Jersey Finance Funds Focus: London – June 2024

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Born in Jersey, Nicola has a strong regulatory background having spent over six years at the Jersey Financial Services Commission - working in Securities supervision, authorisation and enforcement - before moving into industry in investment gatekeeper and regulatory consultancy roles.

Melinda is CFO at Sellar, a real estate development and investment company, and an Independent Non-Executive Director of M7, an industrial focussed investment manager. Previously, Melinda was Global Chief Operating Officer for Schroders Real Estate from 2013 to 2022, responsible for finance and operations. She has over 25 years of experience in this sector and leading teams across financial aspects, ESG and technology strategy, and operational model implementation with extensive experience of regulatory, legal, and tax aspects.

Ben Eaton leads the real estate tax group at Mayer Brown’s London office. He helps clients with the tax and structuring aspects of real estate transactions, joint ventures and investment funds. He has in-depth experience advising on the tax aspects of real estate investment, financing, development, and leasing, as well as the structuring of funds and joint ventures investing in real estate and real estate debt, and transactions involving real estate operating businesses. Much of Ben’s work is international in nature, and he has extensive experience helping clients making inbound investments into assets in the United Kingdom and continental Europe.

Matt is a Partner in Ogier's Jersey Investment Funds team and has almost 20 years' experience in the Jersey funds industry. He advises a range of sponsors and service providers across all aspects of a fund's lifecycle, with a particular focus on real estate and private equity. He also advises on related corporate matters, and on co-investment, joint venture and carry structures.
Matt has worked on some of the largest European private equity fund closings as well as first-time fund launches for new sponsors in the real estate sectors. He has managed numerous complex transactions, often requiring innovative solutions.
He regularly contributes to working groups and consultations on legislative changes and sits on the Legal and Technical Committee of the Jersey Funds Association.

With over 18 years industry experience, Scott joined Gen II from Crestbridge where he was Group Commercial Director. Before this, he was responsible for leading the Crestbridge Real Estate team in Jersey.
As an experienced financial services professional Scott is responsible for supporting the development of the Real Asset Services team at Gen II. He also oversees a portfolio of relationships and acts on the board for several key clients who benefit from his financial, governance, risk management and regulatory experience.
Prior to joining Crestbridge, Scott worked at PwC supporting clients across the real estate and fund sector with regulatory challenges, disputes, financial control, corporate secretarial support, restructuring and financial due diligence.

Tom has over 20 years’ advisory and investment experience focusing on alternative investments. He co-founded Zenzic in 2013 with Nadine Buckland. Previously, Tom held roles at Macfarlanes and EY, advising managers on transactions and fund formation. Tom holds a law degree from Cambridge University.