Both my grandfather and father were highly involved with the modern development of the brokerage business in Colombia. Approximately 45 years ago, they founded and led -for several decades- one of the largest and most traditional brokerage firms in the country up until 2013, when it was acquired by Colombia’s third-largest financial conglomerate. A year after, my father retired as the second oldest stockbroker in the country. As a result of all this, both my siblings and I have been involved with the financial world since we were young and are very passionate about this subject.
After working for five years in J.P.Morgan, in 2016 I joined ROAM Capital which is one of Latin America’s leading placement agents specializing exclusively in private equity, real estate, and other alternative investments. Since then, I have been the head of the Firm’s research department where I’m responsible for conducting the due diligence on prospective GPs, as well as monitoring and benchmarking all GPs within the Firm’s platform. Similarly, I spearhead the Firm’s research efforts on the alternatives industry, generating research reports and tailor-made analyses for Latin-American institutional LPs. While at ROAM I was able to obtain both the CFA (2017) and CAIA (2020) designations.
I have been working in alternative investments for more than four years now and although I have learned a lot from a practical standpoint, the CAIA designation has provided a great complement in the form of all of the latest academic and theoretical background. I believe this will help me take my understanding of alternative investments and my career to the next level. I’m glad to say that I’ve been able to apply many of the concepts I learned by studying for the CAIA exam in my day-to-day work. This motivates me to continue to broaden my education and to be on top of all the changes that are taking place in our industry. Additionally, I’m very honored to be part of a very selected group of Colombian professionals who have earned the CAIA designation.
Because we breathe and live in a globalized world, I find immense value in being part of a global professional body like CAIA Association. As finance theories and industry practices have become ever so globally interconnected and standardized, no matter where you are located, at the end of the day we all speak the same financial language.
My advice to aspiring industry professionals is, don’t follow this career for the prospects of money. Do it because you are passionate about it, find it to be intellectually challenging, or because you genuinely feel good about helping other people (investors, pensioners, etc) meet their life goals. Ethical behavior should be your number one priority, with the interests of clients always coming first. If you follow this path, the money will eventually come along.
About Felipe
Felipe joined ROAM Capital in 2016 and currently serves as the head of the Firm’s research department. He is responsible for identifying “best of breed” fund managers across varying private markets strategies, with a core focus on buyouts, growth equity, real estate, and private debt. Felipe is responsible for conducting the due diligence on prospective alternative investments funds, as well as monitoring and benchmarking all funds within the ROAM Capital platform. Felipe similarly spearheads the Firm’s research efforts on the private markets industry, generating comparison research reports and tailor-made analyses for institutional LPs, including the ranking of managers based on the Firm’s proprietary grading methodology.
Previously, Felipe worked for J.P. Morgan’s Asset Management division in New York, advising ultra-high net worth families and individuals in the development, implementation, and management of investment portfolios. During his three years at this division, he interacted closely with J.P. Morgan’s alternative investments platform which is one of the largest of its kind in the world ($150B in AUM) and offered clients access to third party managers spanning hedge funds, private equity, debt, and real assets. Previously, Felipe worked for two years at J.P. Morgan’s Sales & Trading desk in Bogotá covering the largest and most sophisticated institutional and corporate investors in Colombia.
Felipe holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the Colegio de Estudios Superiores de Administración (CESA) where he graduated first in his class. He is a CFA Charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Colombia, as well as CAIA Charterholder.