30 years of experience in building and managing businesses in various areas of Capital Markets, Asset Management and Alternative Investments.
Co-Founder, Managing Partner and Member of the Investment Committee.
At Astarte, Stavros is primarily responsible for strategic business development across all markets and investor reach.
For more than a decade he was Managing Director at Citigroup where he was global head of alternative executions, portfolio trading strategies and pension fund solutions.
Holds an Electrical and Computer Engineering Diploma from the University of Patras, Greece, a MSc in the same field and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from the University of Massachusetts.
Teresa Farmaki
Managing Partner & Co-Founder
21 years of experience in structuring, execution and senior management across the spectrum of private equity investments.
Co-Founder, Managing Partner and Member of the Investment Committee.
At Astarte, Teresa is responsible for investment and portfolio activities including evaluating, negotiating and structuring investments across sectors.
Before co-founding Astarte, she was Head of Private Equity for a multi-family office, where she oversaw the investment strategy and investment selection for fund investments and co-investments.
Prior to this, Teresa was CIO for Private Equity at Piraeus Group, where she co-led the establishment of the private equity group, launched three private equity and venture capital funds and developed the group’s strategy in the renewable energy space.
Teresa joined Piraeus from UBS Investment Bank in London and New York, where she advised on corporate transactions in the real assets space in the US and Europe and was part of the team that launched the renewable energy practice of UBS globally.
Holds a BSc. in Economics and Finance from the University of Athens, Greece and an MBA from Columbia University in New York.
Jan Straatman
Partner
38 years of dedicated experience in the financial industry sectors (Pension Funds and Asset Management).
Partner and Chairman of the Investment Committee.
At Astarte, Jan is involved across the investment process and is primarily responsible for the firm’s ESG strategy and operations.
Previously Jan was the Global Chief Investment Officer of Lombard Odier Investment Managers and since 2012 until 2017 acted as an advisor and member of the Fund Board.
Prior to joining LOIM, Jan was Global Chief Investment Officer at ING Investment Management, overseeing EUR 330 billion of client assets and 800 investment professionals across 30 locations. Previously, he was Chief Executive Officer/Chief Investment Officer at Pearl Group’s Axial Asset Management from 2006 to 2008.
Before joining Pearl Group, he was Chief Investment Officer for capital markets at ABP Investments, one of the largest pension funds in the world. Prior to that, he was Chief Investment Officer at Achmea Asset Management between 1997 and 2001, and integral to the merger with PVF Pensioenen, where he was Chief Investment Officer before the merger. He began his career as director of research and portfolio management at GIM/GIM Capital Management in 1983.
Holds an MBA with specialization in finance and accountancy from the University of Hasselt in 1988. He also holds a BA in business administration from the College for Business Administration and Economics in Eindhoven.
Mark Levinson
Partner
Over 35 years of experience with broad skill base across the financial industry sectors (Fund Management, Pension Services, Trustee) and disciplines (Governance, Compliance, Audit, Risk, Investments) in the USA, UK, Asia and Australia.
At Astarte, Mark is responsible for the firm's Australasian operations.
Previously was the General Manager and founding Partner of MST Capital, a discretionary Global Macro Fund in Sydney Australia, overseeing the business of the fund and its governance as well as investor relations.
Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup in Sydney Australia, where he was in charge of Transition Management and Pension Services teams from 1999 to 2014, including Asian coverage.
Trustee of Goldman Sachs Superannuation Fund which enjoyed top fund ranking over 1, 3, and 5 years horizons over his tenure.
Earlier in his career, Mark experiences include Branch manager of Prudential Securities in Singapore, desk head of derivatives in London as well as a in derivative research analyst in Chicago. Prior to that he worked on the CBOE and CME floors after starting his career with Drexel Burnham Lambert.
Holds a MBA from Emory University in Atlanta Georgia and a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) as well as member of Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST).
James Hartley
Partner
34 years of dedicated experience in the financial industry sectors (Private Equity, Asset Management and Brokerage).
At Astarte, James is responsible for the firm's business development in the UK.
Previously the head of the private equity fundraising initiatives at Aberdeen Asset Management and was Co-Head of European Portfolio Management. He also served there as a member of the Global Private Equity Management Committee.
Prior to Aberdeen, James was Managing Director at Citigroup for 22 years where roles included Equity Country Head of the Netherlands and Head of the Global Equity Sales Team. He started his investment career at CIBC.
Holds a BSC in Civil Engineering from Kingston University.
Paul Kerr, CFA
Partner
18 years of experience in the financial industry with a deep focus on pension and insurance, asset management and alternative investments.
At Astarte, Paul is responsible for the firm’s North American operations.
Previously Paul served as the Chief Investment Officer of Brookfield Annuity where he was a founding member of the management team and Chair of the Management Investment Committee. In this capacity Paul led all investment activities including the monitoring, design and implementation of investment strategies with a focus on real assets.
Prior to joining Brookfield, Paul worked for ING Investment Management and ING Insurance, where he played a leading role building and managing the private equity, infrastructure and alternative investment strategies. Paul was also a senior executive with one of Canada’s leading alternative asset management companies.
Holds a MSc in International Finance from the University of Amsterdam and a Business Administration Degree from the Ivey School of Business at Western University. Paul is also a CFA Charterholder.
Richard Templer
Chief Financial Officer
14 years of experience in the financial services sector across real estate, private equity and infrastructure.
At Astarte, Richard is responsible for finance and operations across products and the management group. Richard is also overseeing compliance and he is member of the valuation committee.
Previously worked in a finance role at AMP Capital on the Global Infrastructure Funds.
Prior to this he managed the fund finance team of Hermes GPE working across private equity and infrastructure fund structures. He also worked in the infrastructure and real estate finance team at Deutsche Bank. Richard started his career at Mayfair Capital a specialist UK real estate investment manager.
Holds a degree in Zoology from the University of Durham and is a qualified accountant.
Virginia Ntokou
Investment Director
15 years of investment experience, primarily in originating, structuring and executing investment opportunities in a number of different sectors, as well as in monitoring and supporting portfolio companies.
At Astarte, Virginia is a member of the investment team responsible for leading all workstreams of the investment process across a range of sectors as well as for supporting portfolio companies throughout the investment period.
Previously Virginia was a senior Vice President at Tufton Investment Management, focusing on Tufton's Private Equity activities, including deal origination and execution, portfolio management and fund-raising efforts.
Prior to joining Tufton, she was a member of the investment team at Aleph Capital Partners (a European sector agnostic Private Equity firm established by ex-Goldman Sachs partners), sourcing, analysing and evaluating investment opportunities in different sectors such as Industrials, Healthcare and Technology, Media & Telecommunications.
Before joining Aleph, Virginia was a member of the Citigroup Investment Banking - M&A team, advising on a wide range of high-profile M&A transactions within the Consumer, Retail & Luxury sectors.
Holds a BSc in Economics with major in Shipping from the University of Piraeus, an MSc in Shipping, Trade & Finance from Cass Business School, City, University of London and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Christoph Meseg
Investment Director
16 years of financial advisory and investment experience across energy, utilities, telecommunications, social and transportation infrastructure sectors.
At Astarte, Christoph is a member of the investment team responsible for leading transactions across evaluation, execution and monitoring with primary focus on the infrastructure and natural resources space.
His principal investment experience includes working at Daiwa International Capital Partners and at GCM Grosvenor, where he spent over five years sourcing, evaluating, executing and asset managing infrastructure equity investments across energy (conventional, renewable and energy transition), utilities, telecommunications, social and transportation infrastructure, as well as other infrastructure sectors.
Christoph spent 11 years at the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he held various positions advising large corporates and financial sponsors on transactions in the energy and infrastructure sectors, including buy-side & valuations, acquisition financing, debt advisory, capital markets issuances and other mandates.
Christoph spent three years at PricewaterhouseCoopers / PwC, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, UK. Holds a BSc in Biochemistry (with Business Studies) from The University of Warwick.
Ruchi Jha
Institutional Sales & Investor Relations
11 years’ experience working across a range of investment strategies within asset classes such as Natural Capital, Infrastructure, Private Equity, Private Debt, and Hedge Funds.
At Astarte, Ruchi is responsible for the Institutional Sales and Investor Relations in the UK & Europe. She started her career as a Private Equity Analyst in India and later transitioned to focus on fund raising and distribution for specialist Asset managers within the UK and Europe.
Ruchi has a keen focus on Sustainable investments and has also held Sustainability related roles throughout her career. Ruchi holds an MBA in Finance and Bachelors of Science in Information Technology from University of Mumbai.
Vasudha Rajain
Investment Associate, ESG and Climate Finance
6 years of experience in credit risk, climate finance and ESG across EU and USA.
At Astarte, Vasudha is a member of the investment team with a focus on ESG.
Previously, she worked at Baringa Partners as a quantitative climate finance consultant where she built climate impact assessment models and worked on decarbonisation strategy projects across sectors such as transportation, Oil&Gas, Real Estate and Agriculture.
During her time at Cambridge, Vasudha did several interesting projects that involved working on a capital markets project for London Stock Exchange Group and a mortgage credit risk project for AndBank. She worked for 4 years as a consultant at EXL, for one of the largest consumer banks of US, building and validating credit risk models and strategy. She also has experience in validating CCAR models as a part of BASEL framework.
She holds a B.Tech. in Biotechnology from National Institute of Technology, Allahabad India, and an MBA in finance from Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
Jonathan Midgley
Analyst
3 years of experience in financial advisory focusing primarily on Infrastructure and Renewables
At Astarte, Jonathan is a member of the investment team and supports the research and investment underwriting process across sectors.
Prior to joining Astarte, Jonathan worked at Ernst & Young in the transaction diligence team in London, specialising in both buy side and sell side due diligence engagements throughout the global renewable, infrastructure, and power & utilities sectors.
Holds an MChem in Physical and Theoretical Chemistry from the University of Oxford and is an exam-qualified Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.
Giovanni Beliossi
Senior Advisor
27 years of experience in finance, including in advisory, investment and management roles in Natural Resources/Energy, Derivatives, and Alternative Investments/Hedge Funds.
Previously he was a Director and Senior Strategy Advisor to Auriel Capital, an ESG-focused investment manager.
Giovanni was the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of FGS Capital, a quantitative alternative asset management boutique managing systematic, non-directional long/short portfolios. Previously, he was an Associate Director of Hedge Funds at First Quadrant, where he was responsible for covering developed European equity markets and non-US multi asset portfolios.
He was an Associate Director of Real Options Group, Consultant at BARRA International and a research fellow at the University of Bologna in Italy. He is currently on the Board of IAQF, the international financial engineers association.
Giovanni is a CFA Charter Holder and was educated at Bologna University, University of Essex, and London Business School.
Poh Kiat Chan
Senior Advisor
Over 35 years of experience in the financial industry with a broad skill base and cross asset coverage of Asian asset owners that include sovereign wealth funds, central banks, banks, pensions, insurance funds and corporates.
Over the years, Poh Kiat has done extensive work with pension and insurance funds in the globalisation of their investment strategies and asset diversification, delivering solutions that require in depth understanding of asset allocation and local regulatory guidelines.
Poh Kiat worked previously in Goldman Sachs, Macquarie Bank, The Bank of New York, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank where he held various regional roles, including Asian Distribution Head of Transition Management, Head of Asian Asset Owner Sales and Asian Head of Securities Services Sales.
Started his career in DBS Bank as a Financial Institutions Group credit analyst specialising in Japanese banks and securities companies.
Holds a BSc in Management Sciences from The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.
