Azora appoints senior partner to lead its US expansion

Azora appoints senior partner to lead its US expansion

Fernando Pérez-Hickman has joined Azora as a senior partner to lead the firm’s expansion into the United States, through the newly created Azora Exan.

Fernando Pérez-Hickman, who holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Alicante and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, was most recently the vice-chairman of Iberiabank.  

Prior to this, he was the head of Banco Sabadell in the Americas and oversaw the bank’s expansion in this market, driving the growth of its business volume from $1 billion to $20 billion dollars, both organically and through seven acquisitions. He also led the sale of Sabadell United Bank to Iberiabank.

The incorporation of Pérez-Hickman, who has nearly 25 years of experience in M&A and executive positions at leading international financial institutions, is consistent with Azora’s international expansion strategy, which currently includes investments in Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, among other countries, in addition to Spain and the United States.

In addition to this experience, he was Managing Director of Banco Santander International for nearly 10 years, during which time he supervised all the international banks integrated in the Santander Private Banking Division located in Miami, Bahamas, Geneva and London. Under his tenure, assets under management grew from $10 billion to more than $30 billion. Prior to joining Banco Santander, he worked at McKinsey & Company in Madrid, Lisbon and Cleveland. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Nicklaus Children’s Health System and was previously chairman of the Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Azora Exan has an ambitious growth plan in the office, residential, hospitality and senior living segments, and is expected to initiate new investments in the hospitality and residential segments, in the near future.

Azora is one of the leading independent asset managers in Spain with a unique focus on real estate and energy.  The firm currently has over €4.3 billion in assets under management. Azora has traditionally focused on residential, hotels, offices, and renewable energy, and is currently developing new investment themes in logistics, senior living, agribusiness and infrastructure.