Jean Keller
Chief Executive Officer
Jean Keller joined Quaero Capital SA in 2011 as CEO.
Prior to joining Quaero Capital SA, Jean Keller was CEO of 3A (Alternative Asset Advisors), the alternative investment division of banking group SYZ in Geneva. From when he joined 3A in 2005, the group grew significantly from around USD 1bn to over USD 4bn at its peak. Jean Keller was also responsible for the development of the group in Asia, with the purchase of Oria Capital in Hong Kong.
Before joining the SYZ group, Jean Keller spent 11 years assuming various responsibilities within the Lombard Odier Group in Geneva, New York and London. From 2002 to 2004, he was CEO of Lombard Odier Asset Management Ltd in London and a member of the group’s Management Committee. He also co-headed Lombard Odier’s institutional asset management division and sat on the Asset Management Board.
From 1988 to 1992, he was Investment Manager and Investment Analyst with Baring Asset Management in London and Hong Kong, where he was involved in the management of various mutual and institutional funds.
Jean Keller holds a Degree in International Relations from the University of Geneva and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania, with a major in Finance.
Thierry Callault
Head of Business Development
Thierry Callault joined Quaero Capital SA in 2013 as a Partner and Head of Business Development.
Thierry started his career at the Banque du Louvre in 1990 where he became Director of Strategies and was considered a pioneer for multi-management in France. He developed strategic relationships with top tier American asset managers like PIMCO, Western, Wanger, Third Avenue, Driehaus and Neuberger, who through his introduction were then able to develop their activities in France and continental Europe.
In 2003 he joined OFI Asset Management as CEO. Under his leadership the firm grew from 3bn to 50bn Euros asset under management. He was directly involved in the creation of several alternative multi-asset funds (OFI MGA, Zencap), infrastructure and real asset funds (OFI InfraVia) and fund incubators (AmLab and New Alpha).
Upon leaving OFI in 2012 he co-founded Blue Alpha, with the view to invest in newly created asset management companies and to help develop their brand and AuMs.
Francesco Samson
Group Chief Operating Officer
Francesco Samson joined Quaero Capital SA on April 1st, 2017, as Group COO.
Francesco Samson started his career in 1990 with DuPont de Nemours in Geneva where he became head of sales of three products in Europe. He subsequently joined McKinsey in Geneva in 1996 where he focused on business development and restructuring related projects. From 1998 to 2004 he led the strategy for the EMEA region, building and leading two front office teams for the Citigroup Private Bank in Geneva. Francesco Samson then spent 10 years at EIM in Nyon, where he was Partner, Group COO and member of the Executive Committee, also overseeing business development and investment services. He joined Brevan Howard in 2014 as Head and COO of the Geneva office and a member of the Executive Committee of Brevan Howard Investment Products Limited in Jersey.
Fluent in French, Italian, English and German, Francesco Samson has an MSc from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (“EPFL”) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and an MBA from INSEAD in Paris with a major in Finance.
Philip Best
Chairman of the Board, Portfolio Manager
Philip Best is the Chairman of QUAERO CAPITAL’s Board. He is also a Founding Partner of the company and a Portfolio Manager.
Philip started his career as a fund manager at Warburg Investment Management in 1983 initially as a trainee, then managing the Mercury European Income Fund. In 1987, he joined Enskilda Securities as a broker specialising in European small cap companies. In 1994 he established and ran the Paris office of The Europe Company Limited, a specialist research-driven European small cap brokerage (purchased by Jefferies & Co in 2000).
In 2003, Philip launched The Argonaut Fund, a fund he still manages today.
Philip graduated from Oxford University. He worked in London and Paris before he settled in Geneva. He is bilingual in English and French.
Georgina Parker
Head of Sustainability
Georgina Parker joined Quaero Capital SA in April 2018 and is Head of Sustainability.
Georgina began her career in 2007 as an equity analyst with Bessemer Trust, working first with the UK smid-cap team before joining the global large cap fund as a generalist analyst working in both London and New York. In 2015 she left to take part in the business development of Virgin Pure, a Virgin-backed start-up focused on reducing plastic waste. In 2018 she returned to the investment industry to contribute to the movement towards sustainability, joining the sustainable investment experts at Conser Invest in Geneva.
In 2014, Georgina co-founded a network for ambitious career women, called BroadMinded, currently spanning nearly 1000 women in London.
Georgina holds a degree in Economics from the University of Edinburgh and is a CFA charterholder.
Hélène-Sophie Renneboog
Head of Marketing and Communication
Hélène-Sophie Renneboog joined Quaero Capital SA in March 2021 as Head of Marketing and Communication.
In her new role, she is responsible for all the marketing and communication activities of the Group. Hélène brings with her more than 25 years in senior marketing positions in asset management with prominent institutions such as Bank J. Safra Sarasin and Lombard Odier.
A chartered CFA analyst, Hélène holds an Msc in Electromechanics Engineering from Université libre de Bruxelles as well as a master and various degrees in Marketing, Communications and Sustainability Management from IMD, USI and Cambridge University.
Michaël Malquarti
Chief Risk Officer
Michaël Malquarti joined Quaero Capital SA in 2017 as Senior Portfolio Manager, designing investment tools and processes and managing portfolios across several asset classes. He took on the role of Chief Risk Officer in 2020.
Michaël Malquarti started his career in 2005 at SYZ Asset Management. He initially developed quantitative and qualitative tools to support the alternative investment process and subsequently, as Head of Risk, designed and institutionalized its risk management process. In 2010, he joined the alternative investments team as Senior Portfolio Manager with a focus on quantitative issues, complex strategies and portfolio construction. In 2012, he was promoted to Co-Head of the alternative investment team, before becoming in 2015 the Head of the overall manager research team.
Prior to working in the financial sector, Michaël carried out research in the field of theoretical cosmology.
He is the author of several publications in professional journals. Since 2015 he has also been actively promoting a reform of the monetary system and in 2018 he published a book on the subject.
Michaël Malquarti holds a Masters in Mathematical Physics from the University of Geneva and a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Sussex (UK).
Antoine Turrettini
Investment Director
Antoine Turrettini joined Quaero Capital SA in 2014 as Investment Director for Quaero European Infrastructure Fund.
Previously, Antoine worked at Edmond de Rothschild within the infrastructure and project finance advisory department. He was notably involved in the financial structuring of landmark infrastructure transactions in areas such as railways, motorways, social, utilities & renewables mainly in Europe. Before joining the infrastructure team in 2008, he had an experience within the Corporate Finance department of Edmond de Rothschild in London focusing on M&A transactions. He also had a work experience at Orbis Investment Advisory in London.
Antoine is a graduate from the European Business School London in International Business with major in Finance.
Mark Ebert
Portfolio Manager
Mark Ebert joined Quaero Capital SA in 2012 and manages the Infrastructure Securities Fund.
Mark began his career with Price Waterhouse in Chicago and London. He then joined Citicorp Investment Bank – London in the Corporate Finance / M&A Department responsible for transatlantic M&A advisory. He joined UBS in London as Head of European M&A, becoming Senior Managing Director – Global Co-ordinator of M&A, based in Zurich. He became co-head of Panmure Gordon in London, an Institutional Broker and Corporate Finance Adviser focussed on UK & European high growth sectors.
He then pursued his career as a Member of the Executive Committee and Head of Lombard Odier’s Investment Banking Division in Geneva. He was responsible for the bank’s Private Equity activities as well as Securities Trading, Equity Brokerage, and M&A. He then founded Quadrum Partners in Zurich, providing corporate finance advisory services to European Institutional Investment Managers.
He later joined the Fortune Group, London, as Chairman. Fortune advised institutional investors on hedge fund strategies and ran several Hedge Funds of Funds. After Close Brothers acquired Fortune, he became a Managing Director and was responsible for developing Close’s Real Asset investment strategy, before joining QUAERO CAPITAL.
Mark’s degrees inlcude BSc, Gdip, and MSc. He qualified as a Certified Public Accountant.