Senior Members
New York
Takuma Aoyama
CIO, CEO
Mr. Aoyama is the founder of AIFAM Group, a global asset manager focused on serving Japanese Institutions. Mr. Aoyama has spearheaded investments across the liquidity spectrum from hedge funds to private equity and venture capital. Prior to founding AIFAM, Mr. Aoyama was at UBS Global Asset Management in Chicago and Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan. MBA from University of Chicago, MS, Health Care Delivery Science from Dartmouth College
Sanjay Mitta
Portfolio Manager
Mr. Mitta joined AIFAM in 2007 and is responsible for due diligence of funds and management of AIFAM’s investment products. He is also responsible for research and analysis of co-investment opportunities and direct investments. He has worked as a corporate finance analyst at UBS Warburg and worked in private equity and venture capital at Think Capital LLC, GE Energy Financial Services and Comdisco Ventures.
MBA from Columbia University, BA in Economics from Columbia College, Columbia University
Sebastian Badali, CFA
Head of Equity Strategies
Mr. Badali joined AIFAM in 2014 and is responsible for due diligence of funds and management of AIFAM’s investment products. Prior to AIFAM, he was a director of hedge fund due diligence at Hedgemark. Before that, he held senior level positions as an equity analyst at Gardenia Global Advisors, a hedge fund, where he focused on consumer discretionary sector, and Bear Wagner, where he oversaw a team covering all major sectors of the S&P 500. Mr. Badali holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.
MBA from Baruch College, BA in Economics from University of California, San Diego
Gregory Scimeca
Senior Analyst
Mr. Scimeca joined AIFAM in 2015 and is responsible for due diligence and investment opportunities in credit. Previously, he was a credit analyst at Hermes BPK Inc.
BS in Finance from Fordham University
David Lane
Senior Analyst
Mr. Lane joined AIFAM in 2016 and is responsible for due diligence of funds and investment opportunities in credit. Prior to AIFAM, he managed back and middle office operations for fixed income instruments at Stifel, Nicolaus and its predecessor Knight Capital. Prior to that, he was involved in trade operations for fixed income and equity at Ticonderoga Securities, UBS Wealth Management and Macquarie Capital Group. In addition, he analyzed Ramius Capital Group’s merger arbitrage strategy as a consultant.
BS in Business Logistics and International Business from Pennsylvania State University
Chris D. Mroz, CFA
Senior Analyst
Mr. Mroz is responsible for due diligence on investment opportunities at AIFAM. Previously, he worked as a Senior Analyst and Portfolio Manager for HGCI Ventures LLC, a single family office. Prior to that, he founded and managed CDM Capital LLC, a long short equity hedge fund, and also worked as an analyst in the institutional valuation group at J.P. Morgan. Mr. Mroz holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.
MBA from Syracuse University – Frankel Scholar; BS in Economics from University of Missouri, Columbia
Tokyo
Go Sato
Executive Director
Mr. Sato joined AIFAM in 2013 and is responsible for due diligence of funds and management of AIFAM’s investment products. Prior to AIFAM, he was a senior analyst at SAC Capital Advisors in Hong Kong, managing a market neutral portfolio in Japanese equities. He has previously worked at UBS Securities Japan’s Equities Division Proprietary Trading Team as a Director, and in the Investment Banking Division M&A Team as a junior analyst.
BS in Electrical Engineering from the Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science at Columbia University.
Hiroyuki Okano
Executive Director
Mr. Okano joined AIFAM in 2001 and has been involved in various roles in fund of funds, including fund analysis, investment and operational due diligence. He began his career at the Long Term Credit Bank of Japan where he managed a team on the foreign fixed income desk. He subsequently managed an outsourced portfolio at the Pension Fund Association for Local Government Officials. Prior to AIFAM, he was a global fixed income portfolio manager at Nomura Asset Management from 1999. He is a Chartered Member of the Security Analysts Association of Japan. BA in Law from Waseda University
+1 member
Risk Management and Operations
Michael Hanisch
Director of Operations
Mr. Hanisch joined AIFAM in 2018 and he heads the operations team, which includes fund administration, accounting, and compliance. Prior to AIFAM, he was head of operations at Analytical Research, an investment advisor to European pensions. Prior to that, he held senior level positions in hedge fund administration, operations, and fund accounting at Aviva Investors, UBP Asset Management, and PineBridge Asset Management (formerly AIG investments).
BS in Finance from Franklin Pierce University
+6 members