Cesar Collier

Cesar Collier is a Partner at Siguler Guff and Head of Latin America, leading the firm's São Paulo office, which he opened when he joined the firm in February 2011. He is a senior member of the emerging-markets investment team and sits on the Investment Committees for the BRIC/GEM Opportunities Funds and the Brazil Special Situations Fund. Born and raised in Recife, Brazil, he spent more than eight years in the United States and Europe before returning to reside in São Paulo.

Collier brings an unusual mix of private equity and hands-on operating experience. He began his private equity career at Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity (MLGPE) in 2007 and, immediately prior to Siguler Guff, was a Senior Vice President at Standard Bank Private Equity, where he sourced and analyzed opportunities in the retail, consumer goods and logistics sectors. Earlier in his career he held senior management roles at Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Royal Ahold and Bompreço — notably serving as Vice President of Wal-Mart Brazil, where he was responsible for five business units, five managing directors and more than 1,000 associates across 300 stores.

He holds a law degree from Universidade Católica de Pernambuco (UNICAP) and both an MBA and a post-graduate degree from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). He served as an Infantry Reserve Lieutenant in the Brazilian Army (1993) and has been a member of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) since 2012, serving as a local chapter director since 2014.

• Emerging-markets value approach: Siguler Guff's stated strategy is to "identify the compelling value propositions across the Emerging Markets and partner with top-tier local managers in order to access the best deals," with a thesis that Latin America offers opportunities at low entry multiples and with limited competition.
• Brazilian Legal Claims / precatórios as a core niche: The strategy Collier leads targets structured-credit investments related to legal claims (precatórios) — court-ordered debts owed by Brazilian public entities, written into the Brazilian constitution. Collier has described precatórios as "the most interesting asset class you've never heard of," citing a market with over $1 trillion in face value and more than $200 billion in expected awards.
• Capital-solutions provider: In this strategy Siguler Guff acts as a liquidity/capital-solutions provider to corporations and individuals holding claims against the Brazilian government.
• Geographic focus: Brazil is the core market, with additional interest in Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Chile.
• Fund-level structure: Related vehicles include the Small Buyout Opportunities Fund, designed to build a diversified portfolio of "best in class" funds investing in small and lower-middle-market companies.