Speakers
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Anthony Esse Anthony Esse
Chief Executive, Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited
Anthony has worked in the investment management profession for over 30 years and held directorships with Hermes, Newton (part of the Bank of New York Mellon Group) and GT Management Plc. At Hermes, he was involved in the acquisition of MEPC plc, the joint venture between Hermes and GE Capital, which at the time was the UK's largest ever private-equity backed management buy-out. He was also instrumental in bringing the Hermes Property Unit Trust (formerly Hill Samuel Property Unit Trust) to Hermes.
In 2003, Anthony co-founded The Darwin Group with James Penney, a strategic consulting boutique providing investors with strategic research into how major quoted companies compete and create value, and helping smaller quoted companies raise long-term capital directly from internally managed pension funds.
Anthony established the Darwin Property Leisure Fund with James Penney in 2007 and is CEO of Darwin Alternatives which now has assets under management of over £750m.
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James Penney James Penney
Chairman, Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited
James early career was in academia, including undergraduate and postgraduate research at Trinity College, Cambridge, followed by six years as Principal Lecturer at Westminster College, Oxford. After Oxford, Mr Penney was a Sloan Fellow at London Business School from which he has an MSc in Management Studies.
Until 2013, he was the owner and Managing Director of Darwin Consulting, a strategy consulting firm he cofounded in 1998. Darwin provided strategic advice to directors and investors in a range of industries, including financial services, private equity and media. In 2003 James co-founded the Darwin Group with Anthony Esse . From 2007 to 2014, Mr Penney was also Vice-Chairman of MAXBANK, a retail bank specialising in micro-credit and SME finance in the Philippines. Mr Penney was chairman of the credit committee and member of the corporate governance committee.
Since 2016 James has been a Board member of Loudspring Oy, a Finish company listed on the Helsinki and Stockholm stock exchanges. Loudspring is an investment group focusing on Nordic growth companies that save natural resources.
