Bringing over US$22 billion of direct transactional commodity trade finance experience to private investors looking to exploit the funding gap in the global CTF sector
“Success from the financial and from the prestige point of view . . . is not enough; what matters even more is . . . adherence to high moral and aesthetic standards.”
-Siegmund Warburg-
Banu is a trade and commodity finance veteran who brings over 25 years’ experience from financial institutions including Garanti BBVA International and TEB NV (BNP Paribas Group) in Amsterdam. At Garanti BBVA International where she was also a member of the Credit Committee, Banu lead a team which oversaw a €1.5 billion portfolio of (structured) trade and commodity finance transactions. Her role covered regulatory reporting directly to the Dutch Central Bank, transaction legal documentation, collateral management, credit risk rating and modelling and restructuring. Prior to her time at Garantibank, Banu worked at TEB where she established and managed the Credits Department with responsibility for trade & commodity finance portfolio credit files. Banu also brings experience from multi-commodity trading firms where she had a wide spectrum of senior roles including responsibility for risk management, compliance, trade credit insurance, compliance and implementing policies and procedures.
Banu holds a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Istanbul.
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Alibay (co-founder) has more than 10 years of origination, structuring and business development experience in Commodity Trade Finance across financial institutions and trading houses. Initially Alibay worked for Garanti BBVA International and ABN AMRO Bank where he originated and managed in excess of US$1.6 billion of CTF transactions. Alibay further worked as Corporate Finance Advisor arranging bilateral trade and commodity financing facilities from Swiss, Dutch and UK based banks and funds. Most recently, Alibay worked for Singapore based fintech, Incomlend (Sequoia Capital company) as a Regional Director for European Origination. Alibay brings a vast array of relationships with multinational traders, producers, processors and distributors within the global commodities sector.
Alibay holds a BSc degree in Development Science (majoring in Economic History) from Lund University in Sweden, and an MSc degree in Finance from the Duisenberg School of Finance in the Netherlands.
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Yasemin has over 20 years’ experience in international trade and commodity trade finance operations. She started her career at Garanti BBVA Istanbul where she specialized in international trade instruments before moving to its Dutch subsidiary. At Garanti BBVA International, Yasemin was responsible for managing operations of all types of loan exposures including trade finance loans. Additionally, Yasemin served in different roles in Risk &Compliance and Middle Office in the trading houses in Istanbul and Dubai spanning a large spectrum of clients and types of risks. Most recently she worked as a Trade Finance Manager where she assessed and managed all trade finance deals and built up her expertise in credit insurance for physical commodity trade transactions.
Yasemin holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering & Management from Istanbul Technical University.
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Spyros (founder) is a passionate alternative investment professional and entrepreneur with over 22 years’ experience within the financial services industry. He started his career in private banking with Citi in London where he was part of the team which set up the Spain and Latin America Private Wealth Management desks. He later started at Société Générale to develop its business in Greece. Following his career in the banking industry; Spyros went on to launch an asset management firm for Deloitte and worked for a hedge fund until 2009 when he founded Synthesis Capital Management which specializes in asses-based lending for the commodities industry.
Spyros holds a Bachelor’s degree in business & Languages from London South Bank University as well as an Investment Management Certificate from the CFA Society.
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Kamran brings over 18 years of experience in private capital finance and alternative investments across the Energy, Commodities, Early-Stage Technology and Infrastructure sectors. Kamran started his career as a banker at UBS Warburg’s award-winning Equity Research division and continued his career in Equity Capital Markets and Prime Brokerage at Goldman Sachs in London. Later, Kamran co-founded and ran a corporate finance advisory firm focused on structuring and capital raising for greenfield Energy, Industrial, Real Estate and Commodities sector projects. Prior to joining SynCap, Kamran held the role of Strategy and Investment Director for Expand Energy Corp, an energy infrastructure company focused on midstream Oil & Gas assets. Additionally, Kamran was the Managing Director of Millennium Investment Holdings Limited, where he oversaw operations, investment appraisals, financing and portfolio restructuring of subsidiary interests across the Energy, Telecommunications and Automotive sectors.
Kamran holds a joint B.Eng (Hons) degree in Engineering with Business Finance from University College London and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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Alexander Baltazzis is a highly experienced professional with a strong background in the Service Provider industry, specializing in network architecture and network security. With over 25 years of expertise, he has acquired extensive knowledge in Unix and Windows administration, as well as service administration. Throughout his career, he has successfully delivered exceptional results and played a pivotal role in ensuring the seamless operation of critical network infrastructures.
In 2002, Mr. Baltazzis took the entrepreneurial leap and established his own company in Greece, offering comprehensive data center services and providing IT and security consulting and implementation solutions. Under his leadership, the company thrived and established a solid reputation for delivering top-notch services to a diverse range of clients.
In 2013, Mr. Baltazzis relocated to Switzerland, where he established Swissns and focused on developing the network and infrastructure. During this period, he worked closely with large corporations and groups of companies, guiding them in formulating robust IT policies, implementing cybersecurity frameworks, overseeing surveillance measures, and devising business continuity and disaster recovery strategies. Additionally, he played a crucial role in the creation, planning, and budgeting of Security Operations Centers (SOC) and Network Operations Centers (NOC).
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Wim is a veteran in international trade finance with a career spanning over 40 years covering structured trade and commodity finance, relationship banking, general management, change projects and trade product management. Wim spent over 20 years of his career with Deutsche Bank AG in the Netherlands ultimately as Head of International Trade Finance. Following on from his time at Deutsche, Wim spent close to 14 years at Lloyds Banking Group building up its corporate franchise in the Netherlands where he latterly held the position of Head of Structured Trade Finance for Northern Europe. Later Wim shifted to London with Lloyds where he originated and maintained a portfolio in the Natural Resources. Additionally, Wim held multiple senior roles at Maersk Line, Amsterdam Trade Bank, TransDocLink and Ionita Consulting Group.
Wim is the founder of InterWim BV an advisory firm which provides innovative financing solutions for businesses active in international trade and logistics (commodity related) supply chains and is a Board Advisor to Semsoft and MatterSphere a leading blockchain solution provider to the global collateralized CTF market.
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Bora is the Founder of Hormuz Straits Partnership, an advisory firm helping Energy sector, Mining sector and commodities trading companies access new capital for growth. Previously covering the energy and marine sector with institutions such as Lloyds Bank and National Bank of Fujairah, Bora has managed teams of bankers focused on structured commodity finance (oil products and trade finance), upstream reserve based lending and midstream finance for refineries, oil terminals, gas storage and pipelines. His EMEA relationship coverage includes sponsors of Oil & Gas sector investment in the North Sea and the United Arab Emirates. Bora is also a Senior Advisor to Alphier Capital LLP a boutique financial and debt advisory firm focused on the Natural Resources sector within “frontier markets”.
Bora is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
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Prior to working with Searchlight Capital Partners, Andrew Crowston served as a Partner at Novalpina Capital where he was part of the private equity and special situations fund. Prior to joining Novalpina, he held numerous senior roles at Davidson Kempner Partners, TJP Partners, UBS, ADM Capital, Goldman Sachs, and Citicorp.
Andrew Crowston began his career at Citicorp International and in 1997 helped to launch the company’s European distressed debt investing and trading business. He then spent nine years in Goldman Sachs International where he was co-head of the European Distressed Desk and Head of Sales and Sourcing, before joining ADM Capital Europe as a Partner, where he executed credit transactions across Europe. More recently he has worked with TJP Partners,
where he advised CEE central banks on non-performing loan strategy.
Mr. Crowston received a Master’s in Finance degree from London Business School and a Master’s degree in Business Management and Politics from St. Andrews University.
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Mikkel is a progressive investment professional with more than 25 years of experience in leading banking institutions, combined with running an independent trading and advisory business for the last 2 decades. He has a consistent track record including managing trading desks and advising globally on interest rate and FX risk.
As a 30-year veteran of the Commodity & foreign exchange markets, he has been responsible for currency strategy and trading for several high-profile clients who are allocated within the currency space. He is managing an alpha driven portfolio of G10 currencies, as well as a number of other hedging programs and strategies. A specific approach to multi strategy/multi manager investing has also been a primary within the last 5 years. Mikkel has also been responsible for building out the Currency & Derivatives desks, including infrastructure, technology, liquidity providers and reporting.
Having started trading currencies in 1992, Mikkel has gained the expertise to manage risk through times of calm, as well as times of extreme market stress, Apart from overseeing day-to-day strategy and business development for his own firm Mikkel sits on the boards of several investment management firms and fintech companies, participating with knowledge within investment management and currency management, in particular.
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Matthew has worked in financial services for more than 30 years including with several leading brokerage houses throughout Europe. Matthew maintains excellent investor relationships with institutional investors across all sectors.
Matthew has been a private consultant since 2013 and formed Navision Capital Partners Ltd in 2016. He went on to incorporate Green Asset Portfolio Holdings in 2020 and joined Ecowatt in 2021 as Head of Investor Relations.
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Access to this website https://syncappartners.com/ (the "Website") is granted on the condition that the following rules are accepted by you as a visitor to this Website.
Synthesis Capital Management B.V. (the “Investment Manager”) is a private company with limited liability (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid), incorporated and existing under Dutch law, having its statutory seat (statutaire zetel) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and its offices at Delflandlaan 1, Amsterdam 1062 EA, The Netherlands, registered at the trade register of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce under number 34278579.
Stichting Synthesis Structured Trade and Commodity Finance (the “Program”) is a fund for joint account (fonds voor gemene rekening), having its offices at Delflandlaan 1, Amsterdam 1062 EA, The Netherlands.
The Investment Manager is exempt from the obligation to obtain a license and is registered with the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (Stichting Autoriteit financiële markten) ("AFM") under the so-called de minimis regime (uitgezonderde beheerder). The Investment Manager is therefore not under the supervision of the AFM or De Nederlandsche Bank and has no obligation to issue a prospectus.
The information on this Website is explicitly not an offer or an invitation to make an offer to acquire an interest in the Program within the meaning of Article 2:66a(1)(b)(1) of the Dutch Act on Financial Supervision (Wet op het financieel toezicht) ("AFS") or any other provision of the AFS. The information on the Website does not constitute a prospectus. The information on the Website is also not an offer to acquire an interest in the Fund and does not constitute any form of marketing of the Fund or any form of advertising in any jurisdiction where such offer, form of marketing or form of advertising would be contrary to local law or regulation.
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George Kofinakos is Senior Advisor & Managing Director of StormHarbour LLP in London. In parallel, he was Chairman of the NPL servicing company Eupraxis SA, which he helped build. Prior to joining StormHarbour back in 2010, George worked in Citigroup in Greece and London for 20 years, holding a number of executive roles (CEO of Citigroup Global Markets, Managing Director of Capital Markets and Banking, Treasurer, Senior Government Banker). In addition, George has been the CEO of a Private Equity Fund in Luxemburg between 2009 and 2013 and an Executive Board member in a number of Greek Corporates.
George worked in Citigroup in Greece and London for 20 years, holding a number of executive roles (CEO of Citigroup Global Markets, Managing Director of Capital Markets and Banking, Treasurer, Senior Government Banker). He is a seasoned financier, with over 30 years of experience in large numbers of IPOs, M&As, Securitisation, Debt and Liability Managemen etc. George has been the CEO and Executive Director of a Private Equity Fund in Luxemburg between 2009 and 2013 and an Executive Board member in a number of Greek Corporates.
Currently, apart from his StormHarbour responsibilities, he is:
His experience and clout made him a key presence in the Greek and international media/press. He holds a Bachelors degree in Economics and Statistics from the University of Piraeus and an MBA from Rutgers Business School.
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Georgios (George) N. Koukouzelis is a highly accomplished financial expert with an illustrious career spanning various prestigious companies. He has recently joined SynCap Partners as a Non-Executive Director. With a proven track record and extensive knowledge in the financial sector, George's addition to the board is set to bolster SynCap Partners' position in the market. George is currently serving as Managing Director of Ypsilon Group in Greece which is a family office and investment management firm. Prior to Ypsilon, George served as the President and CEO of FMI - LIBRA Group, where he led a team of thirty professionals and managed all day-to-day operations of the company. During his tenure, he played a crucial role in orchestrating the business plan and investment program for the development of Grace Hotels, a prominent international boutique hotel chain operating in several countries. Prior to his role at FMI - LIBRA Group, George held the position of VP & Investment Director at NBGI Private Equity, the private equity and investment banking arm of the National Bank of Greece. As a key member of the team, he originated, evaluated, structured, managed, and exited numerous private equity transactions in Greece and the Balkans. George holds a BS.C. and an MBA from Old Dominion University of Virginia, USA.
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