Our Aviation Finance team

Ajeeth Narayan

Global Head of Investec Aviation Finance

Ajeeth is one of the three founders of the Investec Aviation Finance franchise in 2002, and has more than 22 years' experience in the aviation industry. Ajeeth started his aviation career in 1997 with a financing of two Boeing 737-400 aircraft in an emerging market jurisdiction. Since then, he has closed financing for well in excess of 100 aircraft using various structures including senior debt, mezzanine debt, pre/delivery finance and operating leases, ECA/ EXIM debt, Japanese leases, Australian leases and UK leases. He was responsible for hiring and training previous heads of Investec’s aviation business, including Ramki Sundaram and Alok Wadhawan. After founding the aviation franchise, Ajeeth created Investec’s India business – a profitable business, growing from zero employees to a current team of more than 85 people. Ajeeth is now the Global Head of Investec Aviation and will be working hard to solidify Investec’s position as a market-leading aviation franchise.

Celia Britt

Chief Operating Officer of Investec Aviation Finance

Celia has over 25 years of experience in asset based leasing and finance, with Investec since 2005 and prior to that Barclays Bank. Celia is responsible for the management of Investec’s aviation portfolio, driving strategic optimisation of processes and budgetary oversight.  As part of the senior management team, Celia is responsible for coordinating and driving the implementation of strategies within the regulatory landscape and managing both internal and external stakeholders.

Derek Wong

Head of Investec Aviation Debt Funds

Derek has over 10 years of experience in the aircraft financing and leasing industry and is Head of the Aviation Debt Funds with ~$1bn assets under management. Derek is also responsible for European airline coverage and is involved in the analysis, structuring and execution of debt financing transactions. He has raised over $450m of debt financing at Investec. Derek previously held financing roles at SMBC and HSH Nordbank and was responsible for aircraft valuations and market analysis at lessor, Global Aviation Asset Management. Derek is an ISTAT certified Aircraft Appraiser.

Paul da Vall

Head of Investec Aviation Equity Fund

Paul has over 25 years experience in the aviation sector, covering numerous disciplines including aircraft remarketing, operating lease negotiation, debt and equity structuring, acquiring direct equity stakes in several LCC airlines and negotiating the acquisition and sale of aircraft on behalf of third party investors.  As Head of the Aviation Equity Funds business at Investec, Paul has overall responsibility for strategic direction, execution and optimisation of fund investments.  Prior to joining Investec, Paul was at DVB for 15 years, most recently as head of Portfolio Management and Sales for the Deucalion Aviation Funds. Paul holds a BSc (Econ) from University College London and is a member of the Securities Institute.

David Louzado

Head of Technical

David Louzado has 30 years of experience in the aviation industry and specializes in aircraft advisory, asset management, and technical services. Prior to joining Investec in 2019, David held technical management positions with a number of airlines and lessors, including Thomson Airways (formerly Britannia Airways), easyJet, BAE Systems Asset Management, and Nordic Aviation Capital. David has an aircraft maintenance engineers license issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Joseph Barnwell

Aviation Finance

Joseph joined Investec on the 2017 Graduate Programme. He joined the Aviation team in January 2019, after completing the graduate scheme, where he rotated across various front office teams, including rotation within Aviation team. Joseph assists with origination research covering European and North American airlines. He also focuses on structured finance transaction execution and provides detailed credit analysis of airlines and lessors.

Nick Cowney

Aviation Finance

Nick has over 20 years of aviation and banking experience and joined Investec in 2009. Nick is the fund manager of Investec’s first aviation leasing fund, IGAF, overseeing the remarketing and trading of over 20 aircraft, debt financing and investor relations. He is also a Responsible Officer for Investec’s funds management licence and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Prior to Investec, Nick worked at AWAS (the aircraft leasing arm of Morgan Stanley prior to its sale in 2006).

Rose Howley

Aviation Finance

Rose joined Investec in 2013 and has oversight of the day to day management and performance of the Debt Fund Platforms. Rose is part of the Europe Coverage team for which she is responsible for the origination, structuring and execution of financing transactions. Rose has been instrumental in the structuring and syndication of ~$500m of Senior Debt in the regional aircraft space as well as over $200m of subordinated debt financing for US clients.

Rosalie Kersey

Aviation Finance

Rosalie has been with Investec since 2012 and is involved in all aspects of the Operations function, working closely with both internal and external parties to support the origination and execution of transactions. Rosalie is also responsible for the management of the aviation portfolio which covers balance sheet, debt fund and equity platform transactions.

Lukasz Laski

Aviation Finance

Lukasz joined Investec aviation team in 2019 and is responsible for origination, structuring, and execution of equity and debt transactions. He was previously at Deutsche Bank where he was originating and structuring debt transactions in the transportation space. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Lukasz worked for SMBC where he was focused on project and aircraft finance. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer.

Clinton Maphari

Aviation Finance

I joined Investec in January 2019 as part of the Client Re-Identification team in Private Bank Operations that focuses on enforcing ethical client behaviour including but not limited to Anti-Money Laundering, Compliance Monitoring, FATCA/CRS Monitoring, KYC (KNOW YOUR CLIENT) identification and verification. I now sit on the Aviation Finance UK desk, where I work with the Portfolio Management team which is responsible for managing and monitoring the performance of balance sheet deals. I am also responsible for the management and facilitation of internal and external agency tasks that are received by the Aviation desk. I currently hold a B.Com Honours degree in Economics and Applied Econometrics & a B.Com degree in Economics and Econometrics both obtained from the University of Johannesburg, School of Economics.

Gerald Mufunda

Aviation Finance

I have been at Investec since 2017 and I have held various roles in several front office and support functions at the bank. I assist with the origination, structuring and execution of both equity and debt financing transactions and my focus is on structured finance transaction execution and detailed analysis of commercial airlines and aircraft lessors. I have a Bcom Accounting and Finance degree from the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa).

Alexandra O'Connell

Aviation Finance

Alexandra has 5 years experience in aircraft leasing, working with a wide variety of institutional fund investors to manage aircraft as an alternative financial investment. Alexandra has responsibility for origination, analysis, execution and management of transactions in the EMEA and Americas. Alexandra holds a MSc in Economics and Finance from Bristol University and BSc (Hons) Degree in Economics, Finance and Business from the University of Sussex.

Ian Peck

Aviation Finance

Ian has string operational experience with a 19 year career within various bank operations teams. Ian joined Investec in 2010 and was part of the operations team with his main focus on the bank’s securitisation deals. He managed the day to day running of the bank’s portfolio of off-balance sheet deals, including transaction management, stress testing, secondary trading and portfolio reporting. He successfully managed the exit of all these funds and eventually moved into the Aviation Sector. With Ian’s strong operational fund experience, he helped with the initial setup of Goshawk and then managed the daily operations for numerous years. He then successfully helped with the migration of the operations from Investec to Goshawk. Ian now sits alongside and supports the Aviation desk Origination/Execution team on a daily basis.

Lisa Rooney

Aviation Finance

Clayton Woollgar

Aviation Finance

Clayton joined Investec in 2012 and has been responsible for origination, execution and syndication of more than $1.5bn of both debt and equity aircraft financing transactions. In addition, Clayton co-manages the remarketing and divestment of legacy aircraft investments, having remarketed more than 25 aircraft worth in excess of $700m. Clayton is also responsible for the coverage of airlines and lessors within the Americas. Clayton is a qualified Chartered Accountant (South Africa).