Ivan Amaral

Tell us about yourself, and how you go to where you are today both on a professional and personal level?

I started my career in 2004 in financial consulting at HVS, a leading global consulting firm dedicated to strategic and financial advice in the hospitality industry.

Until August 2007, when I left the firm, I was involved in over 50 international consulting assignments focussing on valuation reports, feasibility studies and strategic consulting. My next stint was at DLJ SAP (now Principia Capital Partners), a private equity fund spun off from Credit Suisse.

Moving from consulting into private equity allowed me to leverage the previously accumulated knowledge in finance and business and taking on C-Suite roles at companies such as Brazil Trade Shows (BTS) and Damasio Educacional, a leading Brazilian distance-learning company.

In March 2014, I rejoined Principia’s investment team and in June 2017 I became a partner of the firm and member of the investment committee with a wide range of responsibilities.

In 2020, after 13 years in Private Equity, I was invited to join a Brazilian technology company called Intelipost, a SaaS company with solutions for e-commerce logistics. I led the company’s business development and M&A effort, acquiring during this time two other logtech startups.

Although I really enjoyed the experience of working in technology, I received an invitation in 2021 to move back to private equity and decided to join Patria Investments, the largest alternative assets fund manager in Latin America, with over US$27 billion of AUM (assets under management).

I am a Managing Director at the Private Equity team, leading a team of 15 investment professionals focused on investments in sectors such as IT services, software, logistics and healthcare.

On the personal front, I married Isabella in 2011 and with her I had two beautiful boys. Thomas was born in 2016 and Martin in 2018. I guess we could say both are citizens of the world, holding Brazilian, German and Italian passports.

Naturally, most of my free time is spent with the family. My wife is a chef trained at Le Cordon Bleu in France and we own an award-winning seafood restaurant in Sao Paulo, so cooking is a constantly present subject. We have our own sustainable oyster and mussels farm in the South of Brazil, employing local fishermen and contributing to the preservation of their traditional way of life.

We love traveling as well, having visited over 20 countries together. I am also dedicated to both sailing and scuba diving. I am a certified amateur captain/skipper and I often take part in oceanic sailing regattas. I am also a certified master scuba diver and have been in many different dive sites in Brazil and abroad.

What made you decide you wanted to pursue the Tsinghua-INSEAD Executive MBA (TIEMBA)?

China is currently Brazil’s largest trade partner and has been a growing source of foreign direct investment in Latin America since 2010.

I have noticed increased interest from Chinese investors in joining Patria’s funds and from Chinese companies in targeting our portfolio companies. The companies we acquire in Brazil have growing interaction and interdependence with Asia.

Learning more about the Asian economy and business environment, in addition to building a network in the region, was a key reason why I selected TIEMBA.

What expectations did you have before you started the TIEMBA?

Before joining the programme, I had the expectation of becoming a private equity professional who is much better equipped to deal with challenges of a higher order, such as managing risk holistically, attracting and retaining high-quality talent and managing relationships with very sophisticated international investors, increasingly from Asia. I had the expectation that TIEMBA would contribute significantly to prepare me for such challenges.

At this new phase of my career, I also felt that time-tested investment strategies in middle-market private equity were being challenged by new technologies and business models disrupting old ones.

Reflecting on such changes and connecting to people in other parts of the world that were involved in this transformation was another key expectation before joining the programme.

After completing the programme, I feel that all my expectations have been surpassed, even factoring in the incredible challenges posed by COVID. In my case, this included taking lessons online from 9:30pm to 7:00am, for several consecutive days.

Has the INSEAD TIEMBA helped you in your career?

The TIEMBA was certainly helpful in my recent career trajectory. I made two job changes during the programme and in both cases being part of TIEMBA was instrumental.

I also had several cases in which real business problems were solved with the help of the TIEMBA network.

Has the experience helped you remain relevant even after graduation?

The TIEMBA helped me be prepared for high-level management challenges in multicultural environments and in a context of a changing investment landscape, driven by geopolitical and technological tectonic moves.

And I am equipped to deal with these challenges with the help of a very powerful global network, as I'm now a member two of the most prestigious business school alumni networks in the world.

What advice will you give to prospects who are still considering whether the TIEMBA should be part of their career plan?

If you want a truly global experience, with a particular strong connection to Asia, TIEMBA is the right programme to you. And you will join two of the most powerful alumni networks in the world today. In my case, it was worth it.