PRESS RELEASE: Minlam Asset Management Brings on Rory Stear and Lloyd Stevens

Source: Minlam Asset Management.Original press release not available online.

NEW YORK, August 17 – Minlam Asset Management today announced the appointment of two senior professionals to its management team. Rory Stear, Co_Founder of Freeplay Energy Group and Founder of Freeplay Foundation, has joined Minlam as Non-Executive Chairman. Lloyd Stevens, an experienced microfinance investment professional who has been serving as Team Leader for the Pre-Closing Management phase of the Regional MSME Investment Fund for Sub Saharan Africa, has joined Minlam as a Managing Director.

Rory Stear currently is Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Flambard Holdings Limited, his family investment office, and is Executive Chairman of Fieldbury plc (listed on the London Stock Exchange). In 1994, Stear co-founded Freeplay Energy Group, an energy company that develops, markets, and distributes self-sufficient technology products in emerging markets, which he managed from its inception until the sale of the company in 2008. In 1998, Mr. Stear founded the Freeplay Foundation, which transforms lives through dependable, self-sufficient and environmentally friendly technologies, primarily targeting Sub-Saharan Africa. Stear serves on the Board of Directors of several international companies and is a member of the Dean’s Council at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Advisory Board of The Business School at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa, the Renewable Energy Council of the World Economic Forum, and is a fellow of the Geneva-based Schwab Foundation for Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs. Among his many accomplishments, Stear was one of the first South Africans on the African Business Roundtable. Stear has been named one of Business Week’s global “Top Entrepreneurs,” and in recognition of his contribution on global energy poverty issues, was named as one of Time Magazine’s “Global Environmental Heroes,” and CNN’s “Principal Voices,” in addition to receiving the Theodor Herzl award from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in recognition of his “impressive vision and tremendous accomplishments.”

Lloyd Stevens is a development finance investment professional with extensive portfolio management,operational and technical assistance experience in the microfinance industry. Prior to joining Minlam, Stevens served as Team Leader for the Pre-Closing Management phase of the Regional MSME Investment Fund for Sub-Saharan Africa, a $200 million microfinance debt investment vehicle funded bymultilateral development banks and other institutions. From 2006 to 2008, Stevens was a senior investment professional with Deutsche Bank’s Microfinance Team, where he played a leadership role in the five microfinance funds managed by the bank. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Stevens worked in Uganda as a Transformation and Consolidation Consultant with the Department for International Development’s Financial Sector Deepening Project and as Transformation Manager with Uganda Women’s Finance Trust. In both of these roles, he focused on the transformation of microfinance institutions into regulated banking enterprises. Prior to 2001, Stevens spent nine years as a Vice President in Dresdner Bank’s Non_Bank Financial Institutions Group and two years as a Staff Consultant with Andersen Consulting. “Rory and Lloyd are both exceptional leaders who make great additions to the Minlam management team,” said Michael Parker, Chief Executive Officer of Minlam Asset Management. “Rory has broad vision and experience in creating and guiding organizations with a focus on serving low_income communities in emerging markets while promoting sustainability. Lloyd has deep hands_on experience evaluating and managing microfinance investments, particularly in Sub_Saharan Africa, and will be a strong addition to our microfinance investment team. We are pleased to welcome them aboard.”

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