Heidi Kruitwagen

Heidi has over 20 years experience as an Impact and Equity market investment professional. A broad background in analysis, strategy and relationship management in both listed and private equity has allowed her to work with European, North American and East African companies, entrepreneurs and institutional investors. She has advised on both public and private markets bringing solutions to their investment needs; be that their company strategy, measuring impact, investment processes for long term asset allocation.

She spearheaded UBS’ Pan-European Smaller company strategy that created corporate finance and trading revenue of US$50m per annum, by integrating seven regional European analyst teams of 120 people into one multi-locational regional unit with standardised origination, research and investment processes, and a long term sustainable growth investment policy. She proved credibility with over 120 management teams in order to strategically advise on new investment opportunities through vetting grittiness of execution capability, monitoring actual performance to expectations, and ensuring right investors were part of a companies lifecycle, whilst working closely with legal, compliance, capital markets and corporate finance teams through the due diligence process and secondary placings. This lifecycle approach to investing has made her passionate about preparing companies, management teams and investors for the transition to Net Zero.

Completion of the Cambridge Sustainable Finance Course and the CFA ESG Certificate has enhanced her credentials to advise on Sustainable Finance and its multi-factorial approach to facilitate change and future preparedness. She focuses on the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues as a framework to inform, understand and implement investment strategy, including by focusing on the evolving financial policy landscape. This provides a critical pathway to incorporating ESG issues into investment analysis, strategy and decision-making at the company, portfolio and/or the asset allocation level.

• Streamlined investment policy and metrics at UBS to evaluate companies in 12 countries and currencies by leading a team of 23 Analysts to create a matrix across five sectors, screening 2k+ companies, assessing management teams and business models from 600 and selecting 50 for portfolio focus.
• Raised US$4bn+ of equity by advising corporate owners and leverage buys-outs, private equity owners by negotiating terms, structuring, valuing, and pricing 20+ IPO equity transactions into illiquid European institutional markets over a ten-year period.
• Placed US$6bn+ for a portfolio of 50 companies through in-depth understanding of financial markets, economics and industry dynamics plus company evaluations within a clients’ investment policy needs and their portfolio construction limitations.
• Enabled Agric’s C-Suite in East Africa to scale up from venture philanthropy to impact investment through preparing first pitch to 20 foundations, angel investors and impact funds, translating operational accounts into financial models and evaluating impact measurement process.

Heidi is a Chartered Financial Analyst, and holds an BA in Economics and MA from Chelsea College of Art.