Darby Overseas Investments Announces New Hire

Darby Overseas Investments, the private equity division of Franklin Templeton Investments, said Monday that it has named Roberto Velarde as managing director of Latin America private equity. Velarde, who will be based in the company’s Washington, D.C. office, will report to Darby President and CEO Richard H. Frank. Prior to joining Darby, Velarde was managing director and chief investment officer at Grupo Inder.

PRESS RELEASE

Washington, DC, August 19, 2013 – Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd. (“Darby”), the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton Investments, today announced that it had appointed Mr. Roberto Velarde as Managing Director, Latin America Private Equity. Mr. Velarde has responsibility for the management and investment leadership of Darby’s overall private equity business in Latin America, including the firm’s legacy funds and teams and the development of new private equity vehicles. He reports to Richard H. Frank, Darby President and CEO, and is based in the Washington, DC office.
“A pioneer firm in Latin America private equity, Darby began its investment operations in the region in 1994 with its maiden Private Equity Fund. In addition to its three Mezzanine and Infrastructure funds, the firm has raised and been actively investing five PE funds in Latin America”, said Mr. Frank. “We are very pleased to have Roberto join the Darby team, assuming the leadership and responsibilities to build on this successful private equity franchise.”
Mr. Velarde has 25 years of PE investment and M&A transaction experience in a broad range of industries in Latin America, US and Europe and has held entrepreneurial leadership and senior management roles in investment management and financial services firms. Prior to joining Darby, Mr. Velarde was Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Grupo Inder, a firm with multi-sector investment focus and PE investments in middle-market companies in Chile, Colombia and Peru. Previously, he was Managing Director and Founder of North America Capital Partners, a financial advisory and PE investment management firm focused on middle-market companies in Latin America and worked at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. as Principal and senior member of the JPMorgan Partners Latin America, LP regional fund and JPMorgan Chase’s proprietary PE investment portfolio in Latin America. He earned an MBA degree from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, (1996) and a BA in Economics, (1988) from Northwestern University.
About Darby Private Equity (“Darby”)
Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd. is the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton Investments, and manages a range of private equity, mezzanine, and infrastructure funds in Asia, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe. Darby was founded in 1994 by The Honorable Nicholas F. Brady, who served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury between 1988 and 1993. Richard Frank joined the firm as CEO in 1997 after his career at the IFC / World Bank. In 2003 Darby became a fully owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN], a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. For more information, please visit www.darbyoverseas.com.
Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and domestic investment management solutions managed by its Franklin, Templeton, Mutual Series, Fiduciary Trust, Darby and Bissett investment teams. The San Mateo, CA-based company has more than 60 years of investment experience and over $834 billion in assets under management as of July 31, 2013. For more information, please visit franklinresources.com.