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Ines Bou-Abdallah
XInes Bou-Abdallah
Senior Analyst, Investments
Ines Bou-Abdallah supports New Forests’ fund strategy in Southeast Asia, focusing on deal execution and portfolio management. Prior to New Forests, Ines worked at FMO, the Dutch Development Bank, where she executed transactions and managed a portfolio of generalist mid-market private equity funds and co-investments in emerging markets. Ines has experience in private equity, impact investing, and in the technology start-up space as an entrepreneur. She holds a Master’s of Science in Economics and a Bachelor’s of Science in International Business Administration from Erasmus School of Economics and Rotterdam School of Management.
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Carrie Heng
XCarrie Heng
Manager, Investments
Carrie Heng manages the implementation and monitoring of fund investments in Southeast Asia. This involves deal structuring, financial due diligence, negotiations, documentations, and operational support for New Forests’ acquisitions and assets under management in Asia. Prior to joining New Forests, Carrie spent seven years in infrastructure advisory, advising clients on various aspects across project lifecycles from project structuring through to transaction management. Carrie has worked on infrastructure transactions in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Australia. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Marketing and a Master’s degree in Finance from Monash University, Australia.
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Sean Lloyd
XSean Lloyd
Senior Analyst, Operations
Sean Lloyd supports New Forests’ investment program in Southeast Asia, bringing a background in operational forestry modelling and resource management. In this capacity, Sean works with New Forests’ investees in the region and to support fund operational modelling, due diligence, and resource management activities. Sean previously worked in New Forests’ investment analytics team in Sydney focusing on investments in Australia and New Zealand. Sean has a Bachelor of Forestry Science degree from the University of Canterbury.
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Justin Mercer
XJustin Mercer
Environmental & Social Manager
Justin Mercer is the Environmental & Social Manager for New Forests’ investment program in Asia. Justin joined New Forests in 2020 with 20 years’ experience, including a decade each of working as an environmental and social consultant and as a research forester, respectively. Justin oversees environmental and social compliance for New Forests’ investments under management in Asia, contributes to due diligence for prospective investments, and contributes to the company’s sustainability programs through collaborative efforts for sustainability and impact management. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Colorado and a Master of Natural Resources / Forestry from Humboldt State University.
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Jens Petersen
XJens Petersen
Associate Director, Investments
Jens Petersen is responsible for implementation and monitoring of fund investments in Southeast Asia. This involves deal structuring, financial due diligence, negotiations, and operational support for New Forests’ acquisitions and assets under management in Asia. Jens is a seasoned private equity professional with broad experience in emerging and frontier markets, with the majority of his career spent in Asia. He has nearly 10 years of financial services experience working in private equity funds where he accumulated extensive deal management experience in addition to strong technical investment skills. Jens has a BSc in Business, Asian Language (Chinese) and Culture, and an MSc in Applied Economics and Finance from the Copenhagen Business School, in addition to a Master’s in International Management from the Community of European Management Schools.
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Geoffrey Seeto
XGeoffrey Seeto
Managing Director, New Forests Asia
Geoffrey Seeto oversees New Forests’ timberland investment program in Southeast Asia, with 20 years’ experience in financial services, principally in private equity in the infrastructure, natural resources, and energy sectors. He is an experienced investor in the Asian region, having led, originated, and executed a wide range of transactions in various regulatory regimes. He has completed deals in Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and China. Outside of Asia, he has worked in North America, Europe, and Australia. Geoffrey was previously at KPMG, where he was Partner, Asia Infrastructure Markets. Geoffrey was also formerly Managing Director and Head of Investments for the China-ASEAN Investments Fund from 2009-2014 and has held senior positions investing in infrastructure for Babcock & Brown and ABN AMRO. Geoffrey has a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master of Laws from the University of Sydney.
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Oliver Somerville
XOliver Somerville
Lead, Investment Analytics Asia
Oliver Somerville is responsible for the management information systems for New Forests’ forestry investments in tropical Asia and the Pacific. Oliver joined the New Forests Singapore office in 2014 and provides technical forestry, quantitative analysis, and modelling support for New Forests’ acquisitions and assets under management in Asia. Oliver is a forest assessment specialist with more than 10 years of international project experience spanning Southeast Asia, China, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. He specialises in providing forest owners and investors ways to describe, model, and value their forest assets – and to communicate this information clearly to stakeholders and clients. He has worked across transactional services, technical consulting and development, forest description development, biological asset modelling, and analysis. Prior to joining New Forests, Oliver worked in technical forestry consulting and for a leading resource information software provider to the industry in both the New Zealand and Singapore offices. Oliver has a Bachelor of Forest Science (Honours) from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.
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Paul Speed
XPaul Speed
Director, Operations
Paul Speed is the Director of Operations for New Forests’ Southeast Asian forestry funds and a Director of New Forests Asia (Singapore) Pte Ltd. Paul oversees all aspects of operational management and governance of New Forests’ investments in the Asian region. Paul’s experience spans over 25 years, including nine years in the Solomon Islands in direct plantation forestry management and then eight years global forest industry consulting based in New Zealand and Singapore. He specialises in forest due diligence, investment appraisal, emerging markets company governance, and operational management. Paul has a Master of Arts and Master of Science in Forestry from Oxford University. He is a full member of the New Zealand Institute of Forestry, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
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Joanna Tan
XJoanna Tan
Associate Director, Investor Relations
Joanna Tan is part of New Forests’ investor services team and is based in Singapore. She is responsible for the fundraising and client services efforts for New Forests’ Southeast Asian funds and investment strategies. She also looks after the entire client relationship management process, including due diligence and ongoing investment monitoring. Joanna’s experience includes working with a variety of asset managers and accumulating significant institutional business development and client servicing experience for a predominantly Asian institutional asset owner client base since 2006. She was also involved in product development initiatives in some of her previous capacities and supports product development at New Forests. Joanna has a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
New Forests
Sydney
Level 23
141 Walker Street
North Sydney, NSW 2060
Australia
Ph: +61 2 9406 4100
Mailing Address
PO Box 434
North Sydney, NSW 2059
Australia
New Forests
Singapore
1 Raffles Quay
#09-05, North Tower
Singapore 048583
Ph: +65 6817 8620
New Forests
San Francisco
235 Pine Street
Suite 1475
San Francisco, CA 94104
United States
Ph: +1 415 321 3300
New Forests Timber Products
Melbourne
Level 10
492 St Kilda Road
Melbourne, VIC 3004
Australia
Ph: +61 436 675 880
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