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.

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.

Alexandre Prautzsch has in-depth experience in investment matters as well as client relations. He started his career as a financial analyst at one of the major private banks in Geneva, covering several different markets and managing country and thematic funds. He also headed the equity research department, developed valuation models that included ESG criteria’s and designed the Bank’s advisory concept.He later moved to the private client side where he acquired and serviced Swiss and European clients. He developed and implemented specific offers for such clients and served for several duties, including Head of Private Banking at a smaller bank.He then decided to refocus on impact investing and joined Symbiotics in 2018.

Valerie joined Symbiotics in 2006 and headed its Asset Management division until 2011. After 5 years in the US, she joined the team again early 2016 as Business Development Director. Valerie is an international finance professional with 14 years’ experience in emerging financial markets, management and structuring of impact funds. Prior to joining the team, she worked for PROPARCO, and Morgan Stanley Capital International. Canadian and French by birth, Valerie is a graduate from McGill University (Montreal) and holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Sorbonne University (Paris).

Prior to joining Symbiotics in 2006, Daniel worked at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in various management positions in Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, and finally as Deputy Head of Operations for Eastern Europe at ICRC’s Geneva headquarters. Daniel held different positions at Symbiotics, including Regional Manager for Europe and Asia, Head of the Research and Advisory Division and since 2013 as Head of the Investments Division. Daniel holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the Graduate Institute (IHEID) in Geneva and an executive MBA in Management and Corporate Finance from the University of Lausanne.

Patrick d’Huart has gained field experience on four continents, having started his career consulting a leading microfinance institution in Haiti with IPC, working 9 years as Investment Analyst in Balkans, Caucasus, East Asia and especially in Africa, and currently as regional manager for the Asian markets team at Symbiotics. Patrick has developed strong investment analysis skills and versatility when dealing with a large range of financial institutions in developing and emerging countries. Patrick holds a BSc and MSc of Economics (University of Namur) and a Post Graduate in International Politics (Université Libre de Bruxelles).

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.