Abteilungsleiter Alternative Markets

Dr. Philipp Bunnenberg is Head of Alternative Markets at Bundesverband Alternative Investments e.V. (BAI) and is responsible for the association's activities in the areas of private & liquid alternative markets and public relations. After studying economics and business administration at the Universities of Potsdam, Münster, and Vigo, he initially worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Finance and Banking at the University of Potsdam. During this time, he completed his dissertation on closet indexing and risks in the ETF market. Dr. Bunnenberg is the host of multiple private markets conferences in Germany, a speaker on alternative investment-related topics at conferences throughout Europe, and the author of numerous publications.

Co-Founder

Luis Felipe Castellanos has over 30 years of international experience in private credit and leveraged finance. He began his career at BNP Paribas, where he spent 13 years in the Structured Credit team across the firm's Paris and New York offices.

In 2007, he joined European Capital, a €3 billion private credit manager, as a Partner responsible for Southern Europe. He subsequently became a Partner at Mercapital, then the largest private equity firm in Iberia, where he led the debt investment activities. Prior to joining Alantra, he headed the Debt Advisory practice at PwC as Lead Partner.

In 2014, Luis joined Alantra to establish and build its private credit platform, of which he is the founding partner. Under his leadership, Alantra has grown into a leading private credit manager with more than €1 billion in AUMs across a diversified range of strategies, including direct lending, commercial real estate debt, and flex capital.

Senior Managing Director und Head of Private Debt

Dr. Markus Geiger has been Senior Managing Director and Head of Private Debt at ODDO BHF Asset Management since late 2018. He has more than 25 years of experience in the fields of private debt, private equity, and consulting. Prior to joining ODDO BHF, he spent four years leading the business in the D/A/CH region at Kartesia, a pan-European credit investor. Before that, he spent eight years at Borromin Capital (formerly Steadfast Capital), where he was responsible for sourcing, executing, and managing various private equity investments, serving as a partner during his final years there. He began his career in 1997 as a management consultant at Strategy & (formerly Booz Allen Hamilton), focusing on corporate finance advisory services for international corporations and private equity firms. Markus holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cologne and a master’s degree from ESCP Europe.

Head of Private Credit

Patrick joined Federated Hermes in June 2015 to launch and manage the Federated Hermes Direct Lending franchise, which invests in senior loans to UK and European mid-market businesses. He was the lead portfolio manager on the first Direct lending funds launched by Federated Hermes and is now Chair of the Private Debt Investment Committee and a member of the Private Markets senior management team. He became Head of Private Credit in January 2022 with oversight of all fixed income strategies within private markets, including Direct Lending and Asset-Based Lending. He was previously Head of Direct Lending in London at Tikehau Capital, and Partner at WCAS Fraser Sullivan Investment Management, where he established the firm’s European loan business. Prior to that, Patrick managed loan portfolios in excess of USD4bn and USD10bn as Managing Director at the Lehman Brothers Estate and Head of European and Asian loan portfolio management and restructuring at Lehman Brothers respectively. He has a Bachelor of Commerce in Business Administration and French from the University of Edinburgh and holds the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing.

Co-Head of Senior Debt Partners

Peter joined ICG in 2017 and is the Co-Head of Senior Debt Partners at ICG. 

Prior to joining ICG, he was a portfolio manager for Avenue Capital's direct lending business in Europe, having joined Avenue Capital in September 2012 to establish that business. Prior to that, Peter was a Managing Director and Head of Sponsor Leveraged Finance at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and before that a Managing Director in the Financial Sponsor Coverage and Leverage Finance groups at Merrill Lynch. Previously, he worked for Barclays Capital in their Leveraged Finance & Sponsor Coverage Group and NatWest Markets in their Acquisition Finance team.  

Peter is a graduate of Loughborough University and holds a first-class honours degree in Banking & Finance.

Managing Director Private Credit

Christian Schaefer is a managing director in Private Credit within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, with oversight of credit investing activities in the German-speaking region.

He joined Goldman Sachs in 2016 as an executive director and was named managing director in 2019.

Prior to joining the firm, Christian worked at J.P. Morgan for 10 years on the firm's Industrials Investment Banking team in London, as well as in the German Mergers & Acquisitions Group in Frankfurt.

Christian earned a master's degree in Business Administration from the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel, Germany, in 2006.

CEO and Portfolio Manager

Sandro co-founded Capital Four in 2007. He is a PM and member of the Investment Committee for Private Debt, Leveraged Loans and High Yield. Prior to Capital Four, he was at Nordea Investment Management, where he was responsible for the European High Yield business, which he initiated in 1999.
Prior to that, Sandro worked with Credit Suisse in New York (fka BEA Associates), London (CS-FirstBoston) and Zürich in various roles in Fixed Income and Corporate Finance / Mergers & Acquisitions.
He holds an MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in Computer Science from ITR Rapperswil.