DIRECTORS

Cesare is the Chief Executive Officer of d’Amico Società di Navigazione SpA, a publicly listed shipping company. He is also Vice-Chairman of Tamburi Investment Partners S.p.A. (Milan - Italy), Chairman of The Standard Club Ltd. (Bermuda Islands - United Kingdom), and member of the Council and Executive Committee of Confitarma – Confederazione Italiana Armatori (Rome - Italy). He graduated in 1982 from Rome University (La Sapienza) with a degree in Economics.

Klaas Meertens is a managing partner of the private equity firm HTP Investments in Amsterdam and a founding partner of the multi-family office Novum Capital Partners in Geneva. He is a member of the supervisory board of Knaus Tabbert AG, the Frankfurt listed European leisure vehicle producer, and acts as a non-executive Board member of EFIC1, a SPAC aiming to invest in European FinTechs, of which HTP Investments is a sponsor and the sole anchor investor.

In 2008, Meertens partnered with Wim de Pundert in HTP Investments to exclusively invest their proprietary funds into private companies. Together they acquired majority stakes in businesses including Knaus Tabbert, Michael Thierry Group, Geiger, Reum, Halberg Guss, Morelo, Oyster, Formtec and UBC. Knaus Tabbert was IPO-ed in September 2020. The company was acquired in 2009 for EUR 12.6 million and its market capitalization at IPO reached EUR 602 million.

Beyond HTP Investments, Meertens and De Pundert have made significant early investments in technological companies, including US based Zillow Group and UK FinTech player Curve.

In 2018, Meertens partnered with Gabriele Gallotti to set-up Novum Capital Partners in Geneva. Novum is a multi-family office catering to UHNW families, with close to 2 billion Swiss francs in assets under management.

Early in 2021, together with Nicholas Aperghis, Meertens initiated and founded EFIC1. It aims to merge with a fast-growing European private FinTech company. Through HTP Investments, Meertens and De Pundert have invested a total of more than 45 million euros in EFIC1 as sponsors and sole anchor investors.

Before Meertens partnered with De Pundert in 2008, he worked for J.P. Morgan in New York, Amsterdam and as of 1997 in London, where he first headed and built their TMT EMEA team and later became head of investment banking for the Benelux and Switzerland. He was also part of the EMEA Investment Banking Coverage management team. While at J.P. Morgan, Meertens initiated many high-profile multi-billion transactions across M&A, ECM and DCM for blue-chip clients.

From 1986 until 1996, Meertens worked for McKinsey & Company in Amsterdam, New York, Brussels, London and Milan, the last 4 years as a partner focusing on transportation and financial institutions.

Meertens studied Physics at the University of Utrecht (BSc) and Management at the Interfaculteit in Delft (MSc).

Before founding Novum Capital Partners in 2018, Gabriele was a Managing Director at JP Morgan in Geneva, where he built a client portfolio of over USD4 billion across 30 families.

Gabriele’s specialty is advising his clients on their full balance sheet including all aspects of wealth planning, portfolio management and credit advice (including mortgage, jet, yacht and art financing, as well as complex credit deals).

Between 2011 to 2016, Gabriele served as a member of the JPMorgan Private Banking Advisory Council. He started his career at BSI in Lugano and moved to Geneva, where he led the bank’s advisory team.

Gabriele holds a degree from Bocconi University in Milan.