Graham joins Challenger as Chairman with over 30 years of valuable commercial experience. Graham graduated with a Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours) and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.
Graham worked in various roles within the Lonrho Sugar Corporation in both Malawi and Swaziland, before moving to South Africa and joining Illovo Sugar Corporation, where he eventually became the Group Managing Director between 2009 and 2013. From 2013-2015, Graham joined the Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc in Nigeria where he again was the Group Managing Director and was influential in the growth of the company to where it is now.
GARY ISBISTER
(Founder and Investment commitee)
GARY ISBISTER
After qualifying as a Chartered Account in February 2008, Gary relocated to London where he took up an internal consulting role for BNP Paribas Securities Services where he focused on streamlining the internal operations of their outsourced fund management platform. He returned to Johannesburg (South Africa) in late 2009 and took up a deal origination role at Blue Strata Trading, a cutting edge South African import and working capital specialist (now a wholly owned Investec subsidiary). In June 2013, Gary moved to Riparian as Chief Operating Officer and Investment Advisor to its largest client, Barak Fund Management. Over his two years there, Gary was instrumental in the growth of the trade finance fund which quadrupled in size during his tenor. During his time there he implemented the building blocks credit evaluation process, assisted with capital raising, and structured and advised on $60 million worth of transactions.
PAUL TABERER
(Founder and Investment commitee)
PAUL TABERER
Paul has over 30 years experience in the commercial and business sector. After graduating from the University of Cape Town (South Africa) with a Bachelor of Business Science (Honours) degree, Paul joined the family leaf tobacco trading business, becoming Chief Operating Officer (based in England). At the time the business was sold (1997) it had sales revenues of US$800 million and a global multinational footprint. Paul then worked in various Executive positions for Alliance One International Inc. (NYSE), before relocating to Amsterdam in 2007 where he became the COO of CdF International Group (leaf tobacco trade). Paul returned to England in 2013 and currently consults for a major privately owned leaf tobacco dealer.
Franchesco Filia
(Board of Directors)
Franchesco Filia
Francesco is the CEO of Fasanara Capital. He heads all portfolio management and research related activities at Fasanara. He also spearheads the identification and implementation of all relevant portfolio tail hedging strategies. Prior to co-founding Fasanara, Francesco was Managing Director and EMEA Head of the MidCaps & Principal Investors group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, a top producing investment practice comprised of 15 professionals. In his role, Francesco directed Bank of America Merrill Lynch operations across Europe, Middle East and Africa with responsibilities on multi- strategy, multi-assets portfolio solutions. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in 2000, Francesco was a research analyst at JP Morgan Securities where he started his career in 1997. In JPM, Francesco published several research white papers covering areas such as derivatives modelling and fixed income / volatility strategies. Francesco is a graduate of Bocconi University in Milan and a scholar of Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.
Bruno Hardy
(Board of Directors)
Bruno Hardy
Bruno has over 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Mauri Experta, he was the managing director of Matco Limited. He has also worked for CITCO (Mauritius) Limited as managing director, AIM Securities Ltd, Feber Associates Ltd and was chairman of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM). Bruno is a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). He is also a fellow of the Mauritius Institute of Directors (FMIoD). Bruno has served as a director of Challenger Management Limited since November 2015.
Kowen Pareemamun
(Board of Directors)
Kowen Pareemamun
Kowen joined Mauri Experta in 2012, after more than 5 years at Matco Limited where he held the position of operations director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law and management, and a master’s degree in global financial services, both from the University of Mauritius. He is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and of the Mauritius Institute of Directors (MIoD). Kowen has served as a director of Challenger Management Limited since November 2015. He is also the head of KYC for the fund.