Management

Prior to co-founding Symbiotics, Roland worked for BlueOrchard Finance as their CFO for three years, as well as for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Geneva in management consulting, for McKesson in San Francisco in corporate finance, and for UBS Switzerland in institutional asset management. He holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the Graduate Institute (IHEID) in Geneva and a master’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago.

Yvan joined Symbiotics in 2005. Prior to this, he worked for BlueOrchard Finance where he was the chief operations officer. Before this, he was a microfinance consultant in Peru and a small enterprise consultant in Western Africa and worked as a fund accountant at Capital International in Geneva. Yvan holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Geneva and a master’s degree in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics.

From 1995 to 2005, Sébastien worked for Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young as a TAS Senior Director (Transaction Advisory Services). He became CEO of PlaNet Finance in June 2005. He is also a co-founder of FinanCités and Planet Guarantee. From 2009 to end 2015, Sébastien managed PlaNIS that he then merged with ResponsAbility. At responsAbility he was in charge of the debt investments portfolio Eastern Europe, Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia. He was also part of the management committee of ResponsAbility. From 2016 to May 2018, Sébastien joined Oxus as a CEO. Sébastien holds a diploma from the French Business School EDHEC and from the DESCF. He is a teacher at Sciences PO Paris and EDHEC Business School.

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John Staehli, previously Head of the Marketing & Communication unit, returned to Symbiotics in 2014 after spending five years at HSBC Private Bank as Head of Marketing Switzerland overseeing activities within Europe and the Middle East. Before this he was managing the communications at Symbiotics; an Account Manager at Saatchi & Saatchi; and the Event Manager of Lombard Odier Private Bank. He holds a Visual Communication diploma from the Applied Art School of Geneva and various certifications in the field of digital, marketing and communication.

Before joining Symbiotics in 2006, Jérôme worked for Deloitte & Touche as a Financial Institutions Auditor and for Société Générale Investment Banking as a Regional Risk Project Manager in Hong Kong. He subsequently worked for three years as the Director of Initiative Development Ghana, a microfinance NGO, delivering credit savings and training services to urban poor in its capital, Accra. Jérôme holds an MBA from the ESSEC Business School in Paris.

Klaus has over 25 years of senior management experience in the microfinance industry. Prior to joining Symbiotics in 2018 he held positions as CEO in FINCA Nicaragua and as CEO of ProCredit Bank (Nicaragua). He also served as Director of Regional Management Academies of the ProCredit Group in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. Throughout his career, Mr. Geyer has helped to develop savings and deposits, housing improvement loans and subsidy programs as well as other financial services to reach lower-income populations. He holds a master’s in economics from the Freie Universitaet in Berlin, Germany.

Prior to joining Symbiotics in March 2015, Duncan was country manager in China for Accion International where he led the launch and management of microfinance operations over the past 6 years. Previously, he worked for several years in commercial and private banking in South Africa and later spent six years in various managerial positions for FINCA International and Accion in Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Nigeria. Duncan holds an MBA and postgraduate certificate in Business Administration from the Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University.