Driven by Talent, Defined by Excellence

Hugo is the founder partner and General Manager at Hipoges. Hugo has more than 25 years of experience in the Financial Sector and 20 in the Servicing Industry. Hugo has been involved on the establishment of Servicing platforms in different countries, including Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Greece and Italy. Before joining the Servicing Industry, he worked in the Banking industry, more specifically with securitization transactions. He has a Management Degree from Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão from Universidade Técnica de Lisboa. “It is a great honor to participate since the foundation of Hipoges… The constant growth and achievements along the history of the company, make me proud of all the individuals that worked with us in the past, work with us now and will work in the future.”

Claudio Panunzio is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Hipoges. Claudio was one of the founding partners of Hipoges, back in 2008, initially focusing on investment advisory activities. Claudio is currently Managing Partner, responsible for Advisory, Compliance, Audit and Business Development Activities. Prior to Hipoges, Claudio worked at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and more recently at Lehman Brothers in the Structured Finance Division. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering as well as an MBA from NYY – Stern.   “I am very grateful to all my colleagues and clients that over the years have contributed so much to our growth into so many different businesses and geographies. Working at Hipoges is an extremely rewarding experience at both a professional as well as personal level”

Nikitas joined Hipoges Group in July 2019. He was previously a respected banking professional with over 20 years rapidly progressive international experience working on numerous challenging projects from system integrations to bank openings from greenfield in challenging environments (Poland and Ukraine) and delivering within stringent deadlines. He was engaged from 2015 in Real Estate by managing a Greek real estate company, that became through acquisition, the Real Estate arm of Hipoges Group from 2019. From October 2021 become additionally the Managing Director of the Greek NPL servicing company of the same group. Nikitas is holding an MBA Degree from University of Bridgeport (CT, USA). “As the head of the Greek operations at Hipoges, I’m honored to be part of a project that is constantly evolving. I’m proud to contribute to its growth by facing new challenges every day and embracing opportunities for continuous development. Together, we are the engine behind our success, and I share in the excitement for the milestones we’ll achieve in the future”.

Alessandro Degli Esposti is a Co-Founder and CEO of Hipoges S.p.A. Alessandro has driven the set-up of Hipoges S.p.A. platform managing Advisory, Client Management and HR department. Alessandro has more than 20 years of experience in the Servicing Industry. Prior Axis, Alessandro was General Manager in the Italian platform CAF, being also a shareholder of the company, finally sold to Intrum in 2017. Before joining the Servicing Industry, he worked in the financial advisory industry. He has a Degree in Economics. “Becoming part of the Hipoges Group represents a great opportunity to have a strong acceleration of the company’s growth, which may allow it to seize the many opportunities offered by the Italian market, which require high specialization and organization.”

Antonio joined Hipoges Iberia in 2013 and is currently Senior Board Advisor (Portugal). He has over 35 years of experience in Academia, Business and Government. Prior to joining Hipoges Antonio was the Chairman of the Lisbon Stock Exchange (1998/9) and subsequently State Secretary of the Treasury and Finance, in the Government of Portugal (1999/2000). In 2002, Antonio joined the Jose de Mello Group, one of the largest Portuguese conglomerates where he was head of Strategic Planning and Control. He also sat on the board of all of the group sub-holdings. In 2011, Antonio was appointed Executive Vice Chairman of Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Chairman of Caixa Banco de Investimentos, the group investment banking branch. Antonio holds a BSc in Economics from Portuguese Catholic University and a MSc and PhD in Economics from the Gies School of Business at the University of Illinois, in Urbana-Champaign (USA). He is currently a Business Strategy professor at Nova SBE.   “It has been very satisfying to participate in this project since 2013. Hipoges has grown very substantially, combining accrued shareholder value with a permanent quest for process quality and compliance. The company has always put its workers and other stakeholders at the center of its actions with the resulting impact on its reputation. This is a clear source of pride.”

Armando Castanheira is an experienced professional in the Non-Performing Loans (NPL) industry. Since 2018, he has held the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Hipoges in Portugal. With over two decades of experience, Armando has developed his expertise in asset management, team coordination, portfolio management, compliance and advisory roles. Being the first employee in Portugal when Hipoges was established, he has played a pivotal role in the company’s growth and success, which now has a team of nearly 300 employees in Portugal. Armando’s commitment to innovation and continuous learning keeps him at the forefront of industry trends, while his dedication to operational excellence ensuring verified results. “Success is the result of a relentless pursuit of excellence, fuelled by passion, knowledge, and a commitment to making a difference.”