17Capital hires veteran of Canadian pension systems

17Capital has hired Alejandro Hernandez as its first-ever head of investor relations for Canada and Latin America, according to a statement.

Hernandez’s background includes more than 20 years working for two prominent Canadian pension systems.

The NAV finance specialist joins from Alberta Investment Management Corporation, where he spent eight years as a public equities portfolio manager. At AIMCo, Hernandez was involved in the development of an external manager partnership process and in its non-traditional hedge fund strategy investments.

Hernandez was previously with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, where he held various positions over 12 years, ending as an assistant portfolio manager involved with external managers. While Hernandez was with OTPP, the pension system made its inaugural direct investment in Colombia and brought its external managers program to Brazil and China.

Hernandez will be based in Edmonton, Canada. The specialist appointed Hernandez as part of its efforts to enhance service in both markets.

“Canada has long been an important market for 17Capital,” said managing partner Pierre-Antoine de Selancy in the statement. “Alejandro’s permanent presence and experience there will be vital to attend to the needs of our existing investors and prospects, while Latin America is a relatively underserved market which we believe can benefit from our products.”

Hernandez joins 17Capital as it handles a growing market for NAV finance, which includes both NAV loans and preferred equity. In a report titled NAV finance through the cycle, 17Capital noted that NAV finance volume increased by more than 40 percent from 2021-22 based on opportunities it explored.

The firm also had a record deployment last year of $4.1 billion that was spread across 16 investments.

This article first appeared on affiliate title Private Funds CFO