Francisco Colchero has over two decades of experience in the financial sector.

Mr. Colchero founded Aviron in 2009, and led its transition to an independent asset management firm in 2016. His main areas of focus are private equity and real estate investments; he has led over 40 of such transactions in over a dozen jurisdictions.

Mr. Colchero has served -and currently serves- on the boards of companies in such diverse sectors as retail, energy, solar power generation, student housing, and industrial real estate.

Prior to Aviron, Mr. Colchero served as Chief Executive Officer of Celfin Capital’s asset management arm, a leading investment bank in Chile with US$5 billion in assets under management that was sold to a Brazilian financial institution in 2011. Before moving into asset management, he gained substantial transaction experience as a member of Celfin Capital’s investment banking team, advising companies on initial public offerings, merger and acquisitions, and debt issuances. Mr. Colchero began his career in the financial sector as a research analyst covering the Power Sector for an equity research joint venture between Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA) and Celfin Capital.

Mr. Colchero holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and a Master of Business Administration degree with honors from the Kellogg School of Management.

Mr. Benedetto joined Aviron in 2015 and currently serves as Head of Risk Management and Asset Allocation, whereby he oversees the portfolio construction process and the risk governance framework.

Prior to Aviron, Mr. Benedetto was Chief Executive Officer of TJC, a leading retail company with operations in Chile, Peru and Bolivia. During his tenure he led the expansion of TJC to new markets, sponsored the implementation of SAP ERP platform to enhance TJC’s commercial and financial planning, and restructured the organization to improve its processes.

Mr. Benedetto previously served as a Vice President of Corporate Finance at IM Trust (since acquired by Credicorp), a leading Chilean investment bank, where he led the issuance of more than US$1 billion in debt and equity: He began his career as an analyst in the Business Development department of Empresas Copec, one of Chile’s leading and largest publicly traded companies.

Mr. Benedetto holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics, from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where he graduated first in his class, a Master’s degree in Financial Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Alejandra Donoso joined Aviron in 2015.

Prior to Aviron, she served as a Senior Associate in the Corporate / Mergers and Acquisitions / Capital Markets Group at Carey y Cía, Chile’s largest law firm. Her experience includes advising international and local clients —both corporate and institutional— in mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, corporate auction processes, acquisitions of companies and assets, negotiated transactions, joint ventures, private equity transactions, securities and debt offerings, derivatives, and local and foreign financings.

During 2012 and 2013, Ms. Donoso served as an International Visiting Attorney at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher and Flom LLP’s New York office. While at Skadden, her practice focused on corporate and cross-border financing transactions —particularly throughout Latin America— in connection with syndicated loans, acquisition financings, bridge loans, as well as public and private offerings in the capital markets.

Ms. Donoso holds a law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where she graduated summa cum laude, first in her class, and a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School. She also holds a diploma in tax analysis and structuring from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Ms. Donoso served for several years as a Professor of Commercial Law at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

She has been admitted to practice law in Chile and the State of New York.

Manuel Pereyra has over 19 years of investment and research experience for institutional investors and high net worth individuals.

He joined Aviron in 2013 and focuses on publicly traded securities including equities, bonds, funds and financial derivatives. Since then he has been mainly involved in Asset Allocation process and Investment Strategy for balanced portfolios and cash management.

Previously he served as Chief Investment Officer at Globalfolio Financial Advisors, Credit Suisse EAM. Before that, he was a Head of Global Markets Research and Portfolio Manager of Global Balanced Mutual Fund, Latin America Equity Fund and US Dollar Investment Grade Fund at Penta, a renowned local investment bank (acquired in 2016). Prior to this, he worked as buy side Investment Analyst with focus in conglomerates and financial institutions at Penta E&I, the research arm of Grupo Penta.

Mr. Pereyra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics and a Master of Finance from Universidad de Chile.

Carlos Miguens joined Aviron in 2022 as Managing Director and Head of Private Markets Strategy, being responsible for private equity and real estate investments.
 
He has 15 years of experience in finance, evaluating business opportunities and investments.
 
Before joining Aviron in 2022, Mr. Carlos Miguens was a Director in Patria Investments, the largest Private Equity fund in Latin America. During his 6 years in Patria, Carlos was responsible for origination and execution of investments in Latam (ex-Brazil and Colombia) for the Infrastructure Fund. Carlos lead the evaluation and investment in various opportunities in sectors such as Energy, Telecommunications, Logistics, Transportations and Environmental Services, among others. Besides sourcing proprietary investment opportunities, Carlos led M&A processes (both for acquisitions and for divestments of Patria’s portfolio companies), due diligence processes, auction processes and structuring of investments. Additionally, Carlos took an active role within Patria’s portfolio companies, specially regarding financing and operations.
 
Prior to Patria, Mr. Miguens worked as an associate in the Fund of Funds team at Quilvest, evaluating and leading diligence processes for potential investments in European Private Equity Funds. At the beginning of his career, Carlos worked as an analyst in Southern Cross Group, responsible for financial modelling and leading diligence fronts for investment opportunities in Latin America.
 
Mr. Miguens holds a Bachelor degree in Political Science from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Argentina. He also holds an MBA from the London Business School where he also won the school’s Private Equity Competition in 2015. Additionally he completed an executive program of Enterprise Valuation and Value Creation from the UCEMA university in Argentina.

Jim Varas has two decades of international investor and corporate finance experience, having occupied high managerial positions in Europe, North and South America. During his career, he has had the opportunity to work in different jurisdictions, and is fluent in English, French, Italian and Spanish.

Mr. Varas joined Aviron in 2023 and currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of the company, being also responsible for the structuring and oversight of direct investments.

Prior to Aviron, in Chile, Mr. Varas served as Chief Financial Officer of Tanica Group, engaged in entrepreneurial activities, and served as Investment Director of Mantos Copper, where he helped to secure critical debt financing for the expansion projects of the company and its US$3.3bn merger with Capstone Mining.

Previously, Mr. Varas was for almost a decade with EXOR – one of Europe’s leading investment companies, originating, analyzing and executing investments in both public and private equity markets, and working closely with the top management teams of the companies in EXOR’s portfolio. Mr. Varas also served as Finance Director of Stellantis in the United States, a leading global automaker, which brands include Jeep, Ram, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Peugeot y Citroën.

Mr. Varas started his career as a Mergers & Acquisitions banker at BNP Paribas and UBS Investment Bank in London. He is an engineer by training, with a degree from Ecole Polytechnique and an MBA from College des Ingenieurs de Paris.

Sebastian Praetorius has over 12 years of experience in finance, specializing in asset allocation and global capital markets investments.

Mr. Praetorius joined Aviron in 2019, and focuses on publicly traded securities, funds, and derivatives.

Prior to Aviron, he served as Finance Business Partner for Revenue Management at Maersk Line (Copenhagen). Before that, he was Head of Global Markets at Banco Penta (a Chilean investment bank with US$ 2.3 billion in assets under management that was acquired in 2016), where he was responsible for developing investment strategy recommendations and managing international mandates for private banking clients.

He began his career at Grupo Penta as an Investment Analyst with focus on Materials, Transportation, and Financial sectors. Subsequently, he served as Portfolio Manager of Global Balanced, European equities, and EEMEA equities mutual funds. He then set up and led Penta’s Asset Allocation research team.

Mr. Praetorius holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics and a Master’s degree in Finance, both from Universidad de Chile. He also holds a post-experience Masters in Finance degree with distinction from London Business School.

Gonzalo Bustos Fernández has 8 years of experience in finance-related roles.

Mr. Bustos Fernandez joined in 2021 and focuses on private equity and real estate investments.

Prior to joining Aviron, Mr. Bustos Fernández served as Investment Analyst at Southern Cross Group, a Latin American private equity firm. While at Southern Cross, he analyzed investment opportunities, executed acquisitions, and participated in the operation of portfolio companies in Latin America.

Before that, Mr. Bustos Fernández worked as Investment Banking analyst at Columbus Merchant Banking, an independent investment bank based in Buenos Aires, focused on M&A transactions.

Mr. Bustos Fernández holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economy and a Masters degree in Finance from Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School.

Juan Ignacio Martínez has 5 years of experience in roles related to finance.

Mr. Martinez joined Aviron in 2020 and focuses on Aviron’s finance, structuring, and risk management area.

Prior to Aviron, Mr. Martinez served as Senior Corporate Finance Analyst at Credicorp Capital, a leading investment bank in the Latin American region. During his experience at Credicorp, he participated actively in different types of financial advisory services to important Chilean companies, supporting them in M&A transactions, issuance of shares and corporate bonds, and in the structuring and issuance of bank loans.

Mr. Martínez holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and took part in an exchange program at the University of Sussex, Brighton, England.

Ignacio Perez has 5 years of experience in roles related to finance.

Ignacio joined Aviron in 2023 and focuses on finance, structuring and risk management.

Prior to Aviron, Ignacio served as Deputy Financial Officer at Asset Administradora General de Fondos, a leading real estate investment funds management company in Chile. During his experience at Asset, he actively participated in the structuring, placement and refinancing of debt for more than UF 4.3 million (US$ 175 million), including the first bond of the Fondo Asset Rentas Residenciales. He was also involved in investor relationship management, raising capital, and the structuring and distribution of new investment funds.

He began his career as a cash equities analyst at JP Morgan & Chase’s brokerage house and completed his internship at BTG Pactual’s asset management.

Ignacio holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Universidad de Chile, with a certificate of accreditation of knowledge in the securities market (CAMV).

Kevin Hes joined Aviron in 2022.

Prior to Aviron, he served during 2017 to 2022 as an associate in the Corporate / Mergers and Acquisitions group of the law firm Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos, one of the most recognized law firms in Chile.

Kevin Hes’ experience includes advising mainly corporate and transactional matters to both Chilean and international clients. In this context, he has participated and led different due diligence processes, company acquisitions and mergers, corporate modifications and restructurings, private equity transactions, and preparation and negotiation of contracts, both civil and commercial.

Kevin Hes holds a law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and passed his professional practice with maximum qualification. He is admitted to practice law in Chile since 2018.

Angelo Leiva joined Aviron in 2019.

With 15 years of experience in accounting, treasury, human resources and internal control, he has worked as a general accountant in Grupo Saez Joannon, Whirlpool Chile Ltda., Automóvil Club de Chile and San Francisco Investment Ltda. (Casino Sun Monticello), and as a senior accounting analyst in Puratos Chile S.A and Simonetti inmobiliaria S.A.

He graduated as Accounting Technician at the Higher Institute of Commerce No. 2 and is in the process of qualifying as an Auditor Accountant at Diego Portales University.