World-class talent
from Latin America
The LXG team has a combined experience of more than 60 years in the financial sector, having led and worked in the areas of corporate banking, private banking, investment banking, asset management and wealth consulting at top-tier financial service firms in the U.S., Peru, Chile and Guatemala. These include J.P. Morgan, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, and Santander. Our partners are supported by a team of full-time junior professionals who have all undergone rigorous training in analyst and associate programs with top financial institutions.
Martín Fariña
LXG, Peru
Partner
Martín is a founding partner of LXG. Martín was previously Managing Director in J.P.
Morgan's Latin America Investment Bank. Martín founded and run the Latin American
Financial Institutions Group at JPMorgan. He then was the Head of Investment Banking in the
JPMorgan's Mexico City office, where he oversaw all strategic and M&A transactions for J.P.
Morgan in Mexico across industries.
Martín played a key role as advisor in most of the banking crisis resolutions in Latin America as
well as the initial wave of acquisitions in Latin America by European banks.
Martín joined J.P. Morgan in 1994 and worked on the main bank and insurance transactions in
Latin America. Also, Martín had responsibilities originating M&A and capital transactions for
banks in the US and Canada between the years of 2005 and 2006. Martín was a member of
the Latin American Executive Committee at J.P. Morgan and participated in several global
committees in J.P. Morgan's Investment Bank. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Martín worked at
the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) in Washington DC and Sao Paulo.
Martín obtained his undergraduate degree in Economics (Summa Cum Laude) from the
Wharton School in 1991. He was the direct research assistant doing extensive econometric
modeling for Dr. Lawrence Klein, Nobel Laureate in Economics, during the 1990-1991 period.
Martín is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and German. He is co-author of the book "The
Joy of Giving" and "Aventuras en Paracas", former President of Oritel (International
Organization of Teletons), President of the Board of Trustees of the Teletón-Peru, Trustee of
Fundación de Osma, former Trustee of the Colegio Roosevelt (the American school in Lima),
Master PADI SCUBA Diver and Abbott Marathon Runner. Martín is President of the LXG
Amazon Reforestry Fund.
Javier Zavala
LXG, Peru
Partner
Javier was previously the Co-Head of Financial Institutions Group
for Latin America at Merrill Lynch based in New York,
with responsibility over all financial services companies within the region,
including banks, insurance companies, broker dealers, pension funds,
asset managers, etc. While at Merrill Lynch, Javier was responsible for all strategic and capital
raising transactions involving financial institutions in Latin America.
Prior to joining Merrill Lynch Javier spent six years at Salomon Brothers´ and Citigroup´s
Financial Institutions Group.
Javier has done extensive work in M&A in the financial services
space for large clients involving mainly cross-border transactions for companies
entering and exiting local and regional markets. His deal experience includes a variety of transactions
in bank and specialty finance restructurings, private and public capital raising (including debt,
equity and hybrid capital), and advisory in M&A processes, having performed advisory work for multinational
institutions like Santander, Societe Generale, Generali, Caja Madrid, among others.
Prior to joining Salomon Brothers, Javier worked at BankBoston N.A. in the Corporate Banking Division,
both in Lima and Boston for five years, where he did extensive credit and risk analysis and was responsible
for a portion of the bank's corporate portfolio. Javier received a BS in Industrial Engineering
from Universidad Catolica del Peru and an MBA from Dartmouth University,
with an emphasis in finance. At Dartmouth,
Javier did extensive research work in the corporate finance and corporate governance areas
becoming a fellow of the "Center for Corporate Governance" at the Tuck School of Business.
Javier was born and raised in Peru, and has lived for the past 10 years in the US.
He currently live in Lima-Peru with his wife and children.
Javier joined LXG as a Partner after culminating his gardening leave from Merrill Lynch.
Hugo Horta
LXG, Chile
Partner
Hugo Horta was previously the Country Head and CEO at Credicorp Capital Chile ("CC"),
where he led the strategy and business operation on the local franchise based in Santiago.
Hugo was at the same time, the Regional Head of Corporate Finance for CC,
where he was responsible for all M&A, DCM, ECM, Structured Loans and Project Finance deals in Peru,
Chile, and Colombia. Prior to joining Credicorp Capital, Hugo was Partner at IM Trust,
Head of Sales at BBVA and started his professional career at Citibank.
Hugo is a capital markets expert where he has led the main Structured Transactions
and Bond Placements issued in Chile, Peru, and Colombia in local and international
formats in amounts totaling over US$15 billion for clients like Falabella, BCI, Arauco, Nexa Resources,
Kallpa, Rutas de Lima and Hunt Oil among others.
In this role as CEO, he has been responsible for the Asset Management,
Private Banking and Brokerage business.
Hugo has more than 20 years of experience in investment banking and 14 years in sales and trading working
in Santiago, Chicago, and Lima.
Hugo obtained his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
in 1994 and obtained an MBA degree at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2002.
Hugo is part of the 2019 SEP at Stanford University, where he is founding partner of Reaction Partners –
A global Impact Investment Fund.
Hugo lives in Chile, with his wife and three kids and he dedicates
some of his time as member of the economic committee of Fundación Las Rosas,
which focuses on primary care for the elderly; Board Member at Fundacion IMT CC,
which provides pro bono advisory for a broad range of ONG and Foundations,
and as Board Member at Bolsa Electrica de Chile.
Heinrich Lessau
LXG, Chile
Managing Director
Heinrich is Managing Director at LXG. In his career,
he has managed M&A and ECM transactions totaling more than US$5 billion,
as well as US$3 billion in DCM and structured loan deals.
Before joining LXG, Heinrich spent 11 years at Credicorp Capital.
Initially, he served as Managing Director of Research, leading a team of analysts in Bogotá,
Lima, and Santiago. Later, he managed Credicorp Capital's US brokerage business in Miami,
with a focus on global institutional investors. In his most recent role at Credicorp Capital,
spanning six years, Heinrich led the investment banking team in Santiago, handling M&A, ECM, DCM,
and advisory deals.
Prior to Credicorp Capital, Heinrich run the brokerage business at BICE Inversiones for four years.
Earlier in his career, he held the positions of Country Head and Chief Investment Officer
at Legg Mason Chile and Head of Equity Capital Markets at Santander Investment.
Throughout his career, Heinrich received recognition from publications like Institutional Investor,
Latin Finance, and Greenwich Associates. In 2019, he was appointed by the Chilean Pension Fund Managers (AFPs)
to the Consejo Técnico de Inversiones (CTI), advising the Chilean pensions regulator on investment management.
Heinrich is currently the longest-serving counselor at the CTI.
Heinrich earned a B.S. in Management (Ingeniero Comercial) from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Additionally, he pursued studies in architecture and photography.
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