Our Team
Aureana Capital Management, LLC
Over 40 years of collective experience in emerging markets
Investment Team
Isabelle Martinez Lopez - CEO & CIO
Ms. Martinez joined Canepa in 2010 and has been the lead portfolio manager of the New World Income Fund strategy since its inception. Previously, she worked for Grupo Santander, based in Madrid and in New York, specializing in EM fixed income and equity asset management. From 2006 to 2010, Ms. Martinez was with Santander Investment Securities in Madrid, advising the firm’s Emerging Markets mutual funds and foreign institutional clients. From 1999 to 2006, she led the EM equity and fixed income asset management efforts at Santander Asset Management (“SAM”) in Madrid. Prior to SAM, Ms. Martinez spent three years at JP Morgan in Frankfurt and London in various capacities within the fixed income markets, ranging from Eurobond trading to debt capital markets and fixed income research. Ms. Martinez holds a Master's degree in Mathematics from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain), and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the Stuttgart Universität (Germany). She is completely fluent in English, Spanish, French, and German and has working knowledge of Portuguese. Ms. Martinez currently maintains the Series 65 qualification.
Saulius Cerkasas - Portfolio Manager
Mr. Saulius Cerkasas is in charge of trading and execution, as well as analysis of local-currency and Eastern European markets at Aureana Capital Management, LLC. Previously, Mr. Saulius Cerkasas worked at Millennium Partners for a global emerging markets macro hedge fund, trading global currency, rates and credit derivatives, as well as equities. Eastern Europe was his main macro research focus. Prior to that, he worked at Bladex Asset Management, a Latin America macro hedge fund, as a quantitative researcher and trader and was involved in Latin American currencies, rates, credit and equities systematic and discretionary trading, as well as building in-house risk and portfolio management systems. Mr. Cerkasas holds a Master's degree in Economics from the New York University and a Business Administration degree from Simon Fraser University. He is fluent in English, Lithuanian, and Russian. He currently maintains the Series 65 qualification.
Jorge Suarez - Senior Investment Analyst
Mr. Jorge Suarez serves as a credit analyst, specializing in corporate and exotic sovereign credits. Prior to his current role, Mr. Suarez worked for Canepa Management Limited, assisting in investment advisory as well as research in frontier markets, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, for Canepa's affiliate firms in London and Johannesburg. Prior to that, Mr. Suarez managed operations and investment advisory reporting for Canepa Management Limited in Bermuda, and before that was a private banking analyst at Santander Private Banking in Miami. Mr. Suarez holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown University in Washington, District of Columbia, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Diplomacy and International Relations from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. He is fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese and has formally studied Arabic, Japanese, Russian, and Swahili. He currently maintains the Series 65 qualification.
Compliance
Gil O. Aikins - CCO
Mr. Gil Aikins joined Aureana Capital as Chief Compliance Officer in February 2020. He is currently Managing Partner of Global Securities Consulting Group LLC - a 100% minority-owned, U.S.-based consultancy firm offering outsource C-suite services; and delivering operational expertise to the broker-dealer and investment advisor community. Gil has worked in various senior roles during a career spanning nearly two decades. He obtained an MBA in International Finance (Tulane University) and received a BA in English & Economics from The College of William & Mary.
Mr. Aikins maintains several Finra licenses and is an active member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals.