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.

James has over 20 years of aviation finance experience. James is responsible for origination and structuring of equity and debt transactions.  Prior to Investec, James worked at DVB Bank focussing on structured debt financings for airlines and lessors alike. Prior to DVB Bank, James ran the EMEA Aviation Finance Team at SMBC Europe that was responsible for all aspects of transactions from origination to execution, and before that led teams at HSH Nordbank and HypoVereinsbank. In the last 10 years, James was responsible for the origination of over $1.5bn of aircraft financing transactions.

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 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 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 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).

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).

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.

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.

George joined Investec in 2015 and has primarily focussed on leasing and structured finance transactions for both Investec’s balance sheet and on behalf of investors. George has executed ~$1.7bn worth of debt and equity transactions for a variety of airlines and lessors focussing on the Asian and Middle Eastern markets. George has strong experience in credit analysis and financial modelling working closely with Investec’s distribution team, managing the sell down and syndication of many of the desk’s deals.

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.

Lewis is based in Singapore and has 14 years experience in managing aircraft working with a wide variety of institutional fund investors. Lewis is primarily responsible for origination, execution and management of the Investec Equity Funds. Lewis supports the wider Investec Aviation Finance business with an active role in managing and interfacing with the Asian investor base (Singapore, Korea, China and Japan). Lewis holds a BA (Hons) Degree in International Business and Modern Languages, from the University of Strathclyde and a Masters in Economics from HEC Montreal.  He is a member of the Securities Institute and is approved by the FCA to give investment advice.

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).

Aoife is responsible for all aspects of financial reporting, operations and stakeholder management across Investec’s aviation equity funds. Aoife joined Investec Australia in 2014 before moving to Investec Ireland in 2018 to head up the financial control function. Aoife is a qualified Chartered accountant, with over 10 years (post-qualification) experience in financial reporting and fund management.

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.

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.

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.