Giovanni Ford, Investment Advisor

Giovanni Ford has delivered investment and credit solutions to high net-worth, family office and institutional clients for over 15 years.

Mr. Ford began his career with Wells Fargo Bank as a Business Banking Manager with a focus on credit and treasury management.  He was then promoted to the Institutional Trust Group to work with clients of The Private Bank.  During his tenure with Wells Fargo, he distinguished himself as a "Top Producer" and was awarded The Golden Spoke award three times. He successfully invested US$2 billion in fixed-income securities for leading technology and pharmaceutical companies located across California.

Giovanni was also an IPO Specialist working in conjunction with leading boutique investment banking firms.  He was in charge of opening the New York and Boston markets for Wells Capital Management, a leading Registered Investment Advisor.  He secured several mandates from large pension plans and foundations.  Giovanni invested over US$420 million in domestic equities from clients such as ITT Industries, Nabisco, Turner Construction, Delta Dental, Verizon and others.  He has extensive relationships with leading pension plans, municipalities and investment consulting firms throughout the USA. 

Giovanni was also an Investment Advisor at Morgan Stanley Capital where his focus was on hedge fund strategies and REITs, and with Sperry Van Ness where he concentrated on multi-family properties and luxury hotels completing over US$100 million in transactions.  He has underwritten several mixed-use, commercial and multi-family properties while working in commercial lending for Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of America, and successfully managed 3,200 rental units for a major developer in San Francisco.

Giovanni earned his MBA at Luiss School of Management in Rome, Italy.  During that time he repositioned a boutique hotel to 4-star from 2-star through renovation and rebranding.  

 Federico Blizniuk, Hotel Business Advisor

Federico Blizniuk is the founder and CEO of the Tay Group, a boutique hotel & real estate development and management firm with offices in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Punta del Este (Uruguay).

Prior to founding Tay Group, Federico was Director and Board Member of Fudicia Capital Group, an Argentine investment and real estate development firm with over US$300 million of real estate assets under management.  Between 1997 and 2001 Federico developed a successful international career in hospitality, including management and director level positions in the United States, Switzerland, Uruguay and Argentina including leading hotel companies such as Swissotel-Raffles Hotels, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, N|A Hotels, Cipriani Resort (Leading Hotels of the World), Movenpick Hotels, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

Federico holds a BA (honors) in Tourism and Hospitality Management from the Swiss Hotel Management School in Montreux, Switzerland and an MA(distinction) in Hospitality Management from the University of Derby, England.