About Us
Qantara Asset Management is an Africa focused management company.
El Qantara is a city in northeastern Egypt, where a bridge spans the Suez Canal linking Africa to the rest of the world. Qantara AM aims to be a bridge between Africa and international financial markets.
Our missions
To be a gateway for international investors wishing to benefit from the creation of value in Africa.
To be a reference player in African sovereign debt, thereby contributing to the financing needs of African States.
To design and offer innovative financial products aimed at African investors.
The Team
A team that combines in-depth knowledge of Africa and a longstanding experience of international financial markets.
James KUATE
CEO & founder
James has over 25 years of experience in capital markets finance, asset allocation and financial engineering acquired within major international banks and management companies.
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He began his career in 1997 as a quantitative trader in fixed income products at CPR, notably in government bonds, swaps and options. In 1999, he became a proprietary trader on the convertible bond market at ING Paris for 6 years, and Fortis Bank London for 4 years. He then joined Generali Investments in Paris in 2009 as a bond fund manager. He was in charge of convertible bond management at ABN Amro Investment Solutions in Paris for 4 years before joining Candriam's interest rate and convertible bond management team in 2018.
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He co-founded Qantara AM in 2022.
James is an ISFA actuary (Lyon Institute of Financial Sciences and Insurance). He also holds a DEA (ISCED Level 7) in actuarial and financial sciences and a Masters in Mathematics from UCB Lyon I.
Alain WILLIAM
COO & founder
Alain has more than 25 years of experience as a senior financial market analyst, particularly on the sell side in the Metals and Mining sector.
His analytical and financial skills contribute to his ability to generate ideas based on strong convictions in order to help investors in their decision-making process.
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Alain began his career at Ixis Security before joining ING in 2000. He then spent 10 years at Société Générale, before joining Natixis in 2016 to cover the capital goods sector. In 2018, he joined Oddo BHF following the merger of its brokerage entity with that of Natixis.
He co-founded Qantara AM in 2022.
Alain holds a Master's degree in Economics and Finance from Panthéon Sorbonne University and a French post-graduate diploma in Finance from ESCEM-Tours.
Martin LEY
Senior Portfolio Manager / Analyst
Martin has 7 years of experience as a bond and money markets manager.
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Martin is in charge of the daily management of the Qantara Eurobonds fund in collaboration with James. Before joining Qantara AM in 2022, and since 2016, Martin managed euro sovereign and monetary bond funds as well as institutional mandates on this type of asset at Banque de France Gestion.
Martin has an engineering degree from the Leonardo da Vinci School of Engineering (ESILV) at La Défense, having majored in Finance and chosen Big Data as an optional subject.
Perrine GUERIN
Chief Economist- Strategist
Perrine has 5 years of experience as an economist and specialises on matters relating to the African continent.
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Perrine is in charge of the fundamental analysis of African issuers as well as the macro-economic analysis of the continent. Before joining Qantara AM in 2022, Perrine was in charge of African countries in the research department of BNP Paribas and Bpifrance. She also has experience with the French Embassy in Nigeria.
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Perrine holds a Master's degree in International Economics from Paris Dauphine University and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE).
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