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.
Eugenio Infante
Partner
Eugenio Infante has 14 years of experience in investment and finance-related roles.
Mr. Infante is the Co-Head of Aviron’s private equity and real estate strategy. Since joining Aviron in 2012, he has led the analysis, structuring, execution and monitoring of numerous investments in North America, Europe and Latin America.
Prior to Aviron, Mr. Infante served as Head of Financial Analysis at Cencosud S.A., one of the largest retail conglomerates in Latin America. While at Cencosud, he was actively involved in the analysis and structuring of the firm’s bank debt, bonds and derivatives, as well as in accounting, reporting and compliance-linked tasks.
Mr. Infante began his career as a buy-side Investment Analyst within the asset management division of LarrainVial, a leading Latin American financial institution. In this role he covered five industries: food, fish farming, telecoms, forestry, and water utilities.
Mr. Infante holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and a Master of Business Administration degree with honors from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Juan Francisco Benedetto
Chief Financial Officer
Francisco Benedetto joined Aviron in 2015.
Mr. Benedetto currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Aviron. As such, he oversees Aviron’s risk management process and is responsible for ensuring compliance with each of our clients’ investment guidelines. He is also responsible for the structuring and oversight of private equity and real estate investments.
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 a SAP IT platform to enhance TJC’s commercial and financial planning, and implemented an internal audit division to assess the company’s risks and to improve operational 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, as well as a Master’s degree in Financial Economics from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Alejandra Donoso
Legal Counsel
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
Director
Manuel Pereyra has over 17 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.
Sebastian Praetorius
Director
Sebastian Praetorius has over 9 years of experience in investments, specializing in asset allocation and global capital markets.
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.
Jaime Larrain
Associate
Jaime Larrain has 8 years of experience in finance-related roles.
Mr. Larrain joined Aviron in 2019 and focuses on private equity and real estate investments.
Prior to Aviron, Mr. Larrain served as Corporate Development Analyst and Risk Analyst at Colbún S.A. (BCS: COLBUN), the second largest power generation company in Chile. While at Colbún, he was actively involved in the analysis, structuring and execution of M&A opportunities and in the Strategic Planning efforts of the company.
Mr. Larrain began his career as Research and Development Analyst at Systep, a leading Chilean consulting firm focused on Energy Markets.
Mr. Larrain holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Gonzalo Bustos
Associate
Gonzalo Bustos Fernández has 7 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 Martinez
Associate
Juan Ignacio Martínez has 3 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.
Marco Diaz
Administrative Officer
Marco Diaz joined Aviron in 2010.
Mr. Diaz is currently responsible of Aviron’s back office team.
Prior to Aviron, Mr. Diaz served for 15 years as an Accountant for Antofagasta Minerals PLC, Chile’s largest private-sector mining company.
Mr. Diaz Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics and a Public Accounting degree, both from the Universidad Arturo Prat in Iquique, Chile.
Luis Torres
Accountant
Luis Torres joined Aviron in 2012.
With more than 30 years of work experience in the Accounting, HR and Finance Area, he has worked as general accountant in International School Nido de Águilas, Maderas Huiliche SA, Cariola Diez Perez-Cotapos and Turismo Peulla Ltda., and as Senior Auditor Accounting Analyst in Inc. De Seguros Bice Vida and Bice Hipotecaria and as Supervisor Budget in Nextel.
He is a Commercial Engineer from the University of Las Américas and Auditor Accountant of the Itesa Professional Institute and has earned a Diploma from Universidad de Chile in tax planning.
Manuel Villarroel
Accountant
Manuel Villarroel joined Aviron in 2018.
With more than 25 years of experience in accounting, human resources and finance. He has worked as a general accountant in Empresas Souyet S.A., Comercial Zero S.A. and Servicios de Agua Pichidangui, and as an accounting analyst and treasurer in companies such as Willis Insurance Services S.A. and Unilever Latin America.
Mr. Villarroel is a General Accountant and studied auditing in Andres Bello University.
Angelo Leiva
Accountant
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.
Arantza Umaran
Executive Assistant
Paula Topali
Executive Assistant
TEAM
Our team is comprised of individuals who are committed to our mission and values and whose skill set contributes to the successful implementation of our investment strategy.
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