Leadership
At Astra, we manage dedicated investment strategies under a single platform. Each investment strategy maintains the independent investment specialists and structure, and benefits from the value-added support, oversight, reputational benefits and stability of a combined entity.
While the investment focus of each of Astra's strategies differs, each investment strategy shares certain core values: a rigorous investment process, a tireless pursuit of investment returns, the agility to respond to market opportunities and a commitment to outstanding client service.
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Andrew C. Jenner
Mr. Jenner is the CEO of Astra. He began his career at ING Bank in asset trading and structured transactions. In 1997, he became the Latin American Regional Executive for Bank Kreiss, a German bank, where he oversaw credit concessions to Latin American banks engaged in trade finance, securitizations, mergers and acquisitions and restructurings. Mr. Jenner is a member of the FIP Investment Committee.
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Ashley C. Jenner
Mr. Jenner is the Chief Investment Officer. He has over 40 years of experience in the Brazilian market. Mr. Jenner is currently the CIO of Astra. Mr. Jenner began his career at Lloyds Bank group. He was the President of Bank of America's investment bank and commercial bank in Brazil and its commercial bank subsidiary in Argentina for over 15 years, and served as a member and head of the steering committee for various countries representing 15 U.S. banks at the time of the Latin American debt restructuring. He was also the President of Banco de Financiamento e Investimento in Brazil. Mr. Jenner is also a Professor at Profins Business School, a Brazilian business school specializing in finance and the capital markets. Mr. Jenner is a member of the FIP Investment Committee.
David J. Denton
Mr. Denton is the Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Denton has over 16 years experience in the financial market. He began his career working for a financial boutique in London and later moved to Banco Real de Investimento (Banco Real Group) where he was responsible for structuring over US$ 1 billion debt transactions. Mr. Denton joined Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance where he was involved in several M&A, financial advisory and privatization assignments. He later worked for RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) where he was responsible for originating and structuring Management Buyouts (MBOs) /Buy-ins (MBIs), corporate acquisitions, development finance, and other leveraged transactions. He then worked for Grupo Habitasul and was responsible for administrative and finance department, and structured one of the first credit carbon transactions in the world. He holds a B.A. Business Administration (Hons) degree and also an MBA from the University of Bath.
Daniel S. Berns
Mr. Berns is a partner of Astra and brings 22 years of global investment banking and investment experience. He previously led Latin American investments for ING Baring Capital Corp's $1.5b Global Special Investment Group where he invested in a wide variety of industries including real estate, infrastructure, commodities, and agriculture. Mr. Berns also worked in Nomura Securities' Latin America structured finance group, Archon Asset Management, a real investment subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, and Trammell Crow Company, one of the world's largest private real estate development companies. Mr. Berns holds a patent for creating a new structure to finance and securitize real estate assets. Mr. Berns is the co-founder of GreenPac Mining Solutions and Yellowstone Holdings, which provides eco-friendly and chemical solutions for the mining and construction industries. Mr. Berns holds a B.A. in political science from Stanford University (Distinction) in Political Science and also a MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School at Northwestern University.