The final investment decisions made by the fund are taken by the Investment Committee. Moreover, the investment team is assisted by the Experts Committee during the investment period.
THE INVESTMENT COMMITTEE
The investment team prepares a committee memorandum which includes all investment opportunities and this document is presented to the Investment Committee members. Investments are decided based on what the majority of the members vote. The management team members will participate in the Investment Committee but the investment decision is only taken by the Investment Committee members.
EUROFIDEME 2's Investment Committee is composed of 5 members appointed by the Fund Manager, which are:
Philippe Zaouati
Managing Director of Mirova Environment and Infrastructure
Philippe Zaouati is a graduate of Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Economique (ENSAE) and of Institut des Actuaires Français (IAF).
Philippe Zaouati began his career at Banque Internationale de Placement in 1990 as quant analyst. From 1993 to 1996, he worked as financial engineer at CDC Gestion before joining Sogéposte as product manager. In 1999, he joined Crédit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM) where he held the positions of head of product marketing and then in 2000 CEO of CAAM Luxembourg. In 2002, Philippe Zaouati was appointed head of client service and then head of marketing of Groupe CAAM in 2005. He was also chairman of Fund Channel. In 2007, he became head of business development and member of the Executive Committee of Natixis Asset Management.
Philippe Zaouati is currently deputy CEO in charge of the Responsible investing division, head of business development of Natixis Asset Management.
Raphael Lance
Director of EUROFIDEME 2
Raphael has over 12 years' experience in the energy field, with 5 years specialized in the renewable sector in Western Europe and more than 16 years devoted to the financial sector.
Raphael joined the Natixis Environnement & Infrastructures teams in mid 2009 as Head of EUROFIDEME 2.
Previously, he worked 12 years at General Electric based in France, Italy and Hungary. For the last 4 years he was leading GE Energy Financial Services investments in France, Italy and Spain, developing a renewable energy investment portfolio of €350m for GE in Western Europe. Prior to GE EFS, he held several M&A and Finance management positions in GE Oil&Gas and GE Healthcare.
Prior to GE, Raphael Lance worked for 4 years at Credit Lyonnais in the Project Finance division.
Raphael has a strong expertise in the renewable energy and in the oil & gas sectors. He also has gained a vast experience in structuring financing solutions (project finance, LBO, trade finance, leasing) and related risk management. Finally, he has an excellent knowledge of the renewable energy sector in Europe (regulation, major players in the industry, technical expertise etc.).
He holds a Masters degree in Finance from the University of Paris IX Dauphine and an executive program from INSEAD. A French citizen, Raphael speaks fluent English and Italian.
Axel Richer
Head of Risks - Natixis Lease
Axel has 22 years of corporate banking experience at Natixis, including 18 years in project finance.
Axel started in the domestic network of Credit National (now Natixis) working on mid to large corporates in 1989. He was then seconded for 3 years to FIT Ingénierie Financière, a subsidiary of 4 French banks, specialised in financial and legal advisory for French infrastructure projects, such as roads, airports and tram projects. In 1995, he joined Natexis’ Project Finance team in Paris to be responsible of infrastructure projects in particular. In 1997, he moved to London to expand the Project Finance business in the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and CEE countries as well as Export Credit. In 2005, he was appointed deputy head of Project Finance of Natexis and then Natixis when Natexis and Ixis merged.
The team, which had over 70 professionals based in 8 different locations, was covering power (thermal energy and renewables), infrastructures, natural resources and telecoms. In November 2009, Axel joined the Third-Party Asset Management department and has been in charge of the debt funds platform until 2012, when he joined Natixis Lease as Head of Risks.
Axel holds a degree from ESC Tours and a MBA in Finance from ESSEC
Alain Canac
Former Chairman of CDC IXIS Credit Risk Officer
Alain has 25 years experience in risk management and project finance and is the former CDC IXIS Credit Risk Officer.
Previously, he worked as Credit and Control Manager and then Risk Manager at the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.
Prior to that, he worked for 17 years at Paribas
THE EXPERT COMMITTEE
EUROFIDEME 2 has an Expert Committee composed of persons recognized for their expertise in renewable energy.
The role of the committee is to keep the Fund Manager informed of the major foreseeable developments in European regulations and the technologies concerning renewable energy. The members of the Experts' Committee may also advise the Fund Manager on any other subject, in particular on investment projects which form part of their area of expertise.
The committee is composed of:
- Jean-Louis Bal - President of Renewable Energies Syndicate (SER)
Jean-Louis joined the Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie (ADEME) in 1992 and spearheaded negotiations for the ADEME/EDF agreements on Renewable Energy as Director of Renewable Energy, Energy Networks and Markets.
He previously worked for two photovoltaic module manufacturers.
- Cédric Philibert - Administrator of the IEA Energy Efficiency and Environment division
Cedric is the IEA climate policy trends analyst. Previously, he worked at the ADEME for 6 years as the advisor of the Managing Director.
Prior to that, he worked as an advisor at the Ministry of the Environment and as a scientific journalist.
In addition to the Expert Committee, EUROFIDEME 2 uses the services of engineering firms (specialized in technical due diligence for banks - Sgurr, Garhad Hassan, Sylcom...) and the support of legal firms to review the legal aspects of the deals (permitting, landlease, connection agreement, tariff and regulation) during the due diligence process.
