3 December 2024
Apis Appoints Dabney Tonelli as Head of Stakeholder Engagement
London, 20th March 2023 – Global financial services private equity asset manager Apis Partners LLP today announced that Dabney Tonelli has joined the firm as a Partner and Head of Stakeholder Engagement.
With over 30 years of professional experience, Dabney was most recently a member of the Executive Committee and a Partner at Helios Investment Partners, where she was responsible for investor relations. She joined Helios in 2012 from Chayton Capital where she was a Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that Dabney was at Goldman Sachs for 12 years; she held a variety of management roles in Global Investment Research in London and was previously in the Investment Management Division in New York.
Dabney has stepped into the role previously held by Marcello Sala. He was recently appointed by The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance as Director General Financial Institutions, where he will be working with Italian and foreign public and private financial organisations. Apis has named Marcello Partner Emeritus in recognition of his contributions to the firm over the years. Prior to joining Apis, Marcello was Executive Vice Chairman of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group Management Board from 2010 to 2016 and a Board member from 2007 to 2016. In 2008 he co-founded Banca ITB (now Mooney), a bank focused on innovative payment solutions for the Italian retail market. In 2017, as Executive Director, he managed the successful sale of Banca ITB. Marcello is a member of the World Economic Forum New Champions Advisory Board and of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance Fintech Committee, he has held various positions in international companies and institutions, including Chairman of the Italian Egyptian Business Council, member of the Trilateral Commission, member of the Global Agenda Council on Future of Financing and Capital of the World Economic Forum, member of the B20 Financing Growth Taskforce, member of the International Council of the Bretton Woods Committee, board member of ISPI (Italian Institute for International and Political Studies) and member of the Board of Directors of IAI (Institute for International Affairs).
Matteo Stefanel – Co-founder and Managing Partner at Apis Partners: “It is a pleasure to welcome Dabney to Apis as our firm continues its growth trajectory, and we look forward to benefiting from her expertise. While we are sad to see Marcello go, we are pleased he will remain Partner Emeritus and recognise that it is an honour for him to serve his country”.
Udayan Goyal – Co-founder and Managing Partner at Apis Partners: “We are delighted to have Dabney joining us and we look forward to working with her as Apis moves into its next phase of growth. Marcello has been a very important part of our journey to date – we wish him all the best in this important role and we look forward to our continued collaboration in his role as Partner Emeritus.”
Dabney Tonelli – Partner at Apis Partners: “I am excited to join the outstanding team of professionals at Apis, an innovative, ESGI-native PE firm with a record of generating strong returns and driving innovation in financial services while achieving meaningful impact. Apis has built an impressive investor base over the years, and I look forward to engaging with all stakeholders as the firm continues to deliver on its objectives.”
Marcello Sala – Partner Emeritus at Apis Partners: “Being a part of Apis’ growth over the years has been fulfilling on both a professional and personal level. The outstanding outcome that Apis has achieved, in my opinion, is the combination of very in-depth knowledge of the financial sector, understanding how to anticipate its evolutionary trends, and a focus on the social impact that businesses in this sector are able to produce. I am grateful to Matteo and Uday for allowing me to participate in the Apis project, as well as to everyone I have worked with throughout the years for their encouragement and willingness to share this unique experience with me.”
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About Apis Partners
The Apis Group (“Apis”) is an ESGI-native global private equity and venture capital asset manager that supports growth-stage financial services and financial infrastructure businesses by providing them with catalytic growth equity capital. Collectively Apis, through its team of approximately 40 professionals with deep industry expertise, manages or advises on total committed capital from investors (including drawn and invested capital) of US$1.2 billion.
Including its headquarters in London, Apis has representation in eight countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Apis is highly conscious of the developmental impact that the provision of growth capital for financial services and financial infrastructure businesses in growth markets can achieve, and as such, financial inclusion is a core tenet of Apis’ approach and investment mandate. Apis became a signatory to the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) upon inception of the firm in 2014.