SENIOR MANAGEMENT
Dedicated, talented and experienced team
- Stephane FarouzeFounder & ChairmanStephane FarouzeFounder & Chairman
Stephane has 29 years of investment experience. Prior to founding 8F, Stephane was Chairman of Alternatives for Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM). Before moving into that role, he was the Global Head of Alternatives and Fund Solutions and Member of the DeAWM Executive Committee. Stephane spent three years as a member of the Management Executive Committee for both Deutsche Asset Management and the Private Bank. As Head of Alternatives and Fund Solutions, Stephane’s team managed more than 200 professionals globally and was directly responsible for a total of US$50 billion of assets in Private Equity, Hedge Funds and Retirement Solutions.
Prior to that, Stephane served as the Global Head of Deutsche Bank’s Fund Derivatives and Hybrids Group within the Corporate Bank & Securities division, during which time the team was awarded the Risk Magazine award for 'Hedge Fund Derivatives House of the Year' 6 times in a row, the HFM award for 'Best Overall Investment Platform' and 'Best Managed Account Platform' twice, as well as various UCITS Platform and Product awards. In addition, Stephane was Awarded 'Best Active Manager' by Risk Magazine in 2002.
Before joining Deutsche Bank, Stephane was a Partner at Paradigm Global Advisors. He was also the Global Head of Sales and Structuring at Societe Generale Asset Management. Stephane has also worked at other financial institutions such as BNP, Commerzbank, Smith Barney and Paine Webber. Until 2009, Stephane was also a Director of Tarrant Apparel Group, a company listed on the Nasdaq since 2003.
Stephane holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Arts and Sciences and a Business Administration Degree in Finance from San Diego State University.
- Karim GhannamCo-Founder & CEOKarim GhannamCo-Founder & CEO
Karim has 24 years of experience in fund management and investment banking. Prior to founding 8F, Karim joined Deutsche Bank Group in 2011 with 14 years of industry experience. Karim was the Managing Director and Head of Alternatives & Fund solutions in Asia Pacific for Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM). Karim’s responsibilities included oversight of the bank’s hedge fund, private equity/private markets, third-party mutual funds and retirement/hybrids groups in the region. He was a member of the Alternatives and Fund Solutions Executive Committee and the DeAWM Asia Pacific Executive Committee.
Prior to that, Karim was the global co-head of DB Private Equity & Private Markets - Deutsche Bank’s US$11 billion AUM primary, secondary and co-investment platform - and co-chair of the Global Investment Committee. He was the Global Head of Private Markets within Deutsche Bank’s Wealth Management business with overall responsibility for product selection, structuring and management within the private equity, real estate and credit space.
Before joining Deutsche Bank Group, Karim was at Argan Capital, a European mid-market private equity fund whose predecessor was Bank of America Capital Partners, where he spent 10 years, most recently as a Partner responsible for principal investments. Karim was a member of the investment committee at Argan Capital and helped oversee over €600m of investments. Karim led a number of European private equity deals, including structuring financing, implementing strategic change and exercising executive and board control. Prior to joining the Argan team in 2001, he worked with Merrill Lynch in London and Lehman Brothers in New York, where he concentrated on financing and M&A transactions for industrial growth, energy and power, and telecommunications companies.
Karim holds a Masters degree from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University.
- Gerald ToledanoPartner, Risk & FinancingGerald ToledanoPartner, Risk & Financing
Gerald has more than 20 years of experience in asset management and investment banking. He joined 8F Asset Management as Partner & Head of Financing, in Q1 2020.
Prior to 8F, he was with Barclays Investment Bank, in London, where he was a Managing Director, Global Head of Equities Solutions and was overseeing a market leading structuring team specialized in pension and insurance solutions, fund linked products as well as alternative investment portfolio financing.
Prior to that, he was a Managing Director at Deutsche bank, most recently as Global Head of Equity Derivatives Structuring, following 4 years as EMEA Head of Alternatives at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management - the former combined unit regrouping DWS and DB Wealth Management.
He joined DB from the New York based hedge fund Paradigm Global and started his career at Societe Generale Asset Management.
Gerald holds a Masters Degree in Finance from the Paris Dauphine University.
- Peter LiuChief Financial & Operating OfficerPeter LiuChief Financial & Operating Officer
Peter's career has spanned over 27 years holding various senior roles within the financial services and asset management industries. Peter was the Co-founder as well as the Chief Financial and Operating Officer of All4Learn, a newly start up education technology company. Prior to this, Peter was with KKR for nearly 12 years as the CFO of Europe, based in London and subsequently the CFO of Asia Pacific where he was responsible for managing local corporate finance and fund operations teams’ activities. Previous to this, Peter was the Group Financial Controller of FTSE Group, owned by the London Stock Exchange organization, where he led all finance and operations matters during his 5-year tenure. Prior to this, Peter spent another 5 years within the Barclays Wealth and Private Banking division as a Financial Controller and Vice President managing a number of projects which he served through various locations including the USA, Monaco, Singapore, Barbados, Cayman Islands and London.
Peter holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Studies from Westminster University and an Executive MBA from the Oxford Brookes University. He is also a qualified accountant and a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Outside of work, Peter is a Trustee of Y Care International, a UK registered charity and is the YMCAs' global lead in youth enterprise and employment. The charity focuses on the world’s most disadvantaged young women and men to move them into work and out of poverty.
- André MuschallikPartner - Global co-Head of Investor Relations and Business DevelopmentAndré MuschallikPartner - Global co-Head of Investor Relations and Business Development
André has close to 30 years of experience in the finance industry, including 17 years at Deutsche Bank. There he held numerous senior positions in both Corporate Finance and Global Markets including Head of Financial Institutions Group Germany/Austria/Switzerland, Head of Global Credit Trading (Transportation-, Infrastructure- and Energy-Finance, Real Estate Financing and Special Situations Financing), Germany and Co-Head of the Large Institutional Client Coverage. André also served as a member of the bank’s Corporate Banking and Securities Executive Committee Germany.
Prior to Deutsche Bank he worked at Merrill Lynch and before that at Bayerische Vereinsbank and Paribas.
André graduated from Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.
As a member of the Ashoka Support Network André supports the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. Furthermore, he is a mentor to German elite Olympic athletes at “Deutsche Sporthilfe” foundation.
- Yoram LayaniGlobal Co-Head of Investor Relations and Business DevelopmentYoram LayaniGlobal Co-Head of Investor Relations and Business Development
Yoram has 17 years of investment experience. Prior to joining 8F, Yoram was a Managing Director at BNP Paribas in Hong Kong, where he headed the Global Markets Institutional Sales team, Asia ex Japan, overseeing cross asset solutions for institutional clients. He was also a member of the Global Markets Business Committee and the Equity Derivatives Executive Committee for Asia.
Yoram and his team were responsible for the servicing of a wide array of clients across distribution businesses (Retail & Private Banks, Insurance Companies, etc) and Institutionals (Asset Managers, Pensions, and Sovereign Wealth), developing outcome-driven tailor-made solutions in the fields of Investment, Hedging, Long-Term Savings, Alternatives and Risk Premia. His team was awarded the Risk Magazine Award for “Asia House of the Year” and “Stuctured Products House of the Year”. He joined the Global Equities & Commodity Derivatives division of BNP Paribas Hong Kong in 2007.
Born in France, Yoram started his career in 2004 at Credit Agricole CIB on the Equities & Derivatives desk. Initially based in Stockholm, he participated in the business development of the Nordic region before being transferred to Paris, where he oversaw the Retail, Private Banking and Insurance coverage for the Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg area as well as Israel.
Yoram holds a Masters Degree in Finance & Management and a Bachelor in Business Administration from EM Lyon, France.
- Jeffrey LauHead of LegalJeffrey LauHead of Legal
Jeffrey has more than 17 years of experience as legal counsel in private equity and corporate finance. He joined 8F Asset Management as Global Head of Legal, in Q4 2021.
Prior to 8F, he was Senior Counsel with Coatue, a New York-based hedge fund and venture capital fund, where he was overseeing all legal and compliance matters in Asia, with a particular focus on the execution of venture and growth capital investments in China and India.
Prior to Coatue, Jeffrey spent more than 8 years at The Carlyle Group, where he was Director and Senior Counsel, and was responsible for legal, compliance and transactional matters for their Asia-Pacific funds and operations. During his time at Carlyle, Jeffrey actively participated in several high profile, highly successful and complex private equity transactions. He started his career at a magic circle law firm Clifford Chance, and later worked as in-house counsel at Morgan Stanley and C.V. Starr.
Jeffrey holds Master of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from the University of New South Wales. He is fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, and is a qualified lawyer in England and Wales, Australia (New South Wales) and Hong Kong.
INVESTMENT TEAM
- Pier Paolo SfaraManaging DirectorPier Paolo SfaraManaging Director
Pier Paolo has over 14 years of experience in sourcing and executing M&A, corporate/project finance and private equity transactions in Europe and MENA. Prior to joining 8F in 2021, he was a Director at Tell Group on various teams including private equity, corporate finance, and M&A and project finance, with private equity deal experience in Algeria, Morroco and Tunisia. Prior to that, he was a Partner at Cornerstone, an investment and advisory firm based in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, heading M&A activities and working on strategic consultancy mandates. Prior to that, he worked 7 years on the M&A corporate finance advisory team at Swicorp, a leading regional investment bank, participating in several high-profile cross-boarder M&A transactions, major capital raising and project finance, and restructuring transactions, for a combined value in excess of USD5 billion. Prior to Swicorp, he was based in London and worked in the M&A team at Mooreland Partners (Stifel corp.), a global boutique investment bank, advising several clients on buyside and sellside M&A transactions in the TMT industry.
Pier Paolo is bilingual in French and Italian, fluent in English, and has very good knowledge of Spanish and German. He studied Economics of Public Administrations at Bocconi University in Milan, and holds 3 Masters in Finance and Business from ESCP Business School and The City University, London. - Henry ZhaoInvestment ManagerHenry ZhaoInvestment Manager
Henry has accumulated extensive hands-on working experience through previous internships in Asset Management and Private Equity with senior investment professionals. Prior to 8F, Henry was a Private Equity Summer Analyst at Dymon Asia Capital, where he was involved in various projects ranging from investment research and valuation to on-site due diligence assignments on M&A deals. Henry also gained experience at The Rohatyn Group, where he evaluated private equity investments across global emerging markets and involved in portfolio monitoring.
Henry holds a Bachelor of Business Management with major in Finance from Singapore Management University. He has also completed a summer exchange at Harvard University.
- Leonard BadozInvestment AnalystLeonard BadozInvestment Analyst
Prior to joining 8F, Leonard was an actuarial analyst at AXA France for two years. Having started his career through the AXA group’s Graduate Programme, he focused on group pensions management, including liabilities data analysis and aggregation. Leonard holds a master's degree in Actuarial sciences and Financial Risk Engineering from ISFA Lyon.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TEAM
- Paul MiliotisPartnerPaul MiliotisPartner
Paul Miliotis has over 16 years of experience in investment banking and asset management including 13 years at Deutsche Bank. Prior to joining 8F, he was Executive Vice-President at Santander International heading the Ultra High Net Worth practice in Europe.
Prior to Santander, Paul was Director in Corporate Finance within the Financial Sponsors team at Deutsche Bank covering Sovereign Funds, Pension Funds and Family Offices. Previously, he was Director for the Alternatives & Fund Solutions group at DeAWM in the DB Private Equity team. Initially started at Deutsche Bank in Corporate Finance where he held various positions in the TMT and Real Estate, Gaming, Lodging and Leisure teams.
Paul graduated from EMLV in Paris with Master in Corporate Finance.
- Christophe LaloSenior Executive OfficerChristophe LaloSenior Executive Officer
Christophe has over 30 years of experience in investment banking and asset management.
Prior to joining 8F, Christophe held various senior positions with Avalon Capital Partners, Deutsche Bank, Louis Capital Markets, Société Générale Asset Management, Lehman Brothers, Salomon Smith Barney, Painwebber and Banque Indosuez. He started his career with Drexel Burnham Lambert in 1987. He has worked in Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong and London.
Christophe has known and worked with Stéphane for over 25 years. He also worked with Denis, Shiblee and Gerald at Societe Generale Asset Management and with Stephane, Gerald, Karim and Paul at Deutsche Asset Management.
Christophe graduated from French business school Institut Supérieur de Gestion in Paris.
ESG AND RFP TEAM
- Shiblee AlamManaging Director - Impact InvestingShiblee AlamManaging Director - Impact Investing
Shiblee has over 20 years of experience in investment banking and asset management. Prior to joining 8F, Shiblee was in charge of Business Development for Alternative and Impact Investments at AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) where the team managed a US$400 million Impact Investments program and more than US$10 billion of Hedge Funds and other alternative investment solutions for institutional clients globally.
Prior to AXA IM, Shiblee was a Senior Sales & Structurer with Lehman Brothers in London on their Hedge Funds Derivatives & Solutions Desk. Before Lehman Brothers, Shiblee was based in Paris at Société Générale Asset Management as a Senior Sales & Structurer within the Structured Asset Management unit.
In the nineties, Shiblee was an FX derivatives trader with major banks such as BNP Paribas, CIBC and American Express between Paris and Toronto.
Shiblee holds an MBA in International Finance from McGill University and is a CAIA designee.
- Andy AttaliAnalyst - Impact InvestingAndy AttaliAnalyst - Impact Investing
Prior to joining 8F, Andy had several experiences, notably at 4F Investment Partners where he gained expertise in analysis and asset selection for both retail and institutional markets. Andy holds a master's degree in finance from emlyon business school and completed a French "classes préparatoires" with an economic and commercial option, with a scientific option.
FINANCE TEAM
- Hanjie FooFinance DirectorHanjie FooFinance Director
Hanjie is based in Singapore and has 14 years of experience, of which over 12 years in private equity
Prior to joining 8F, Hanjie was Vice President at L Catterton Asia in Singapore, with extensive experience in private equity deal and fund structuring, private equity operations, post M&A integration, compliance, fund raising, and investor relations. Prior to L Catterton Asia, she was Manager of Financial Services Industry Practice at PWC Singapore, providing assurance services to clients in the financial services industry
Hanjie holds an MBA at University of Cambridge, UK. During Masters, she worked a with social impact fund to evaluate investments, performed due diligence, and financial modeling in target companies. She also holds a Bachelor of Accountancy with Honour at Nanyang Technological University.
- Terence TeoFinance and Compliance ManagerTerence TeoFinance and Compliance Manager
Terence is based in Singapore with over 6 years of experience in the private equity industry. Prior to joining 8F, he was Senior Associate in MUFG Investor Services Singapore, managing the fund administration for key private equity and real estate clients in Asia. He was the lead client service manager for a USD1 billion Japanese real estate fund of funds mandate, preparing financial and regulatory reports in accordance with J-GAAP. He started his career as a fund accountant with Citco Fund Services Singapore working on hedge fund portfolios, before being a pioneer in the private equity team, managing the accounts for mezzanine and infrastructure debt funds.
Terence holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) Degree, majoring in Banking and Finance from the University of London and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designee.
- Shawn ChangFinance ManagerShawn ChangFinance Manager
Shawn is based in Singapore with 7 years of working experience in the financial services industry, with other experience in real estate and other diversified businesses. Prior to joining 8F, he was an audit Manager at KPMG Singapore focusing on clients in the asset management industry, with a portfolio mainly comprising private equity funds and fund management companies. He was part of the Singapore audit team serving Singapore’s leading real estate investor and developer with market capitalisation over S$10bn, as well as one of the largest private equity firms in USA with total assets under management in excess of US$100bn.
Shawn holds the Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours) from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and is also a Chartered Accountant of Singapore accredited by the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA).
- Guo RuiFinance ManagerGuo RuiFinance Manager
Guo Rui is based in Singapore with over 10 years of experience in the manufacturing industry. Prior to joining 8F, he was a Finance Manager in Emerson Asia Pacific managing the financial and regulatory reporting. He also spearheaded automation projects to streamline finance processes. Guo Rui holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) Degree, majoring in Accounting and Finance from the University of London.