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Raphael Rottgen, CFA FRM, Finance Expert in Zürich, Switzerland
Raphael Rottgen, CFA FRM

Finance Expert in Zürich, Switzerland

Member since August 22, 2017
Raphael was the co-founder of a fintech company which he grew to 50 employees and merged with a competitor after four years. He's co-founded two investment firms, including a blockchain one, and worked for 15 years as a global investor and an M&A banker at Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan. He also holds a master's in AI and is a graduate of the International Space University. As a consultant, he's passionate about helping innovative businesses grow.
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Career Highlights

Education

Select Certifications

Industry Expertise

  • Finance
  • Investment Banking
  • Venture Capital & Private Equity
  • Aerospace & Defense
  • Financial Modeling
  • Startups
  • Blockchain
  • Cryptocurrency

Other Expertise

Employment

  • Managing Director

    2019 - PRESENT
    E2MC
    • Served as a financial and investment advisor to space companies.
    • Advised space startup companies on topics such as fundraising.
    • Consulted with institutional shareholders of space companies.
    • Counseled government clients with respect to space.
    • Investing in space companies (from proprietary capital and raising a fund).
    Focus areas: Financial Advisory, Investments, Aerospace & Defense

  • Partner

    2017 - 2019
    Final Frontier Holding
    • Co-led the development and structuring of regulated blockchain/cryptocurrency investment funds targeted at institutional investors.
    • Assisted in obtaining a regulatory sandbox license for a cryptocurrency exchange.
    • Developed automated web-based tools to analyze cryptocurrencies, including both technical and fundamental factors.
    Focus areas: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Structuring of Funds, Fundraising

  • Freelance Financial Analyst to Evaluate SpaceX

    2017 - 2017
    Investment Fund (via Toptal)
    • Built a financial model for the business based on public information.
    • Assisted in marketing to potential investors.
    Focus areas: Valuation, Financial Modeling

  • Chief Investment Officer

    2015 - 2017
    SVM Capital
    • Designed an investment process that augments human investment judgment with machine intelligence, for use in concentrated, fundamental long-short equity investment.
    • Developed and maintained a suite of investment algorithms using machine learning techniques.
    • Invested successfully in a current universe of over 1,300 stocks across all industries.
    Focus areas: Valuation, Private Equity, Equity Valuation, Equity Research

  • Seed Investor | Chairman

    2008 - 2013
    Financiar Casa S/A
    • Co-founded one of Brazil's first nationwide online mortgage brokerages, pioneering the concept in the local market wherein we were one of the first two companies.
    • Developed some of the first-ever mortgage distribution partnerships with major banks (e.g., HSBC, Citibank, Santander, Itaú) and real estate developers.
    • Specified and developed (with external IT support) a custom IT platform—including the public web portal—for mortgage marketing and processing.
    • Successfully led two fundraising rounds—including fundraising meetings, negotiation, and closing documentation—with local and international investors.
    • Recruited and managed up to 50 employees, in addition to outsourced service providers, across all of the company's functions, including sales, IT, finance, and HR.
    • Conceived and negotiated the merger of the company with one of its competitors.
    Focus areas: Fundraising, Strategy

  • Investment Analyst

    2005 - 2007
    Gandhara Capital
    • Generated and analyzed equity investment ideas globally and across sectors as a senior investment professional, helping the fund generate annual net returns in the mid-teens.
    • Oversaw up to US$750 million gross exposure (i.e., long and short), monitoring investment positions on a real-time basis.
    • Conducted all the necessary primary and secondary research (including senior management meetings), financial modeling and other due diligence in order to develop conviction on investment ideas.
    • Regularly updated fund's investors on investment positions via written reports and one-on-one meetings.
    • Co-founded the firm with a team that had left Deutsche Bank where I had acted as a director of proprietary trading in essentially the same functional role.
    Focus areas: Valuation, Equity Valuation, Equity Research

  • Director of Proprietary Trading

    2002 - 2005
    Deutsche Bank
    • Joined a newly-formed proprietary investment team as a founding member focused on fundamental investment in global equities (based in Tokyo and London).
    • Generated and analyzed equity investment ideas globally and across sectors as a senior investment professional, helping the team achieve investment returns in the mid-teens.
    • Oversaw investment positions on a real-time basis, interacting with sell-side trading desks.
    Focus areas: Valuation, Equity Valuation, Equity Research

  • Associate

    1998 - 2002
    Greenhill & Co.
    • Served as the lead associate on the distressed restructuring of Marconi plc, advising the bondholders.
    • Managed substantial parts of the local day-to-day processes during the sale of Optus (the second-largest Australian telecom at the time) to Singapore Telecom; it was one of the largest M&A transactions in Australia.
    • Served as the associate on the team advising C&W on the sale of Hong Kong Telecom to PCCW which was the largest ever non-Japan Asia M&A transaction at the time; I performed tasks such as financial modeling and due diligence.
    • Participated in tens of billions of dollars in deal value of other transactions globally.
    Focus areas: Financial Restructuring, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)

  • Financial Analyst

    1997 - 1998
    JP Morgan
    • Served on various advisory assignments for industrial and defense clients in the Americas.
    • Performed in-depth financial modeling, including forecasts, valuations, and pro forma merger analyses.
    Focus areas: Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)

Other Experience

  • Biotech Valuation Idiosyncrasies and Best Practices (Publication)
    https://www.toptal.com/finance/valuation/biotech-valuation
    Biotech companies with little to no revenue can still be worth billions. Consider the most prominent 2017 biotech M&A deal when Gilead bought Kite Pharma for almost $12 billion. At the time of the deal, Kite had over $600 million in accumulated deficit, but it also had a pipeline of CAR-T cell therapies, which treat cancer. This article examines how to value such pipelines. It also focuses on the risk-adjusted NPV valuation methodology, portfolios of multiple drug candidates, and how value is impacted by the characteristics of the investor or acquirer.
  • Investing in Cryptocurrencies: The Ultimate Guide (Publication)
    https://www.toptal.com/finance/fintech/investing-in-cryptocurrencies
    So, you’ve decided to get exposure to cryptocurrencies. In this newer space, a personal financial advisor may not be of great help. Neither will your banker, unless you are a customer of a limited number of progressive Swiss private banks, which facilitate crypto trading. What now? This article provides practical information and resources around passive vs. active cryptocurrency investing, how to buy, sell, store, and monitor cryptocurrencies, as well as tax regulations in the space.

Education

  • Space Studies Program in Space
    2019 - 2019
    International Space University - Strasbourg, France
  • Master's degree in Computer Science
    2013 - 2015
    PUC | Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Bachelor's degree in Psychology
    1993 - 1997
    University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA, USA
  • Bachelor's degree in Finance
    1993 - 1997
    The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA, USA

Certifications

  • Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
    AUGUST 2016 - PRESENT
    CFA Institute
  • Chartered Financial Risk Manager (FRM)
    JULY 2015 - PRESENT
    Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP)

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