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.

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.

Vincent joined Symbiotics in 2007 first serving as an investment analyst covering Latin America and E. Europe and later for W. Africa. Previously, he worked for Nestlé, as a supply chain and operational project manager in S. America and E. Europe, as a logistician with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) supporting operations in Angola, Sudan and Russia and as a business consultant for IBM. Vincent holds a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

Formerly head of the Technical Assistance Facility, Mariano has a law degree and is an experienced banker with over 30 years expertise. He has worked as an independent microfinance and SME consultant, as a regional coordinator for Latin America at ProCredit, and has held various senior manager positions within German and Spanish commercial banks.