastructure investments, as well as structured products and debt capital markets. Miguel holds a MEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Southampton and is a CFA Charterholder.
Salvador Doncel Associate Vice President
Salvador Doncel
Associate Vice President
Salvador is part of our investment team and focuses on defining, developing, and executing our investee’s ESG and Impact strategies. Salvador has 7 years of experience within sustainable and ESG related consulting at PwC, where he worked with a broad range of clients from IBEX 35 businesses to Private Equity firms and their investees. During this time, he focused on topics such as sustainability reporting regulation, impact measurement, environmental (carbon) footprint analysis and ESG risks and opportunities. Salvador holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Technology Engineering, a Master’s Degree in Industrial Management and the CFA ESG Certificate.
David Martín Origination Junior Associate
David Martín
Origination Junior Associate
David is part of our origination team. Prior to Aptimus, David was part of the Risk Advisory Banking team at Deloitte where he collaborated in the analysis of the prudential risks affecting banking institutions, with a focus on climate risk and ESG. David holds a bilingual degree in Economics and Finance and a MSc in Finance from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, including one year at the Wirtschaftsuniversität in Vienna, Austria. David has passed the CFA Level I and holds the CFA in ESG investing.
Business Development
Business Development
Oliver Riley Head of Insurance Solutions
Oliver Riley
Head of Insurance Solutions
Oliver is Head of Insurance Solutions. He is responsible for business development and client solutions focusing on European institutions and insurance. He has over 11 years’ experience partnering with US and European Insurers on managing balance sheet assets and providing risk management services. Prior to Aptimus, Oliver was a Senior Lead Relationship Manager with BlackRock’s Financial Institutions Group in EMEA. This included building tailored solutions in Fixed Income, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Markets. Oliver holds a BA in Business Management from The University of Nottingham and the IMC from the CFA society.
Louis Stride Associate Vice President
Louis Stride
Associate Vice President
Louis works within the business development team at Aptimus Capital. Prior to Aptimus Capital Louis worked at Waverton Investment Management within the Institutional Sales team, covering institutional & wholesale clients. He began his career at Abrdn within the Product Development & Strategy team and, whilst there, was seconded out to Fenchurch Advisory where he gained experienced within mergers & acquisitions. After leaving Abrdn, he subsequently worked for GFI as a Broker covering commodity derivatives. Louis holds the IMC from the CFA society and is a CAIA charter holder.
Strategic Development
Strategic Development
Kelly Shek Executive Director
Kelly Shek
Executive Director
Kelly is responsible for strategic development at Aptimus Capital Partners. Previously, Kelly spent 12+ years working with endowments, foundations and family offices at Partners Capital, a global outsourced investment office invested across asset classes. She contributed to the growth of the business across a number of positions, including building out the business development, client onboarding, marketing and PR functions. She was also previously a Product Specialist at HSBC Alternative Investments covering Hedge Funds, Private Equity and Real Estate. Kelly holds a MA in Economics from the University of St Andrews, the CISI Investment Advice Diploma and the Investment Management Certificate from the CFA.
Advisers
Advisers
Robert Ekblom Adviser
Robert Ekblom
Adviser
Robert has 30 years of experience in financial markets and investments, focused primarily on Credit strategies and alternatives. He has run an independent business development advisory and capital placement firm working exclusively with reputable alternative asset managers since 2009. Robert is actively involved with Aptimus to support its growth trajectory. Prior to launching his firm, Robert held senior positions in Credit distribution and Structured Solutions at Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers, and RBS Global Markets. He was concurrently Head of the Nordic markets at these institutions. Robert holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Dayton, an MBA in Finance from NYU-Stern School of Business, and has attended Executive Education programs in Private Equity and in General Management Development at Harvard Business School.
Antonio Grandío Adviser
Antonio Grandio
Adviser
Antonio has more than 40 years of experience in financial markets. He is an honorary University Professor focused on financial markets.
Antonio served as Director of Institutional Relations at Banco Pastor and previously worked at multiple organisations including AB Asesores and NMAS1 focused on M&A and business restructuring.
Antonio held the position of Director of the Institute of Maritim Studies at the University of A Coruña; Dean-President of the Economists, Professional Association of A Coruña. He was general director of the Foundation Galicia Europa and secretary and director of twelve courses given at the International University Menéndez Pelayo and in the University of the Atlantic.
Antonio is an author and collaborator in many publications related to financial markets and business sector.
Marcos Saldaña Adviser
Marcos Saldaña
Adviser
Marcos Saldaña, has more than 35 years’ experience in corporate and investment banking (corporate financing, project finance, guarantees, export finance, mezzanine finance and equity); with commercial banks as well as with state owned financial institutions and multilateral development institutions (EIB, EBRD, IDB, IFC, etc. ) in international markets.
Marcos spent 5 years in the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Luxembourg providing long term financing to projects in different industrial sectors across Europe. Marcos spent 26 years in Corporate and investment banking in BBVA, Madrid (Spain). Working in the Spanish market as well as in international markets in corporate and project finance with special focus in Solar PV/Renewables and international markets. Marcos has experience in infrastructure, having spent 4 years in Canadian Solar Energy in Madrid, Spain; as Senior Project & Structured Finance, managing and arranging international financing (bonds, RCF, medium and long corporate finance, project finance, mezzanine financing, equity…) for Solar PV plants in EMEA and LATAM.
Marcos has got a Master´s Degree in Business and Economic from the University of Bilbao, Spain.
Legal & Operations
Legal & Operations
Javier Segura Senior Legal Counsel
Javier Segura
Senior Legal Counsel
Javier has over 7 years of experience as a lawyer and specialises in national and international financing, direct lending, refinancing and distressed transactions. Previously, Javier worked in the Madrid and London offices of Cuatrecasas. As an Associate in the finance and restructuring department he advised international investors on a wide variety of financing transactions. Javier is admitted to practice law in Spain and holds a double degree in Law and Business Administration (BBA) from Universidad de Zaragoza and Sao Paulo University.
Víctor Viseras Operations Director
Víctor Viseras
Operations Director
Víctor is part of our operations team, responsible for investment and other operations within the Group. His 10 years of financial industry experience include 7 years across public markets, listed securities and debt capital markets. Previously, Víctor worked in internal audit and Global Market Risk at Santander Group, Spain and the UK. He holds a master’s in Mathematics and Computer Sciences from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Víctor has passed level two of the CFA and is a Certified Advisor (CAd).
Finance & Reporting
Finance & Reporting
Kash Hussain Interim Chief Financial Officer
Kash Hussain
Interim Chief Financial Officer
Kash Hussain joined as interim Chief Financial Officer in April 2024. Kash has over 20 years of experience in financial services, specializing in private markets, asset management and property, having been instrumental in the substantial growth and scaling of businesses. Before joining Aptimus, Kash spent two years as Chief Financial Officer at Dbay Advisors, an international asset management firm. Prior to that, Kash was at Investec Bank plc for 12 years, initially as Financial Controller within the lending and securitisation business, and more recently as Divisional Finance Director for the private equity and property businesses. Kash is a chartered accountant (ICAEW), having trained and qualified at Deloitte. Kash holds a BA (hons) in Economics from the University of Cambridge.
William Lake Group Financial Controller
William Lake
Group Financial Controller
William is part of our finance team, running our financial and management reporting processes as well as coordinating audits. His 20 years of industry experience includes 11 years at AllianceBernstein, a leading US asset manager, and 3 years at ThomasLloyd, an investment advisor specialising in renewable energy projects. Previously, William worked at Oaktree Capital, advising on cash-flow processes in their European private debt funds. He holds a BSc in mathematics from Warwick University and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Susana Cristóbal Financial Controller, Spain
Susana Cristóbal
Financial Controller, Spain
Susana has more than 20 years’ experience in office management, administration and operations, covering functions including supplier payments, client payments, cheque issuance, cash handling, writing and receiving documents, file management, customer service, accounting, management agenda, control and coordinating meetings and trips.
Bartek Czerwinski Finance Analyst
Bartek Czerwinski
Finance Analyst
Bartek is part of our finance team in London. Prior to Aptimus, Bartek gained over 10 years of experience in accounting and finance with various multinationals, including Hewlett Packard, Apple, Discovery Inc and Burberry. Bartek has a BA in Business Management with Spanish from Edinburgh Napier University. As part of his double degree program, Bartek spent a year studying in IPAG (Ecole de Commerce) in Nice where he gained the diploma in management (bac+4).
Mariela Delgado Finance & Recovery
Mariela Delgado
Finance & Recovery
Mariela is part of our finance team and has over 30 years of experience across tax, audit and bankruptcy administration. During her career, Mariela has worked with multiple companies in the Spanish market, largely with clients in the middle market space. Mariela has a degree in Economic and Business Science from the University of Valladolid, a master’s in Taxation and Tax Consulting as well as Audit from CEF and a master’s in Bankruptcy Administration from UPV.
Office Management
Office Management
Hedoné Arana Office Manager, Madrid
Hedoné Arana
Office Manager, Madrid
Before joining Aptimus, Hedoné spent 13 years as secretary and paralegal within one of the companies of COFRA Holding AG established in Madrid. She provided legal, fiscal, and administrative services to the group companies in Spain and Portugal. She holds a BA in Law from the University of Deusto (Bilbao), a master’s degree in Foreign Trade from the University of the Basque Country, a Postgraduate Diploma in HR and the ABITUR, German education certificate, from the German School of Bilbao.
Stasia Skolik Office Manager, London
Stasia Skolik
Office Manager, London
Stasia has over a decade experience in HR and Payroll across various industries including oil and gas, luxury retail, and the arts. She has also worked as an executive assistant to high-net-worth individuals and C-level executives in global digital companies. Stasia graduated with a BA in Human Resources Management from the University of Westminster and is also CIPD qualified.