Derek Soper brings more than five decades of experience in global leasing and asset finance, banking and financial services to IAA. Few can match his experience and expertise in international leasing operations.

Over the years, Derek has worked with companies at all stages of development and maturity. He has launched and managed de novo start-ups as well as a large number of leasing and financing companies in various parts of the world. He has successfully navigated the complex world of mergers and acquisitions and the subsequent re-engineering and consolidation of business operations. He has also amassed extensive experience in structured finance, project and tax-based funding activities as well as substantial vendor financing knowledge.

Derek is the founding director of numerous successful leasing companies, including AT&T Capital in Europe and Asia, Barclays, Kleinwort Benson and the Midland Bank. He has wide-ranging contacts and keen industry intelligence built through decades of networking with the top executives in the international banking and leasing industry.

Derek has served as Chairman of the UK Equipment Leasing Association (now the Finance & Leasing Association) and was a member of the Council of Leaseurope, the Industry Future Council of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association of America and the Finance House Association of Hong Kong. Derek is a Fellow of the UK Institute of Directors and a Freeman of the City of London.

Derek returned to the UK from Hong Kong in 1998 and established The Alta Group consultancy in Europe where he served as a Principal and latterly as Chairman. Immediately prior to his return he was responsible for the establishment of a network of companies for AT&T Capital in China, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Singapore. He has served as an advisor to the boards of several large financial institutions and banks.

Contact:


Direct: +44 1444 891344
Mobile: +44 7711 419834
Email: dereksoper@iaa-advisory.com

John Batty has a 35-year track record in international banking, leasing and asset finance with functional expertise in Credit & Risk Management.  Having lived and worked in China, Germany, Greece, the U.S. and the U.K he has broad experience of differing cultures and business environments which allows him to operate successfully in new markets and in ground-breaking transactions.

John is a commercially-driven Credit & Risk specialist who excels when challenged to devise creative solutions to complex, structured, asset-based deals but is equally comfortable in an operating role at executive management level.  This combination of skills was central to his recent role as advisor to TPG over their investment in a Shanghai-based leasing business which required strategic repositioning and business leadership.

Mergers and Acquisitions is also an area where John has extensive experience, in particular while representing GE Capital in a series of acquisitions of financial- and captive-leasing companies in France, Germany, the U.K., Italy, the Nordic countries, Ireland and Switzerland. A notable success was in structuring a multi-$ billion bankruptcy-remote captive vehicle for a U.S. office-equipment manufacturer.

John’s adaptability is also manifested in having worked effectively for major U.S., U.K., Japanese, German and Greek financial institutions.

Sanford Henry has been involved in corporate advisory services, asset finance and international fund investments for over 35 years.

Sanford provides creative and effective solutions to the demands and many diverse challenges that businesses, individuals and organisations face using his immense experience, international network and access to resources. Taking a business to the next level is a difficult process. Finding the right strategic partner, management, investors or developing an exit strategy takes time, vision and experience.

Sanford has worked in many countries including the US, Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the UK, Hungary, Poland and Russia. This has given him a vast international perspective and a formidable network of contacts.

A leading global expert in asset management and leasing, Sanford was International Vice President of US Leasing International Inc in London and Brussels. He has been a board director of more than 20 finance and leasing companies with shareholders such as Lazard, Orix, Bank of America and Barclays.

Acting as an international financial advisor, Sanford has managed funds, analysed and developed finance and leasing companies in Europe, Africa, China, India and the Middle East. He is currently senior advisor to numerous organisations globally.

Sanford has served as an executive with international companies including Groupe Express (Paris), Holiday Inns International Inc (Brussels) and the Ford Motor Company (Cologne and Detroit).

As a Partner in Lazard Ventures, Sanford founded Hartinvest-Medical Ventures, later Asset Solutions Ltd, a strategic advisory company that identified European investments for many leading American companies. Subsequently, Medical Ventures created the first European medical venture capital fund. Sanford has also structured investment funds and been managing director of two emerging market private equity funds with the US Government in Hungry and Lazard in Poland with over $500 million under management.

Sanford has been an advisor to the US Government and Imperial College London. He is a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, The Securities Institute and the FSA both as a fund manager and corporate finance professional.

Contact:

Mobile: +44 7712 005430
Email: sanfordhenry@iaa-advisory.com

Peter Jones has over 30 years’ experience at a senior or executive management level in international banking, asset finance, equity investments, trade credit and political risk insurance, gained from working and operating in many countries in all continents.

Peter is using that varied experience to provide practical and focused advice and solutions to the needs of the financial services and insurance sectors in the current global economic and financial environment.

Peter has worked in Canada; Hong Kong (responsible for Asia-Pacific); Ireland; Kenya (headquarters of an African multilateral development institution); the UK; and the US. In all these locations, he has been involved in leasing and asset finance, focusing on cross-border and aerospace transactions as well as domestic operations in various countries, working for a variety of major private and public international financial institutions, such as ANZ Grindlays Bank, Chemical Bank and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

Peter has wide and varied experience in creating new operating companies in various legal systems and countries such as Canada, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy and the UK; buying and selling operating companies; as well as the purchase and sale of strategic equity investments. This has provided Peter with direct experience in working with regulators as well as international credit rating agencies, where he achieved an “A” international financial strength and counter-party credit rating assigned by Standard & Poor’s to the African Trade Insurance Agency.

In the last 13 years, Peter has worked for public sector body, Export Development Canada; the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank Group; and as Chief Executive of the African Trade Insurance Agency. This has provided him with a unique set of skills in the direct insurance and reinsurance sectors specialising in credit and political risk insurance, coupled with a diverse and extensive knowledge of the global public and private domestic and export credit, and political risk insurers; as well as all of the major international development institutions. These include the African Development Bank; the Asian Development Bank; the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; the Inter-American Development Bank; and the World Bank Group (IBRD, IDA, IFC and MIGA). This detailed knowledge and experience of these specialist and important sources of funding and risk mitigation enable Peter to provide valuable assistance in accessing these institutions and their products and services.

Peter was a previous Chairman of the European and International Committee of the Finance & Leasing Association. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

Contact:
Direct: +44 2392 295611
Mobile: +44 7707 671585
Email: petermjones@iaa-advisory.com

A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasures.

 He entered the leasing industry at the early seventies and like so many early practitioners, has remained in it ever since. His years as a lessor were mainly in vendor leasing, starting as CFO and finishing as CEO at Anglo Leasing plc. During that time he was responsible for leading the company into a full listing on the main London Stock Exchange, was responsible for raising what at the time were some of the largest syndicated loans in the London Market, undertook the first AAA securitisation of small ticket leases in the UK, issued quoted bonds on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, and was involved in a number of takeover transactions.

Anglo was acquired twice during his time and on both occasions Alan was appointed to the board of the acquiring company and CEO of the combined leasing operations.

In 1997 Alan set up his advisory business, Bavelaw Associates and began researching and advising in the leasing markets of Australia and North America in addition to Europe. In 2003 Alan joined The Alta Group EMEA and shortly afterwards became Managing Principal. Along with Alta’s founder and Chairman, Derek Soper, he helped grow the base of international clients and establish a reputation for extensive knowledge and commercial experience.

In addition to Europe, Alan spends considerable time focusing on Australia, Asia Pacific and China. He is a regular speaker at international conferences around the world.

Australia is a market Alan knows particularly well having been going there on business since the last century. Alan is Chairman of an Australian company providing insurance services to the equipment and finance industry. This has resulted in an intimate knowledge of the equipment finance industry there. The frequent travelling to Australia has led to Alan spending time in Asia Pacific and China.

Alan is Secretary of the Captives Forum which is the European trade association of international manufacturer’s finance companies.

Contact:
Direct:  +44 (0) 1444 417 688
Mobile:  +44 (0) 7831 200 087
Australia:    +61 (0) 415 545 706
E-mail:  alanleesmith@iaa-advisory.com  

Christopher Storrar’s expertise is commercial law, excluding mergers and acquisitions, with specialisation in asset leasing and associated contracts generally, with particular reference to public authorities in all areas.

Christopher is a Consultant with Storrar Cowdry Solicitors of Chester, UK, and was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court in June 1977. He founded Storrar Cowdry Solicitors in 1983 as Sole Practitioner. On retiring as Senior Partner in 2008, he was appointed as Consultant. The firm now has eight partners and 14 fee earners in two offices and specialises in commercial, commercial property law and high-value divorce.

The firm was retained by Sovereign Finance PLC to undertake its legal work, which included drafting asset leases, both regulated and unregulated; dealing with security arrangements for sub-leases; general commercial arrangements with suppliers and customers; guaranties and risk-sharing arrangements of all types. The firm was also instructed in the sale and purchase of leasing books of various sizes and Christopher was directly involved in all these transactions; the retainer with Sovereign Finance being under his personal supervision.

Christopher has been retained by numerous banks and financial institutions throughout his career both generally and with particular reference to back-to-back funding arrangements.

Storrar Cowdry acts for various Universities. Christopher has been involved in all aspects of their development, including the negotiations for funding, amalgamations, asset procurement and ongoing property acquisition strategy. He was also closely involved with the evolution of a small FIA advisory company to its listing as a prominent PLC which is now a house hold name

Christopher jointly founded a leasing consultancy company in Manchester, which deals specifically with public authorities and is now the market leader acting for more than 90 authorities, advising in connection with, and arranging asset leases for, all types of equipment from police helicopters to wheelie-bins.

Christopher was appointed lead solicitor in the restructuring and refinancing of the UK arm of a major European manufacturing company, which involved negotiating and putting in place a £.5 billion facility and the amalgamation of four companies into one within a very tight timescale.

He has held office in numerous professional, commercial and charitable organisations.

Contact:

Direct: +44 1244 534861
Email: chrisstorrar@iaa-advisory.com

Nick Gallop, a senior and highly successful executive with many years experience in the Asset Finance and Leasing industry has joined the Board of IAA-Advisory.
Nick brings financing marketing skills and captive financing experience, having previously led European marketing for IBM Global Financing. Nick’s appointment broadens the scope of  IAA-Advisory’s capabilities, especially in the complex world of captives serving their customer  base via dealers and intermediaries; so we can continue to help our clients meet the challenges posed by a rapidly developing industry.”

Nick joined IBM in 1974 straight from university and has undertaken numerous roles in numerous territories. The key to Nick’s success at marketing may be attributed to the fact that he first trained as an engineer, as he result of which when he turned to a selling role he had a real feel for the technicalities of the products he sold. That early successful IBM sales career, with seven ‘100% Clubs’, shaped a customer focus that characterises his approach, such that when he turned to marketing he was particularly well qualified to understand the demands the role required and he has successfully been doing that for over 25 years. When faced with a business challenge, Nick has the analytical skills to understand the key issues, the communication skills to agree the proposed approach with all parties, and the energy and desire to drive change and improvement. Nick enjoys working in an international environment with the diverse cultures & people.

Nick Gallop
nickgallop@iaa-advisory.com
+44 (0)7867 808 872