Turning the Credit Crunch into your Business Advantage

Turning the Credit Crunch into your Business Advantage: Joel Esciua of Renaissance Capital

• The Main Speaker: Mr Joel Esciua
  

Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1964, Joel spent his education in Milan, Brussels and Paris. He thus became something of a multilinguist, fluent in French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and English. Since finishing his studies he spends his life moving between London, Paris, Milan, Sao Paulo and Brussels.

For the last 20 years, Joel has worked throughout the financial world covering a vast array of areas which include: Asset Trading, Capital Markets, Latin-American debt Trading, Distribution of funds, Portfolio Management, Securities, not to mention his current role as Managing Director of the Russian Investment Bank, Renaissance Capital.

With such an exhaustive list of experience, Joel offers internationally informed advice and insight and will use this to discuss both how to survive — and how to make money during the forthcoming recession.

• The Pre-Dinner Speaker: Dr Caroline Mawer
  

An English Doctor Caroline Mawer shares her passion and discoveries of the Bakhtiari inheritance through her own photographs, plus images of oil discovery from 100 years ago.

Caroline Mawer was originally (and still works as) a medical doctor, but now spends most of her time exploring the culture and history of Iran. She is doing an MA at the London School of Oriental and African Studies and has completed the Certificate (Arts of Asia) from the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Her major research interest is the architectural decoration of the Timurid buildings of NE Iran and she is working with local craftsmen to document their techniques and working practices. She has curated an historical exhibition to go alongside her photographs of the twice-yearly migration of Bakhtiari nomads (SW Iran). These are being displayed in the Brunei Gallery (SOAS) from Oct-Dec 2008.

Her most recent trip to Iran re-traced Shah Abbas the Great’s 1000km walk in 1601 from Isfahan to Mashhad. This was part of work leading up to her British Museum / Birkbeck University course on Shah Abbas the Great: The Splendour of Power, being held in early 2009, in parallel with the upcoming BM exhibition.