Stafford Capital Partners announces new appointments
February, 2017
Stafford Capital Partners (“Stafford”) a leading private markets investment group with a global presence of USD 4.5 billion under management and advice is pleased to announce the appointment of Michelle Ewart (Head of Business Development, North America), James Allen (Investment Manager, Agriculture) and Marek Guizot (Investment Manager, Timber).
The start of 2017 has seen a number of significant hires for Stafford including Michelle Ewart in the Austin, Texas office. Michelle is responsible for business development efforts in North America. Prior to Stafford, she served as Managing Director at Meritage Capital, a boutique investment management firm specializing in differentiated hedge fund solutions. Previously, Michelle was Director of Investor Relations and Marketing at Bocage Capital, LLC and was an Executive Director and member of the Capital Introduction team at UBS Securities, LLC. Michelle began her career in alternatives as an Analyst at Mesirow Advanced Strategies, Inc.
In January we also welcomed Marek Guizot and James Allen to the real assets division of the firm in London. Marek’s role includes investor relations, asset due diligence and monitoring of investment performance, with a specific focus on the Phaunos Timber Fund. He was previously the Forestry Director at Green Resources, a vertically integrated forest products company operating across East Africa. Prior to this he was a Principal at Pöyry Management Consulting UK, where he led a team providing advisory services to a wide range of stakeholders in the forest sector.
James has worked on the Stafford Agriculture strategy for the last 18 months, but he now joins full time. He is responsible for investment appraisal, financial modelling, due diligence, negotiation and investor reporting. Prior to Stafford, James was a Senior Analyst at EBG Capital, an agricultural investment advisory firm, where he completed mandates for Family Offices, the UN Food & Agriculture Office and the German International Development Agency. Before this, James was an Investment Manager at EnerCap Capital Partners in Prague, focusing on wind farm project finance and M&A in central and eastern Europe. He also has experience in carbon finance with Climate Change Capital and public market transactions.
Angus Whiteley, CEO at Stafford, said “we are delighted to welcome Michelle and Marek to the Stafford team, and for James to be joining us full time. We are deepening our real assets capabilities, with this added specialist expertise in timberland and agriculture building on recent infrastructure hires. At the same time Michelle’s appointment in the US allows us to better serve the needs of institutions in the US. We are excited to have three people join us who are an excellent fit with the culture we have at Stafford.”