Investment Team
Carl Kleidman
Managing Director; Investments
(See Senior Personnel)
David Benway
Director of Origination
David Benway leads the investment origination group at Vision. Mr. Benway has 17 years of experience on Wall Street including positions at Goldman Sachs & Co., BNP Cooper-Neff Group, Rose Glen Capital and Twin Securities. He has an MBA in Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University and a B.A. in Government from St. Lawrence University. David also serves as an Executive Director of the Vision Opportunity China Fund Limited.
Andy Merkatz
Director; Alternative Energy, Technology
Andy Merkatz specializes in Alternative Energy and Technology. Prior to joining Vision, he was the founder and Managing Partner of CountryRoad Capital, a merchant banking firm specializing in alternative public offerings. Previously, Andy served as President and CEO of Predict It, Inc., a publicly traded internet software company and as Chief Operating Officer & co-Founder of SiteSpecific, one of the first internet advertising agencies. Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Andy worked in middle market private equity at Interlaken Capital. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and B.A. in Economics, with distinction, from the University of Pennsylvania.
Robert Thomson
Director; Defense/Security, Industrials, Consumer Products
Rob Thomson specializes in defense and security investments. Prior to Vision, Rob was the Managing Director of The Arkin Group LLC, an international business intelligence firm specializing in providing investigative due diligence to Fortune 500 companies and asset managers. Additionally, he worked as an analyst for Steel Partners LP and a Research Associate for the Council of Foreign Relations. Rob holds an M.B.A from the Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Haverford College. He is currently a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Jess Jones, MD
Director; Medical Technology, Healthcare
Jess Jones specializes in Medical Technology and Healthcare. Prior to Vision, he was a Research Associate at the Department of Neurosurgery at Columbia University and the Department of Radiology at the University of Utah. He holds an M.D. from Columbia University, an M.B.A from Columbia Business School, and a B.A. from the University of Utah.
Tianning (Tina) Yu (Ph.D.)
Director; Emerging Markets – China, Biotech/Pharma
Tianning (Tina) Yu specializes in investments in the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries as well as firms operating in the Greater China region. Prior to Vision, she was a senior research scientist at Wyeth BioPharma and worked for Genzyme Biosurgery, Morgan Stanley, and Fidelity Asia Ventures in Hong Kong. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and a B.S. from The University of Science and Technology of China. Tina is fluent in Mandarin.
Oana Ciorbea
Vice President; Alternative Energy, Eastern European Markets
Oana Ciorbea focuses on investments in Alternative Energy as well as firms operating in Eastern Europe. Prior to joining Vision, Ms. Ciorbea worked as an investment banking analyst in the Mergers and Acquisitions division of Citigroup. She holds a B.A. in Economics, magna cum laude, from Harvard University and is fluent in Romanian, French, and Spanish.
Clare Duan
Vice President; Emerging Markets – China
Clare Duan focuses on investments in the Greater China region. Prior to Vision, she worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at UBS. Clare holds a B.S. degree in Mathematics and Finance with honors from Boston College and is fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese.
Antti William Uusiheimala
Special Situations
Antii Uusiheimala specializes in the diligence, assessment and monitoring of complex, unique deal structures. Prior to joining Vision, he worked as an Associate Lawyer at ACE Law Ltd and was Business Development Manager for CRF Health, Inc., a software company servicing the pharmaceutical clinical trial industry. He has an L.L.M. in Law and Economics from the University of Helsinki, Finland, and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. Additionally, he served in the Finnish Armed Forces and is fluent in Finnish and Swedish.
John Crlencic
Technology; New Media; Software
John Crlencic focuses on Technology, New Media, and Software. Mr. Crlencic has a B.S. in Finance from Rutgers University.
Jean Nina Wang
Deal Sourcing; Strategic Alliances
Jean Wang focuses on building Vision’s pipeline of investment opportunities. Prior to Vision, she was the Managing Director of West Coast Sales at Vintage Filings, LLC where she built strong relationships with Investment Banking and Venture Capital firms. Jean holds a B.A. in Economics from San Francisco State University.
Christopher Wall
Consultant – Special Situations
Chris Wall consults Vision on the assessment, restructuring, monitoring and sale of distressed portfolio assets. In addition, he identifies and assesses new investment opportunities in financially distressed companies. Prior to joining Vision’s he was Director of Corporate Development for Organica AG, Director of Business Development for Harbor Technology Group, and an Associate for Scient Corp. Mr. Wall has a B.A. in Philosophy and Economics from Columbia University and serves as a Director on the board of 4 Elements, Inc.