English (Global) 
Français (France) 
Deutsch (DACH) 
Italiano (Italia) 
Dutch (Nederlands) 
English (United States) 
French (Canada) MEET OUR CLIENT CONSULTANTS
Putting investors first
CANADA
Les Marton
Managing Director
Les oversees the business development and relationship management of bfinance in Canada. Les has worked in financial services for over 30 years, with more than two decades of experience in asset management. Prior to joining bfinance in 2017 he held a number of senior roles at Scotiabank (Managing Director, Head of Cap Intro and Hedge Fund Consulting, Head of Global Alternative Asset Group) and Scotia Capital (Managing Director).
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Philip Coté
Director
Philip Coté is a Director at bfinance Canada. Philip has more than 16 years of financial services industry experience across institutional investment consulting, manager research and product development roles. Prior to joining bfinance Philip was a Director at Pavilion Alternatives Group where he led manager research and due diligence assignments in the area of private markets investment, with a focus on real estate, infrastructure and private debt.
Read moreUSA
David Ness
Senior Director
David is a senior director and client consultant for bfinance US. With over 20 years of investment management and financial services history, he brings a wealth of experience to the client consulting position at bfinance.
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Guy Hopgood
Director
Guy is a Director within the client consulting team having moved to Chicago to assist in the growth of our US business. He was previously in the Private Markets research team based in London where he focused on infrastructure, real estate and other real asset strategies such as agriculture and timber.
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Alex Julian
Senior Associate
Alex is a Senior Associate within the client consulting team at bfinance. He joined in 2021 to build and foster relationships across the firm's US investor base. In addition, Alex leads US specific marketing outreach and is a member of bfinance’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.
Read moreUNITED KINGDOM
Jamie Downing
Managing Director, Head of Client Consulting
Jamie Downing is Global Head of Client Consulting at bfinance, based in London, UK. He oversees an international team of client consultants located in ten countries, ensuring a strong operating model and leading strategic initiatives to expand the firm’s client coverage.
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Sam Gervaise-Jones, CFA
Senior Director, Head of Client Consulting UK & Ireland
Sam Gervaise-Jones is head of client consulting for the UK and Ireland. Sam has over 20 years of experience in financial markets. He joined bfinance in 2004 where, as a Senior Associate in the research team, Sam advised clients on manager selection in a wide range of asset classes. Since 2007 Sam has been responsible for relationships with many of bfinance’s largest Corporate and Local Authority Pension clients in the UK.
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Jill Compton
Senior Director
Jill is a Senior Director and client consultant working with bfinance’s institutional clients in the UK. Prior to joining in 2018, Jill was an Executive Director at MSCI heading up their Real Estate client coverage team in Europe working with asset owners and managers across their multinational portfolios.
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Neil Holmes
Senior Director - Insurance Client Consulting
Neil is a Senior Director within the client consulting team, joining bfinance in early 2018 to focus on the Insurance Market. Neil has had a long career in the banking and asset management industries, including 20 years covering insurance clients.
Read moreFRANCE
Olivier Jéséquel, CAIA
Director
Olivier is in charge of business development with European and North-African French-speaking Institutional Investors. Prior to joining bfinance in 2006, Olivier was Institutional Key Accounts Manager with the French asset manager OFI Asset Management, where he started in 1999. Before, he held Product Specialist and Marketing roles within the asset management division of Banque Worms.
Read moreGERMANY
Ori Gotfrid
Senior Director
Ori Gotfrid oversees the bfinance operations in Germany and in German speaking Switzerland and Austria. Ori has over 20 years experience in banking and fund management advisory gained prior to joining bfinance with Adam Unternehmensberatung and Metzler Consulting.
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Marco Stigler-Thomas, CFA
Director
Marco is a Director operating from our Munich office. Prior to joining bfinance, he was Vice President and Account Manager for PIMCO, focusing on client servicing for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Central Eastern Europe.
Read moreITALY
Ottavia Sebastiani
Senior Director
Ottavia is responsible for advisory services for Italian institutional clients and has been part of the advisory team of bfinance since 2007 based first in London and then in Rome. Ottavia is responsible for advisory services for Italian institutional clients and has been part of the advisory team of bfinance since 2007 based first in London and then in Rome. Ottavia previously worked for Goldman Sachs in London for Italian institutional clients and began her career as an analyst in the Private Wealth Management division of Morgan Stanley in Milan. Ottavia also has experience in the hotel industry. She holds a BA (Hons) from University College London and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Studies from the London School of Economics.
Read moreNORDICS
Janessa Valo
Director, Client Consulting Nordics
Janessa joined bfinance in February 2020 as part of the Client Consulting team. She was previously Deputy Director of Investor Relations at Institutional Investor. She works with clients in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Denmark.
Read moreNETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND DENMARK
Frans Verhaar, CFA, CAIA, FRM, FDP
Senior Director
Frans joined bfinance's London office in 2007 as a part of the manager research team. His role involved working with institutional investors worldwide, assisting them in manager search and selection mandates. By 2009, Frans changed roles to focus on client consulting within the Dutch speaking institutional investor market, with the goal of strengthening and expanding the company's footprint. Frans now actively works with investors in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Iceland.
Read moreAUSTRALIA
Frithjof van Zyp
Senior Director
Frithjof has over 15 years of experience in the investment management industry. Frithjof started his career with eVestment, a global provider of institutional investment manager data and analytics. Frithjof held numerous roles at eVestment, which included opening and managing their offices in Australia and Hong Kong from 2009-2014.
Read moreMIDDLE EAST & ASIA
Alex Denby
Managing Director
Alex is a Managing Director at bfinance focused on developing relationships in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Previously, Alex worked with Robeco Middle East in Bahrain and was responsible for relationships in Central Asia and Africa. Alex holds a BA in Modern Languages from Bristol University.
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Amir Saleem
Director
Amir is a Director at bfinance focussed on developing relationships in the Middle East & Asia. He joined bfinance in 2015 initially working closely with both the CEO and Global Head of Client Consulting on a range of strategic initiatives.
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Jennifer Eum
Director
Jennifer is a Director within the client consulting team at bfinance Hong Kong office, focusing on developing relationships in Asia. Prior to joining bfinance, Jennifer was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs Prime Services Capital Introduction Team and was responsible for relationships with Asia allocators and Hedge Fund managers.
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