Cumulative 0+ years of experience
0+ transactions
$0bn+ in value
Makram Azar
FOUNDER & CEO
Prior to founding Full Circle Capital, Makram was Chairman of Banking EMEA and Chairman of Barclays Bank PLC, MENA until January 2019 and served as Senior Advisor to Barclays from January 2019 to January 2021.
Makram also serves as the CEO of Golden Falcon Acquisition Corp, a SPAC listed on the NYSE focusing on the TMT and FinTech sectors in Europe, Israel, the Middle East or North America.
Makram joined Barclays in September 2010 from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) where he was Managing Director and Head of MENA. Prior to joining KKR, Makram had spent 18 years at Lehman Brothers, latterly as Global Head of Sovereign Wealth Funds and Chairman of Media Investment Banking EMEA. Previously he led the Media, Consumer & Retail Investment Banking businesses of Lehman Brothers in EMEA.
Throughout his 30-year career in the banking and investment industries, Makram has worked on over 215 deals across a broad geographic and sector spectrum, including numerous multi-billion dollar deals in telecoms, media, consumer, retail, hospitality, real estate and natural resources for a broad range of clients across multinational corporates, sovereign wealth funds and governments.
Makram holds a Master’s degree in Management and Finance from École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) in Paris and a BA in Applied Economics from the University Paris-IX Dauphine. Makram actively supports numerous philanthropic initiatives across several causes and geographies in the developed and developing countries.
Alexandra Savitsky
SENIOR PRINCIPAL
Sasha brings over 13 years of bulge-bracket investment banking and investing experience to Full Circle Capital.
Prior to joining Full Circle Capital in 2019, Sasha was an investor at a private London-based family office, where she developed and managed an investment strategy which included early stage venture investments in the consumer and retail sectors.
Prior to the family office role, Sasha spent over 8 years at Barclays Investment Bank working closely with our founder and CEO, Makram Azar. While at Barclays she was responsible for advisory and other investment banking transactions in a number of European and other geographies across governments, corporates and financial institutions. During her tenure at Barclays, Sasha advised on over $10bn in M&A transactions and raised over $11bn in debt and equity financings. Most recently Sasha served as relationship manager for several of Barclays’ most sizeable clients, including sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions and natural resources conglomerates.
Sasha holds a BSc Hons in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Douglas Berkman
VICE PRESIDENT
Douglas brings over 5 years of investing experience to Full Circle Capital.
Prior to Full Circle Capital, Douglas worked for Goldman Sachs in the Merchant Banking Division and the Special Situations Group in both the United States and Europe. While at Goldman Sachs he worked on over $1.5bn of debt and equity investments in companies operating in the United States, Latin America, and Europe across a variety of sectors, including software, fintech, telecom, and more.
Douglas graduated from the University of Texas Business Honours Program, cum laude, where he majored in Finance and minored in Accounting.
Nuno Moreira
ASSOCIATE
Nuno brings over 2 years of strategic advisory and capital raising experience to Full Circle Capital.
Prior to joining Full Circle Capital, Nuno worked in the Investment Banking Division of Morgan Stanley, in the Media & Communications team covering companies located in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. While at Morgan Stanley he worked on M&A, equity and debt transactions totaling over $5bn in deal value across a variety of sectors, including fintech, adtech, online marketplaces, digital infrastructure, gaming and e-sports, telecoms and many others.
Nuno holds a MSc in Finance from Imperial College London and a BSc in Economics from the Nova School of Business and Economics, including an exchange programme at Bocconi University.
Liz Dring
OFFICE OF THE FOUNDER AND CEO
Liz has spent her 15 year career managing global projects and streamlining internal corporate communications and culture at some of the world’s largest and fastest growing companies.
She has developed a diverse network through her cross-sector experience ranging from her early career at PIMCO, Deutsche Bank and Wellington Management International to WPP, an advertising and marketing services company operating in over 100 countries. More recently Liz has worked directly with investment and incubator teams at private family offices where she has spent time in a Chief of Staff capacity and overseeing operations.
Liz graduated from the University of London with a major in History. Liz is actively engaged in supporting several charities, especially those with a specific emphasis on providing support and hope to bereaved children.
Annie Clausen
HEAD OF PLATFORM
Annie has over 7 years of experience within Investment Management and Financial Services. This includes Front Office Private Client Administration, as well as Back Office Operations experience. Most recently, Annie was involved in the set-up of the PMO function at Waverton Investment Management in London.
Annie holds a CISI Investment Operations qualification gained in 2015.
Previously, Annie worked within the Health and Fitness industry and still keeps this as a hobby.
Senior Advisory Board
Dominique D’Hinnin
Senior Advisor
Mr. D’Hinnin is chairman of the board of EUTELSAT, a leading French satellite service company. He is also a board member of EDENRED, Technicolor, and Louis Delhaize SA.
Mr. D’Hinnin was formerly a board member of PRISA and EADS-Airbus, the Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Canal+ France, Vice Chairman at Atari, and he sat on the Strategic Council at PricewaterhouseCoopers France. From 2009 to 2016, Mr. D’Hinnin served as Co-Managing Partner of Lagardère Group. Previously, he was CFO of Lagardère Group, Executive Vice President of Grolier Inc., and CFO of the publisher Hachette Livre. Mr. D’Hinnin has also held board positions at Marie Claire Album, Holding Evelyne Prouvost, Editions Amaury, and Le Monde.
Isabelle Amiel Azoulai
Senior Advisor
Ms. Azoulai is currently the Head of Venture Capital at Sienna Investment Managers, the €30bn alternative investment platform of publicly traded Groupe Bruxelles Lambert.
Ms. Azoluai is also Co-Founder and previously Managing Partner at La Maison SA, a private equity and venture capital investment group formed in 2014, where she has led more than 50 direct technology-focused investments in Israel, the United States, Europe, and China. From 2014 to 2019, Ms. Azoulai was also a Senior Banker and Partner at Banque Leonardo, SA, a banking company. Ms. Azoulai was formerly an investment partner at Credit Suisse, where she managed the Ultra High Net Worth Individuals department. Prior to that, she managed the investment consulting department of Credit Suisse Private Banking in Paris. Ms. Azoulai is a founding member of the benefit committee of Institut Imagine, the French institute for genetic diseases.
Lionel de Saint-Exupéry
Senior Advisor
Mr. Saint-Exupéry is the CEO and Chairman of the Investment Committee of CDIB Capital Group, and an Executive Board Member and Chairman of the Strategic Committee of China Development Financial Holdings.
Mr. Saint-Exupéry has played a critical role in China Development Financial’s exponential growth from total assets of approximately NT$270 billion in 2006 to NT$3.5 trillion in 2021. He has led the transformation of CDIB since 2006 into a fully-fledged asset manager – building an integrated, international, institutional-grade investment platform and developing a synergistic range of investment strategies/products. Prior to his current role, Mr. Saint-Exupéry worked on major mergers & acquisitions with an aggregate deal volume of more than $45 billion, in addition to equity and debt capital markets transactions, including as a senior banker at Lehman Brothers and previously as a strategy consultant at Booz-Allen & Hamilton. He is also an active member of the Pan-Asia Chapter of the Young President Organization.
Martin Pompadur
Senior Advisor
Mr. Pompadur is an investor and advisor to various companies in the media space, with an extensive industry track record. He is currently a board member of Nexstar Media Group, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, and Troika Media Group.
Previously, from 2009 to 2016, he served as Global Vice Chairman of Media and Entertainment at Macquarie Capital. From 1998 to 2008, Mr. Pompadur held several positions at News Corporation, including EVP of News Corporation, President of News Corporation Eastern and Central Europe and a member of News Corporation’s Executive Management Committee. In January 2000, Mr. Pompadur was appointed Chairman of News Corporation Europe. From 1982 to 2007, Mr. Pompadur was Chairman and CEO of RP Media Management. From 1977 to 1982, Mr. Pompadur served as President of Ziff Corporation. Prior to that, from 1960 to 1977, Mr. Pompadur worked at ABC, Inc where he held several positions, including General Manager of the Television Network, Vice President of the Broadcast Division, President of the Leisure Activities Group and Vice President of ABC, Inc. Mr. Pompadur was also previously a Managing General Partner at Northeastern Television Investors and Chairman and CEO of GP Station Partners and of Multivision Cable TV. Mr. Pompadur previously served as a director of IMAX, Truli Media, ABC Inc, BSkyB, Sky Italia, Premier World, Fox Kids Europe, Metromedia International and Elong.
Matthew Bronfman
Senior Advisor
Mr. Bronfman is the Chairman and CEO of BHB Holdings, a family holding company with diversified investments, and the Chairman of Lincoln Avenue Capital. He is a prominent and active private equity investor.
Mr. Bronfman was formerly Chairman of Bronfman Rothschild and a Partner at ACI Capital, a New York based private equity firm. Previously he was at Goldman Sachs and Cadillac Fairview Corporation. Mr. Bronfman is currently an investor, chairman and board member of Next Century Spirits, and a former director of multiple companies in the consumer and media space, including Jenny Craig, BizBash Media Inc., EARNEST Partners, LLC, Tweeter Home Entertainment Group Inc., and James River Group, Inc.
Steven Berkenfeld
Senior Advisor
Mr. Berkenfeld is actively engaged with multiple companies in the energy transition and impact space, most notably currently serving as a director in the board of Svante Inc. and Preserve, and as the Chief Strategy Officer of Brightcore Energy.
Mr. Berkenfeld is also the Founder and Principal of Ecotopia Consulting, engaged in helping early stage, mission-driven companies in the development of their business plan and growth strategy. Previously he was a Managing Director in Investment Banking at Barclays, where he served as senior sponsor of the Environmental and Social Impact Banking Initiative. He was also co-head of Barclays’s Cleantech Initiative and led the banking effort for Emerging Industrial Technology companies. Additionally, Mr. Berkenfeld is the former chair of the board of the Sierra Club Foundation, currently chair of the board of Green City Force, and a sponsor and board member of several other projects and organizations focused on social impact and sustainability.
Tom Mockridge
Senior Advisor
Mr. Mockridge is currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Fibra, a fixed broadband operator in the Italian telco industry specializing in FTTP broadband service in partnership with Open Fiber. He is also the Non-Executive Deputy Chairman of Sky PLC.
Mr. Mockridge was previously the Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Media Inc. following the completion of its takeover by Liberty Global in 2013 and until June 2019. Previously he was the Chief Executive Officer of European Television at News Corp until 2012, and the foundation Chief Executive Officer of Sky Italia until July 2011, having led the merger between Stream TV and Tele+ in 2002. He was also formerly the Chairman of Star TV, Chief Executive Officer of Foxtel and Assistant Chief Executive Officer at News Limited.