Vivina Berla

After a first career spent in the steel industry and over 20 years in the institutional investment world, Vivina has combined her experience and a desire for positive change to focus on the private equity community operating in high-growth developing economies. The Sustainable Development Goals now provide the framework within which Vivina works to build profitable portfolios and a better world. Going forward, Vimine will broaden the scope of its activities to include multiple asset classes and the creation of innovative and collaborative product structures. During her ten years with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers she was responsible for a variety of investors and products across Europe, Africa, Middle East and the Pacific Region. After leaving her position as Managing Director, Alternative Investments in 2004, Vivina joined Gartmore Investment Management, as Head of Institutional Business, Europe and Middle East. In July 2009 she moved to Amsterdam and worked for two years with a privately owned company focusing on credit strategies. In 2011, Vivina founded Vimine Holding and later became co-managing partner of Sarona Asset Management, a Dutch/Canadian private equity firm linking investors‘ capital to entrepreneurs’ needs in Frontier and Emerging Markets. She opened Sarona’s European office in 2011 and co-led the global growth of the firm till January 2018. Vivina graduated from the London School of Economics and obtained an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in the US. She has been a mentor for the "Business Start-Up" programme for the Prince’s Trust and is a member of the London School of Economics’ Court of Governors and Investment Committee.