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The Paradigm Capital International is a global financial services company that have earned their reputations as experts in the industry.
Tortola Pier Park, Building 1
Second Floor, Wickhams Cay 1
Road Town, Tortola
British Virgin Islands
All regulated activities and securities offered through Marco Polo Securities Inc. Marco Polo Securities Inc. is a member of FINRA, NFA, and SIPC
Mark is one of the co-founders and managing partners of Paradigm and has over 20 years experience in the global capital markets. He has been directly responsible for raising over $15b in AUM in various companies.
The past 2 decades and has worked at various large global investment and start-up companies developing a successful track record in overseeing sales and marketing initiatives of these organisations. He was Head of Global Sales and Marketing at Old Mutual, President of P2 a Global investment company that was sold to Sanlam Group – the largest African financial services company and Head of Americas at Sanlam. He has also helped co-found various companies and has established successful businesses across America, Europe, Middle East and Asia as an independent non executive Director in various capital firms and Fintech entities.
Mark was a former All american tennis player in NCAA Division 1 at UC Irvine, Ranked #5 in the US and #117 ranked ATP Tennis Player in the world competing in Wimbledon, US Open, Australian and French Open. He has multiple wins over top 10 players in the world including the #1 in the world.
Mark has a BA in Economics and a MBA from University of California, Irvine
Rod has over 45 years experience in building sales and marketing companies having worked at some of the largest investment companies in the US such as Met Life, US Bank, Symetra. Rod was also President & Co Founder of Independent Financial Marketing Group through 1985-2001 which assisted several banks, insurance & mutual fund companies into bank distribution selling fixed and variable annuities, mutual funds. IFMG was the largest bank distributor with over 200 banks.
Rod has been responsible as a senior executive for raising over $20b in various companies overseeing the distribution, sales and marketing of these organizations.
Rod has managed local sales teams throughout the US from East to West Coast covering the Institutional and Retail markets within the Bank, Insurance and Broker Dealer channels.
Rod has a BA from Whitworth University and a MBA from University of Montana.
Rick heads up the Paradigm real estate financing sector division and has been recognized for leveraging in-depth knowledge of the marketplace and the competitive landscape to significantly source and finance real estate deals. For the past 24 years his expertise is in financing, construction, acquisition and re-financings. He has raised financing in all parts of the capital stack (First Mortgage Debt, Mezzanine, preferred equity and Equity). He has developed close relationships with lenders worldwide: Banks, Insurance Companies, Wall Street Firms, Hedge Funds, Hard Money Lenders and Private Sources. He is recognized as a respected client advocate.
He was with Cooper-Horowitz in New York City for 13 years. The firm was known for doing large deals, exemplified by their financing the General Motors building on Fifth Avenue across the street from the Plaza Hotel four times. The GM building sets the highest rents in the US.
Rick is a graduate of The University of Pennsylvania and The Wharton School of Finance.
After graduating from The University of Pennsylvania he played on the pro tennis tour for 10 years. He was ranked #83 in the world in singles and #52 in the world in doubles.
Maria has over 20 years of design and marketing experience from studios and agencies to in-house. Prior to joining Paradigm, Maria was Marketing Manager at Sanlam Global Investment Solutions, where she was responsible for rebranding the business, and designing all company’s marketing materials and email strategies, for markets in regions such as the Americas, the Middle East, Australia, Africa and Europe, in multiple languages.
Prior to Sanlam Global Investment Solutions, Maria was Head of Production at 72dpistudio, a financial services communications and marketing firm. In this role Maria oversaw the production of print and web materials for large US and Bermudian financial services companies.
Mr. Mahecha has been distributing offshore mutual funds for the past 14 years. First with Eaton Vance Distributors, starting in 2006, as International Internal wholesaler, where he had experience with distribution of offshore and domestic closed end and open end mutual funds. In 2009 became the sole Internal Representative for the Americas. In 2011, moved to Fidelity Investments where he began as a Hybrid wholesaler covering latinamerica, NY and Texas regions.
After 4 and half years moved to be an external wholesaler working exclusively the advisor channel for non-US advisors working for another 4 years more. Most recently in 2020 moved to become a financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial looking to build his retail book of business. Has also had experience as a General business consultant working with diverse firms such as Booz Allen and Hamilton, Corporación Colombia Internacional and Grupo Suramericana in the 90’s.
Carlos holds a Master of International Business from The University of Melbourne, Australia, a postgraduate degree in Finance and a Bachelor in Science in Business Administration from Los Andes University in Bogota. He also holds a Life and Health Insurance licence for the state of Massachusetts, as well as Series 7, 63 and 65.
Socrates Cruz is a Managing Director at Paradigm Capital International.
Mr. Cruz brings more than 28 years of experience as an international advisor with recent positions at Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Citibank serving high net worth clients. Socrates covers clients in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Europe.
Socrates holds a BA from the City College of New York with a double major in Economics and Finance and an Associate’s Degree in Architecture from SUNY Farmingdale. He successfully completed a business administration seminar from Harvard Business School.
Socrates is an INROADS alumnus who has helped businesses gain greater access to diverse talent through ongoing leadership development of ethnically diverse gifted students and placement of those students in internships at many top corporations, companies, and organizations in North America.
Santiago Herdoiza is a Real Estate Investment Director at Paradigm Capital International. He brings over three decades of experience in real estate investment and asset management, as well as construction industry development. At Paradigm, Santiago advises clients on U.S. real estate market access, investment portfolio diversification, and strategies to navigate sectoral volatility and profit maximization.
Prior to joining Paradigm, Santiago was an Investment Relations Manager and Business Coordinator for two private equity funds in Florida. There, he cultivated strategic relationships with local real estate partners and oversaw a portfolio of over $100 million in real estate assets.
Santiago has showcased his versatility and expertise through diverse roles, founded iCapital Real Estate Development in the United States, and held key positions at the Herdoiza Group, a construction development firm in Ecuador. In addition, his experiences in the energy sector (including leadership roles in Brazil’s Petrobras and Petro Synergy), banking, and industrial operations underscores Santiago’s cross-sectoral business solutions approach.
Academically, Santiago holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Catholic University of Chile. He also was a professor on this subject at the San Francisco University, Ecuador’s top academic institution. He also obtained his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Universidad Católica in Ecuador and Universidad de Campinas in Brazil. Additionally, Santiago holds an Investment Adviser license (FINRA Series 65).
Patricia has over 20 years of experience working in multinationals and multilateral entities as a financial manager and business development officer. Prior to joining Paradigm, she held various key positions at prominent firms. At PricewaterhouseCoopers, she served as the General Director in charge of the BPO oil and gas project with Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos. Later, at Ikon Investment Banking and Deloitte, she excelled as a BDM in Financial Advisory Services. She successfully raised over $1 billion in funds for projects with companies in China, the USA, Colombia, and Argentina during her tenure there. Patricia skillfully designed portfolios based on risk tolerance, focusing on real estate, IT, infrastructure, and sector-based fund strategies.
In addition to her corporate experience, Patricia also spent several years as a finance professor at esteemed universities such as Javeriana, Sergio Arboleda, and Universidad Nacional.
Throughout her career, Patricia has been associated with significant roles, including serving as a Financial Manager leading large teams at Social Estate Hospital HOK. She also excelled as a Financial, Contracts, and Grants coordinator in projects with IDB (International Development Bank) and Bank Findeter, specializing in energy efficiency projects. Furthermore, she was involved in international cooperation programs for six years with ARD Tetra in the Midas program funded by USAID (United States Agency for International Development).
Patricia holds a Master’s in Financial Analyst from Carlos III Madrid University in Spain, a postgraduate degree in Project Investment Evaluations from Andes University, and a Bachelor’s in Economics from the Colombian National University.
Outside of her professional life, Patricia enjoys spending time with her family and pets. She actively participates in Catholic missions and is passionate about travel, enriching her life with diverse experiences.
Ms. Viatela is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience across various sectors within the financial and commercial landscape. Her career has flourished notably in the oil and gas industry and financial institutions, where she has held pivotal leadership roles that contributed to significant organizational achievements. Paola’s extensive tenure includes critical expertise in capital markets, treasury operations, corporate debt management, and strategic commercial initiatives. Her proficiency and strategic insights have made her a highly soughtafter asset in both public and private finance realms.
Additionally, Paola holds a bachelor’s degree in international commerce and is currently pursuing an Executive MBA at the Chapman School of Business, Florida International University.
This educational background has provided her with a robust foundation in both theoretical and practical aspects of business and finance.
Paola is also actively involved with the Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Business at Sergio Arboleda University in Colombia, where she serves as a mentor. In this role, she supports
entrepreneurs by offering guidance on financial and commercial matters, emphasizing her commitment to fostering innovation and driving entrepreneurial success.
In her personal life, Paola enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends and engaging in tennis, which provides her with relaxation and a spirited challenge. This balance of professional dedication and personal enjoyment highlights her well-rounded character and commitment to her career and personal life.
Luciano has over 17 years’ experience in the financial services industry and is responsible for business development and Head of the Real Estate Private Credit side of the company. In addition to his responsibilities at Paradigm Capital International, Luciano currently is a Registered Investment Advisor at SCALA Capital and the President of LMC Alternative Business Capital, a full-service commercial financing company.
His prior experience includes working at Raymond James as a financial advisor leading one of the largest multi-family offices in the South East Region. Luciano was Head of the marketing team that seeded an asset-based lending fund managed with over one billion dollars in assets under management and prior to that he was a Financial Advisor with Citigroup.
Luciano was a former tennis player in NCAA Division 1 at the University of North Texas, beating some of the top-ranked college players in the U.S. He has multiple wins over top college players including SMU, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, and the #1 college doubles team Ken Flack and Robert Seguso from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville who later became the best doubles professional tennis team in the world. Luciano won a spot in the Peru’s Davis Cup Team in 1980 playing a singles match against Paraguay in Asunción winning a point for his country and he was chosen as the Captain of the Peruvian Davis Cup team.
Luciano received a graduate degree in finance from ESAN in Lima, Peru, and bachelor’s in business administration with a major in finance from the University of North Texas.
Dennis is a strategy and development professional with over 35 years of experience in the financial services industry and is a key team member of Paradigm Capital International. As a strategic consultant, Mr. Friedman has played a leading role in developing new business strategic initiatives primarily at a Fortune 50 company and also founded his own companies. He worked at Ameriprise Financial Services for 18 years and was CFO of American Enterprise Life. His financial services expertise includes merger and acquisition, corporate strategy, new distribution channel delivery strategy, product development, and financial and operational strategy and implementation.
Dennis has a BBA in Accounting and Finance from University of Iowa and MBA from University of Minnesota
Martin is Managing Director with Paradigm and has over 25 years of professional sales experience in fund distribution, private equity and private banking. Martin is also co-founder of M2 Partners, a boutique firm responsible for distribution of alternative investments to private banks, brokerage firms and family offices in Latin America. Prior to M2 Partners, Martin was country manager at Superfund Financial, where he was responsible for business development and distribution to international financial advisors.
Martin has also held positions as Senior Financial Advisor at Santander Bank Argentina, Banco Urquijo S.A., BBVA Banco Frances and PMV Advisors, where he managed a high net worth client base.
In his spare time, Martin enjoys traveling with his family and surfing along with his four sons.
Martin has BA in Business Administration from Universidad Argentina de la Empresa and has a Masters degree in Finance and Capital Markets from CEMA University.
José is Associate Director with Paradigm and has over 12 years of professional sales experience in fund distribution, private equity, private banking and banking products.
Prior to Paradigm, José was a Citigold financial advisor and account officer at Citibank where he was in charge of the bank’s most profitable client portfolio offering personalized advisory services on a range of banking and investment products.
In his spare time, José enjoys traveling with his wife and is an avid surfer along with his brothers.
Peter has worked in the financial industry for 30 years in various areas. His career started as an advisor at an independent intermediary company and after that as a Business Development Manager for an international insurance company working towards the advisor market.
Peter also worked as a self-employed sales consultant for the past eighteen years for international insurance companies, international and Swedish fund companies towards the advisory and institutional market.
John has over three decades of experience working closely with advisers, institutions and private banking offices in the financial services markets of the UK & Europe.
He has experience in an array of products and services linked to asset management, technical services, insurance and pensions. Having worked with groups such as Deutsche Asset Management, M&G Group, The Co-operative Asset Management, HSBC Global Asset Management, Sanlam Global and PortfolioMetrix he brings a wealth of experience in the UK, Europe and global offshore markets.
In addition to his work with Paradigm he provides consulting services to adviser and provider companies across Europe.
Elisabeth worked in the financial industry for 25 years, mostly as a sales support and administrative manager.
She started her career in a foreign international insurance company and has significant experience with customer-centered collaborations where solution-focused issues have been central, mainly with foreign financial solutions.
Vignesh has sixteen years of experience in finance. His career experience includes portfolio tending to fintech, private banking and wealth management. His experience evolved from working with reputable institutions ranging from start-ups to large financial conglomerates such as, Credit Agricole Indosuez, Westpac, Standard Chartered Bank and Wirecard Singapore. He was a senior vice-president in Indiabulls, India and co-founded Fintech & financial firms across Asia in non-executive director capacity. In his career, Vignesh has recruited, mentored and lead team of professionals who are currently established bankers and wealth managers. Vignesh has a Bachelor’s of Engineering (Mech) from Bharathidasan University India and an MBA from RBS, New Delhi, India
Swati is Managing Director of Paradigm. Her experience spans over two decades with multi-functional roles in international & local organisations which include Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, Continental Financial Services in UAE and recently Sanlam. She has worked in the areas of Wealth Management, High Value Life Insurance, Business & Sales Management, Branch Banking and Marketing. She specialises in developing and managing corporate alliances.
Swati has a post graduate degree in Sociology from University of Pune and a Diploma in Foreign Trade with Finance from Symbiosis institute of Business Management. She is an avid bird-watcher and loves to travel.
Mario has 20-year experience and success across EMEA & ASIAN markets including career roles with HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank and most recently as the Head of Investment & Insurance Products for Emirates NBD the largest bank in Dubai. His Key functional and line roles have included Product Management & Advisory positions across various wealth verticals, with specific focus on managing fund distribution across offshore and domestic closed end and open-end mutual funds, Fixed Income, Structured products and has worked closely with local regulators on establishing Pension and Annuity schemes.
Mario holds an MBA from the ICFAI University with specialization in finance and Marketing and holds certifications on Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence from MIT Professional Education and INSEAD Business School.
Sachika has recently graduated from the University of Warwick with a Bsc (Hons) in Management and finance. She has done internships in Marketing, Human Resources and Sales as well as held various leadership positions in societies in university and has gained experience during her academic career.
Her interests include, horse riding, acting and kickboxing.
Sadiq has a three decade long illustrious career in financial services and brings a wealth of executive level experience from investment banking, brokerage and asset management, having held Directorships at the likes of Bank of Singapore, EFG Hermes, JPMorgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
The majority of his experience was spent working with bulge bracket financial institutions globally. This in-depth knowledge of diversified financial institutions brings a unique perspective on how these businesses are run to consistently generate revenue in a cost effective manner. Creating top tier risk adjusted returns, leading landmark global IPO’s, people management, capital raising and building an asset management company has equipped him with valuable insights and relationships with institutional investors globally.
He is a graduate from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, with a double major in finance and marketing.
