The Global Institutional Distribution team and key employees
Our Global Institutional Distribution team work closely with institutional investors across the Octopus Group. They will be your first port of call if you’d like to find out more about our institutional investment capabilities. We manage money for around 100 institutional investors and profiles of these key employees are also detailed below.
Leadership team
Benjamin Davis
Prior to Octopus, Benjamin invested across a range of sectors at YFM Equity Partners and Interregnum, and previously worked in technology and consulting. He has an MBA from the University of Cambridge and a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Jonathan Digges
He joined Octopus in February 2015 as Product Head for Octopus Inheritance Tax Service. Before joining Octopus, Jonathan ran a team at Lloyds that looked after the bank’s non-core equity portfolio. He also undertook stints at BNP Paribas, Robert Fleming and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Jonathan is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has an MA in Geography from the University of Oxford.
Chris Hulatt
Chris spends his time championing British entrepreneurialism and promoting policy ideas to drive business growth, by meeting UK business leaders and stakeholders such as MPs and government ministers.
Before founding Octopus, Chris led one of the global equity research teams at Mercury Asset Management. He has a first class MA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Simon Rogerson
Much of his time is spent looking for new opportunities for Octopus, such as moving into the commercial energy sector with Octopus Energy.
Before founding Octopus in 2000, Simon spent two years working at Mercury Asset Management. He holds a first-class MA in Modern Languages from St. Andrews University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Global Institutional Distribution team
Sian Roberts
Octopus Sustainable Infrastructure team
Rob Skinner
Rob joined Octopus in 2013 as Head of Valuations, and then became Head of the Sustainable Infrastructure team in 2019.
Prior to this, he was a director in the M&A team at RBS working across various sectors specialising in infrastructure and utilities.
Rob graduated from Warwick University where he read Mathematics.
Sean McLachlan
Prior to joining Octopus he was Senior Director and Fund Manager at Aviva Investors, responsible for infrastructure equity mandates across multiple sustainable infrastructure sectors, as well as investment strategy and origination activities.
Sean was also previously responsible for investment strategy and origination as Senior Director at Balfour Beatty Investments and he also advised on corporate and project finance transactions across the renewables, energy and utilities sectors at RBC Capital Markets.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance from the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary and is also a CFA charter holder.
Lukasz Michalak
Since joining Octopus in 2013, he has led multiple transactions in the energy transition, telecoms and financial sectors. He was a part of the Octopus Group’s Principal Investment Team. Lukasz also co-founded a lending business.
Before joining Octopus, Lukasz was a consultant at Arup, advising on infrastructure deals.
Lukasz holds two master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering and practised engineering with a focus on sustainability.
Octopus Energy Generation team
Alex Brierley
Prior to joining Octopus, Alex was Director in the Energy and Environmental Infrastructure team at EY LLP where he provided a wide range of corporate and project finance services to leading players in the Renewable Energy industry. Alex is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, qualifying in 2003.
Octopus Ventures team
Malcolm Ferguson
Malcolm is a Non-Executive Director of various portfolio companies including BoughtbyMany, By Miles, DeadHappy, Metrasens, Segura, Semafone and Sofar Sounds. Prior to joining Octopus, Malcolm spent a number of years in the investment banking industry, firstly within the TMT team of Bank America Merrill Lynch in London then at GP Bullhound, a leading boutique investment bank, focusing exclusively on technology businesses.
Octopus Real Estate team
Michael Toft
Prior to joining Octopus, Michael was at Lothbury Investment Management, where he spent over a decade as an Executive Director and Senior Fund Manager, managing institutional real estate funds, implementing a growth strategy and expanding the flagship fund by more than threefold. He has also worked at KBC Asset Management and Fuller Peiser, and has a degree in Land Economy from the University of Aberdeen.
Ludo Mackenzie
Prior to joining Octopus, Ludo was a Partner at Melford Capital Partners LLP, UK Property Director at Janus Henderson Investors, and an Associate Director at JLL. He has an Estate Management degree at Oxford Brookes University.
Kevin Beirne
Since receiving a Masters from Oxford Brookes School of the Built Environment, Kevin has clocked up over 25 years in the real estate development and healthcare sector. He was one of the founders of ARCO and has served as an advisory board member for the Homes and Communities Agency (Homes England) and spent five years on the National Housing Federations development committee.