Maestro Equity Partners is an investment boutique made up of professionals with entrepreneurial DNA and a passion for consumer businesses, in all of their forms.
We partner with ambitious founders committed to improving the lifestyle of the Southeast Asian middle-class.
Our company’s name, Maestro Equity Partners, embodies our ambition and strategy.
Maestro - because we are masters of our trade. We choose to approach investing just as Michelangelo extracted David, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” We engage with companies in a similar way, offering expertise to help them reveal their true potential.
Equity Partners - our partnerships with ambitious founders help their companies reach the next level by passing on our international knowledge and experience. We intend to be an extension of your team, understanding when to step-in and provide support and guidance, and when to let you run with it.
Giovanni is Maestro Equity Partners’ founder and Managing Partner.
Leveraging a consulting background, he started Maestro realizing the need for Vietnamese SMEs of strategic partners willing to provide, in addition to capital, the tools to compete in an increasingly competitive arena.
He is an experienced strategy consultant and private equity investor; his sectors of expertise include food & beverage, FMCG, retail, and e-commerce.
Before starting Maestro Equity Partners he worked as an Investment Director for Kusto Management Vietnam, where he was responsible for direct investments in consumer companies within Vietnam. Before joining Kusto, Giovanni worked for Mekong Capital, where he focused on food & beverage and retail investments.
He started his career at Accenture where he led projects in both the United States and Europe. Previous clients include Perfetti Van-Melle, Heineken, Verizon, DuPont, Amadori Group, Logista, and Prada.
Giovanni received his MBA from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
He is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Italian, and speaks basic Vietnamese.
Hanh is the CEO of Global Fashion which owns women’s footwear & bags brand Vascara.
She has been developing a heartfelt attachment to Vascara since 2010; in her role as CEO of Global Fashion since 2017, Vascara grew nearly 100% every year reaching more than 134 stores across all Vietnam and serving more than 1.5 million shoppers.
With more than 10 years of experience in the Vietnamese fashion retail space, she is a dedicated business consultant helping businesses to work smarter and grow faster.
In 2019, Ms. Hanh Le was honored by Forbes magazine in the annual “30 Under 30 Vietnam” list.
She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City focusing on Business Administration and Management, and a Master of Arts in the University of Greenwich for Strategic Marketing.
Nguyen is working as a Senior Investment Associate at Maestro Equity Partners (MEP).
He is a financial professional with extensive research experience in both listed and private companies.
Prior to joining Maestro Equity Partners Nguyen worked as an Investment Analyst for Kusto Management Vietnam and as an Equity Research Analyst for Fides Investment Management.
He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City where he concentrated in Corporate Finance.
Nguyen is a CFA Level III candidate and he is fluent in English and Vietnamese.
James is Maestro Equity Partner’s F&B Advisor.
He has more than 30 years of food & beverage industry experience managing regional brands with substantial international operations and different formats/concepts, such as western casual eateries, bakeries, cafés, as well as fine and casual Chinese and Japanese restaurants.
Most recently, James served as COO of Crystal Jade, a Singapore-based Chinese culinary group that owns and operates over 100 outlets across 25 major cities within the Asia Pacific and the United States. Previously, he worked as Head of the bakery division for the BreadTalk Group (BreadTalk, Toast Box, and The Icing Room) where he managed 4,000 people across 800 outlets.
Prior to joining the BreadTalk Group, he worked as Head of Operations, Real Estate, and New Business Development for McDonald's Singapore.
James received his MBA from Preston University. He is fluent in English and Mandarin and speaks basic Vietnamese.
Michele is a Partner at MDJ Asia Pacific and Maestro Equity Partners’ Retail advisor.
He is an experienced executive and business consultant in the retail space, with more than 20 years of experience across Europe and the Asia Pacific.
In his role as Partner at MDJ Asia Pacific, he collaborated with clients of the caliber of Elie Saab, Cesare Paciotti, Roberto Cavalli, Philipp Plein, Serapian Milano, and Fabiana Filippi.
Previous notable roles include his position as Asia Pacific Regional Director for Cris Conf Spa, where he focused on building the PINKO brand awareness in the region, and his position as Asia Pacific retail director for Valentino Group.
He graduated with a degree in Italian Literature from the Università Degli Studi di Trento (Italy). He is fluent in English and Italian.
AMBITIO - We set goals that we know we are not able to reach yet, finding pleasure in the necessary journey; we are comfortable with the knowledge and implementation gap we need to bridge.
Saint Giong (1982, Nguyen Tu Nghiem)
Ambitio is presented by the painting “Saint Giong” from Nguyen Tu Nghiem, one of Vietnam's most famous painters. He is best known for portraying traditional folk themes while not sticking to any one specific material; he created from lacquer, oil and silk to pastels, chalk and pencil. The painting depicts the story of Saint Gióng – one of the Four Immortals of Viet folks, the symbol of fast development, young energy, innovation, creativity and courage to take risk of the youth.
OPEROSITAS - We operate restlessly to deliver more than expected while acting with respect, fairness, and integrity; we always seek win-win relationships with everyone we do business with. We are not interested in short-cuts, and we always advocate for the “right thing” expecting the same from our partners.
Dai Phong Garden (1962, Tran Thanh Ngoc)
Operositas is presented by the painting “Dai Phong Garden” (1962, Artist Tran Thanh Ngoc). The painting was created after her trip to Dai Phong, Quang Binh. Thanh Ngoc painting is soft and gentle as her personality. Not pretentious in choosing the topic and always loyal to the realistic style, female artist Thanh Ngoc has asserted her own imprint of the country’s beauty, pureness and peace in the first generations of Vietnamese contemporary art. Dai Phong Garden (1962) is one of the successful expressions of her style. By her virtuosity of lacquer painting techniques, with thoroughness and meticulousness, she brightly gilded pieces of gold, the peasant girls harvesting fruits and vegetables, the mischievous children lurking in the canopy of the leaves, creating the peaceful and prosperous beauty of Vietnamese villages.
PRETIOSUS - We seek and help to flourish value in the most unexpected places; we find pleasure in unleashing our, and our partners’ potential, through knowledge and discipline, for a life, mentally, spiritually, and physically richer.
Landscapes (1939, Nguyen Gia Tri)
Pretiosus is presented by the painting “Landscapes” (1939, Artist Nguyen Gia Tri). The combination between traditional material, the Western classic art theory and the creativity of renowned painters, such as Nguyễn Gia Tri, created a new face of Viet Nam’s art. While other Asian countries, such as Korea, China or Japan, mainly consider lacquer to be material for handicraft products since the early 20th-century lacquer has taken up a role in Viet Nam as material for artistic paintings. The painting illustrated the vigorous bush of Doc Mung (Colocasia gigantea) when the artist visited Da Lat. His impression of expressiveness and spontaneity, through the flowing lines and nuanced colors, “Landscape” gives the audience the positive feeling of the robust strength and undeniable beauty of Vietnam’s nature, a promising land.
