Meet the Team
We’re Here for You
Board of Directors
Massimo Figna
Founder & CEO
Massimo Figna is a Founder of Tenax Capital Limited.
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Massimo was an Executive Director at UBS from 1999 to 2004, responsible for Italian and German insurance, and European asset gatherers. While working for UBS, Massimo ranked among the leading European insurance sector analysts.
Massimo graduated from Pavia University in 1995, with a Master's Degree in Economics. He won a scholarship in 1995 to follow a specialisation course in Actuarial Mathematics at the C.U.O.A. Business School of Altavilla Vicentina (VI).
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William Mak
Non-Executive Director
William Mak is the Chief Investment Officer and Chief Financial Officer at the Portuguese insurer Fidelidade. He also chairs the Investment Committee at Tenax.
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William has extensive industry experience and has held senior positions at Sun Life Financial in Hong Kong where he was Chief Information Officer, and at Ping An Insurance Company of China where he was Group Deputy CFO.
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Lingzhi Yu
Non-Executive Director
Lingzhi is the Head of the Investment Division at the Portuguese insurer Fidelidade, and a Non-Executive Director at Tenax.
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She holds a Ph.D in Mathematical Finance and is also CFA qualified.
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Lingzhi has a quantitative background and has held senior roles at both Barclays Capital and BPI Private Banking.
Private Debt Northern Europe
Andreas Tretzmueller
Portfolio Manager
Andreas is part of the investment team and member of the investment committee of the Tenax European Credit Fund (TECF) since its inception in 2019.
He has worked with Tenax since 2016 and has 30 years of experience in credit investment and direct lending to SME businesses in Europe. Prior to Tenax he managed the German private debt investments of Belvall Capital (formerly DAM Capital) as a partner and subsequently founded his own SME private debt investment and advisory business. Previously Andreas worked at Mizuho in Frankfurt as director for their credit business in Germany. He started his career in corporate and international finance with Raiffeisen Bank International (formerly Raiffeisen Zentralbank) in Austria and Eastern Europe, and he was a director for corporate finance and corporate banking with Tatra Banka in Slovakia.
Andreas graduated from Vienna University of Economics and Business with an MA degree in Commerce and he has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Rolf Brien
Portfolio Manager
Rolf is part of the investment team of the Tenax European Credit Fund (TECF).
Rolf has worked for the last 25 years both as a principal investor and as a corporate finance advisor with a focus on financings for mid-sized European companies. He recently spent 3 years on the investment committee of the European Investment Bank for its MidCap Growth Financing Initiative. Previously, he was a managing director and investment committee member at both PRICOA, the European investment arm of the U.S. Prudential, and Mezzanine Management, a dedicated pan-European mezzanine provider.
He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Corporate Treasurer and has a B.Com (Hons) from Birmingham University.
Private Debt Southern Europe
Gianpaolo Piattella
Portfolio Manager
Gianpaolo is part of the investment team of the Tenax European Credit Fund (TICF).
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Prior to Tenax, Gianpaolo worked for approximately 15 years in Private Equity for Synergo, Sofipa, Intesa San Paolo and Paribas Affaires Industrielles. Gianpaolo holds a BA cum laude from Bocconi University and an MBA from SDA Bocconi with an exchange program at London Business School.
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Gianpaolo is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Registered Auditor.
Filippo Padovani
Portfolio Manager
Filippo joined the investment team of Tenax Capital Italian private debt funds in 2021.
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He has 20 years of experience in private equity, corporate, and leveraged finance focused on Italian SMEs and Midcaps.
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Prior to Tenax, Filippo was Head of Acquisition Finance at ICCREA Banking Group, leading the bank’s leveraged finance and debt capital market team. Before he was Investment Director at Assietta Private Equity SGR, Intermonte Group and BCC Private Equity SGR.
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He holds a Master's Degree in Management and Finance from Bocconi University and an EMBA from MIP Politecnico di Milano.
Nicola Bertoli
Credit Analyst
Nicola Joined Tenax Capital in November 2022 as a credit investment analyst.
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Nicola holds a Bachelor's Degree in International Political Economy and a Master’s Degree in International Economy and Finance from University of Milan.
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Prior to Tenax, Nicola was an intern at the Directorates- General of the EU Commission seat in Milan, and has several years of experience as credit analyst for an LSE-listed fintech firm, and as M&A and Capital Markets analyst in cross-industries deals for a UK-based boutique.
Nicolo' Francese
Nicolò joined the investment team of Tenax Capital Italian private debt funds in 2023.
Prior to Tenax, Nicolò was Associate Director at CBRE, leading commercial real estate services and investments firm within the real estate investment banking team, and he worked in ADB Corporate Advisory, a corporate finance boutique focused on private debt.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Corporate Finance and Financial Markets from the University of Turin.
Senior Credit Analyst
Equity
Niccolò Ballarati
Portfolio Manager
Niccolò Ballarati is the portfolio Manager for the Global Financial Fund and the Global Equity Strategy and has more than 15 years of experience in public equities investing.
Niccolò worked at UBS from 2000 to 2006 as Equity Sales, covering pan European Asset Management and UK-based Hedge Funds. In 2006, Niccolò joined Fenician Capital as Portfolio Manager, running a long-short equity portfolio. In 2010, Niccolò moved to Brazil where he joined Patria Investimentos, becoming responsible for public Equities Strategies, managing a long only and a long-short equity fund. In 2016, Niccolò moved back to London to join Tenax Capital.
Niccolò holds a university degree in Economic History and Econometric from the University of Florence.
Dariusz Ubik
Equity Analyst
Dariusz joined Tenax in November 2022 and is a part of HealthCare Fund.
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Prior to that, he worked for over five years (and a year as a contractor) for Kepler Cheuvreux, where he was part of European Pharmaceutical team, covering small and mid-cap companies from the healthcare universe and providing support on large cap European Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he also worked for UBS.
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Dariusz holds an MA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Cracow University of Economics.
Kostas Feruliovas
Equity Analyst
Kostas is part of the investment team of the Financial Equities Fund.
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Prior to Tenax, Kostas worked as a Generalist Equity Research Analyst for several companies including the Norwegian investment Bank Norne Securities. Kostas holds a BSc in Economics from Vilnius University and graduated with a Master of Science Degree in Finance from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2014.
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Kostas continues to improve his qualifications and has passed all three exams required to earn the CFA designation as well as the CISI exam.
Ludovico Bragolusi
Equity Analyst
Ludovico joined Tenax Capital in January 2023 and, as part of the Equity Team, he covers the Renewable Energy Sector. Alongside his role as Renewable Energy Analyst, Ludovico is also part of the team that drives the quantitative research effort at Tenax Capital.
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Ludovico graduated cum laude with a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano. During his academic journey, he had the opportunity to further his knowledge as a visiting student at Technische Universität Hamburg.
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Ludovico has played tennis at semi-professional level and still enjoys playing with his friends.
Fixed Income and ILS
Marco della Giacoma
Portfolio Manager
Marco della Giacoma is part of the investment team of the Fixed Income and Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) Fund.
Marco joined Tenax in 2017 to manage the Tenax ILS Fund. He has since expanded his responsibilities to the broader liquid fixed income landscape. His main areas of expertise are insurance and the global fixed income markets. Prior to Tenax, Marco worked at Swiss Re in Zurich and London, holding different positions and becoming ILS structurer for the European market.
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Marco completed his MSc in Finance at Durham Business School in 2011 and his MSc in International Economics at the Rotterdam Erasmus University in 2010. He studied Economics at Bocconi University where he earned his BSc in 2009. He is also a judo black belt and sailing instructor.
Toby Pughe
ILS Analyst
Toby Pughe is part of the investment team of the Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) Fund.
He joined Tenax in 2021 from AXA XL in London where he was underwriting North American and International catastrophe (re)insurance.
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He is an ILS Analyst working predominantly on catastrophe bond investments.
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Toby is a graduate of Loughborough University and holds a Fellowship of the Chartered Insurance Institute (FCII). His thesis focused on how Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) can be used to transfer climate related risk in Emerging Markets.
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He is also the co-founder of a six-week online course called 'The Fundamentals of Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS)' where his students include beginners all the way up to c-suite executives.
Tomas Valtas
Credit Analyst
Tomas is part of the Tenax Fixed Income investment team.
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Prior to Tenax, Tomas has spent circa seven years covering European High Yield as a credit analyst. He started his career at Debtwire research in London, working as a published credit research analyst for almost two years. Most recently, Tomas joined from Credit Rubric, a European High Yield data and research platform. Tomas was part of the founding team along with acting as credit analyst, primarily writing and publishing relative value reporting covering primary High Yield market.
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He has a BSc in Business Finance and Economics from University of East Anglia and is pursuing CFA designation.
Martynas Vaiciunas
Fixed Income Analyst
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Martynas has joined Tenax in January 2024 and is part of the Fixed Income investment team.
Prior to Tenax, he spent four years with Moody's Investors Service, where most recently he was contributing to the ratings and research process, covering a diversified portfolio of issuers across European High Yield space.
Martynas has earned his BSc in Economics from Lancaster University in 2019 and is a CFA charterholder since 2022.
Credit Analyst
Operations,Compliance and Legal
Alessandro Franchi
Head of Operations
Alex Franchi joined Tenax Capital in 2017 as Head of Operations.
Prior to Tenax, he worked for more than 15 years in hedge funds and asset management firms.
He has managed the operations of various types of funds, ranging from long-short to onshore and UCITS regulated funds and encompassing various asset types such as OTC and listed derivatives, equity and fixed income.
He holds a BA Hons in Information Management and Finance from the University of Westminster.
James Ellison
Chief Operating Officer
James joined Tenax Capital in January 2023 as Chief Operating Officer.
James was previously Head of Operations for Equity Trustees Fund Services, where he was part of the Executive Leadership team. Prior to this, James was Head of Fund Accounting at BMO Global Asset Management, focusing on multi-asset products across Luxembourg, Ireland, and the U.K. James also held Fund Controller roles at JP Morgan Asset Management and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. James started his career at Aviva Investors in both the Technology and Finance teams.
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James is a Chartered Accountant and holds a BA in Accounting and Finance from Newcastle University.
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Amanda Callaghan
Head of Credit Fund Operations
Amanda is the Head of Credit Fund Operations at Tenax.
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Amanda was previously Head of Loan Trade Support/Loan Operations at Commerzbank, where she was responsible for the support teams in secondary loan trading and distressed debt. She has over 25 years' experience in the loans market spanning emerging markets, distressed and par loan settlements, loan administration, and cash management. She is a specialist in LMA and LSTA documentation. Amanda was responsible for the establishment of emerging markets and secondary loan trading support desks at Dresdner Kleinwort prior to their acquisition by Commerzbank.
Salvatore Zeolla
Operations Manager
Salvatore Zeolla joined Tenax Capital in 2022 as Operations Manager.
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Prior to Tenax, he worked for Trinity Street Asset Management LLP, a specialist manager of Global and International equity funds. He has over 15 years’ experience in the hedge fund and asset management sector.
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Salvatore holds a BA Hons in Italian and Business Studies from the University of Hull.
Alex Severne
Legal Counsel
Alex joined Tenax as Legal Counsel and Company Secretary in November 2022 and is a qualified solicitor.
Prior to joining Tenax, Alex worked as a solicitor reporting to the General Counsel for Travelers Europe, the European arm of one of the largest US insurance companies.
Alex has more than five years of experience in general insurance and has also worked in private practice on a range of financial, banking, insurance, and professional disputes matters. Alex also has a background in compliance, and holds a diploma in Governance, Risk, and Compliance from the International Compliance Association.
Iain Mather
Head of Compliance and Risk
Iain joined Tenax Capital in July 2024 from EFG Asset Management (UK) Limited where he was Head of Compliance.
Prior to that, he has held senior Compliance positions in asset management firms including Principal Global Investors (Europe), Morgan Stanley IM, and Henderson Global Investors. Iain is a fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments and holds the Securities Institute Diploma.
Elisa Locati
Office Manager
Elisa joined Tenax Capital as Office Manager in November 2024.
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Elisa has more than five years of administration experience. She was previously Office Manager and PA at Cru Wine Limited, a fine wine merchant with branches in Paris and Dubai, and Office Manager at A.H. Baldwin’s & Son, a numismatic dealer in the heart of London.
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Elisa holds two BA’s in languages from Ca’ Foscari, University of Venice, and an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester.
Advisors
William Clark
Director
William Clark had over 35 years' experience in international banking and asset management with Chemical Bank of New York (now J.P. Morgan), Prudential Insurance of American, and the Royal Bank of Scotland. His roles at Chemical Bank included Head of Corporate Banking for the UK and Nordic Countries, General Manager in Singapore, and Regional Head of Energy and Mining Finance.
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With Prudential of American the focus was on Pan European debt, private placements and mezzanine finance, and he was Chief Operating Officer of their first mezzanine fund. At Royal Bank of Scotland, he initiated and managed four leveraged debt funds and the RBS investments in private equity funds.
Marco Moreschi
Advisor Direct Lending
Marco Moreschi is an Investment Committee Member and Senior Advisor for the Tenax Italian Credit Fund.
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Marco has a twenty-year experience in commercial and investment banking, with specific focus on Italian small and medium-sized companies. He spent twelve years at Banca Lombarda-Ubi Banca, where he was also responsible for the small business market. Thereafter, he worked as General Manager of Banca Centropadana, and he has been recently appointed as General Manager of Banca di Civitanova Marche.
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Marco holds a BA from the Università degli Studi di Brescia and a Master Degree in Foreign Exchange and International Finance, organised by the Tirandi Foundation and SDA Bocconi.