Management
Enrico Cesenni, Chief Executive Officer
Before founding Asia Strategic in 2013, Enrico spent a decade in investment banking and mergers and acquisitions based in London. He initially covered financial institutions at Lehman Brothers and Nomura before focusing on the consumer retail sector at Goldman Sachs.
With a longstanding interest in entrepreneurial opportunities in Asia, Enrico spent some time at Upstream Ventures in 2009, a Singapore-based early stage venture capital fund, before founding MACAN in 2012, a company to hold a growing portfolio of operating assets and investments in Europe and the Far East, including Asia Strategic Holdings.
Enrico earned an MBA from INSEAD and an undergraduate degree in Institutions and Financial Markets Management from Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
Jonathan Kolb, Partner – Investments / Chief Financial Officer
Jonathan has been Asia Strategic’s Myanmar-based partner since 2015 and is responsible for sourcing and evaluating business and investment opportunities as well as reviewing the performance of the existing portfolio of businesses.
Prior to joining Asia Strategic, he spent over ten years in finance, of which the last four were based in South East Asia. With a focus on real estate, Jonathan spent five years as a listed real estate fund manager at Center Square Investment Management, initially based in Philadelphia. He relocated to Singapore in 2012 to establish the Asian office and operations. Prior to attending business school, he analysed companies and their cash flows as a commercial lending underwriter at Bank of America in Chicago.
Jonathan has an MBA from INSEAD and bachelor’s degrees in Finance and Accountancy from the University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign. He is also a registered CPA in the state of Illinois and a CFA Charterholder, but is not currently active.
Alain Thibault, Chief Operating Officer
Alain Thibault joined Asia Strategic in 2018 as the Chief Executive Officer of Wall Street English. His role expanded as Chief Executive Officer of Auston College Myanmar in 2019. In 2020, he became Chief Operating Officer of Asia Strategic.
Prior to joining Asia Strategic, Alain spent over 15 years building and transforming operational capabilities across multiple industries with a focus on enabling scale, efficiency, insights and transparency. Based in Asia since 2009, Alain first worked at Accenture, before taking over senior management positions in organisations such as Lazada and Air Asia, where he put his passion for people development and digitalisation to play, driving innovation and scalability.
Alain earned an MBA from INSEAD and an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal.
Michael Hall, Chief Human Resources Officer
Prior to joining Asia Strategic as Chief Human Resources Officer, Michael Hall spent eight years in start-up environments focused on emerging markets. Michael has held HR leadership positions in Myanmar with leading Fintech player Wave Money and with developer POSCO International, on a major oil and gas development.
Michael brings a total of 18 years experience working with leading MNCs and start-ups, developing human resource capabilities for businesses experiencing unprecedented change through major projects across natural resources, infrastructure, financial services, technology and professional services in the UK, Australian and SE Asian markets.
Anurag Sharma, General Counsel
Anurag Sharma joins Asia Strategic as General Counsel having spent over 18 years in several key roles with MNCs and law firms, and as an independent legal counsel. Anurag has handled several key mergers, acquisitions, disputes, investment rounds and joint venture transactions. Anurag’s strength lies in his ability to build strong legal teams capable of delivering results.
As a General Counsel, Anurag has headed legal departments of companies engaged in a wide array of businesses ranging from pharmaceuticals (Abbott, Biocon and DSM) to technology, transport aggregation, and e-commerce (OLA, Foodpanda, and Rivigo).
Anurag completed his Bachelor of Law degree from Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi in 2001, prior to which, he received a degree in Commerce from the same university.
U Aung Myo Thein (“Adrian Tike”), Partner – Myanmar
Adrian has been Asia Strategic’s Myanmar-based partner since 2014 and is responsible for sourcing and evaluating business opportunities as well as building relationships and liaising with local authorities and communities.
Following a period based in the US working for Walmart and Visa in a financial reporting capacity, Adrian relocated to Myanmar in 2014 as head of finance for Yoma Bank, a leading Myanmar financial institution.
Adrian has been a CPA for 13 years, and earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Adrian is the owner of Tike Enterprises Company Limited, with which the Company has entered into the F&B Management Agreement.
Darius Shey, Senior Advisor to the Group
Darius Shey has been with Asia Strategic since 2018 and advises the Group on optimising the Company’s strategy and operations. Darius spent over 20 years in strategy consulting and C-level management roles, focused on refining, commercialising and scaling businesses in education, hospitality and other consumer service sectors.
Darius’s experience spans 30 countries including over 12 years in Asia Pacific. Most recently, he was global COO of a Singapore-based international education company operating seven brands serving 25,000 students in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. Prior to that, he was EVP at Club Quarters, a New York based hotel company started by the Founder of Priceline.com. He has also held roles with Richard Chandler Corporation, New Horizons, British Airways, Four Seasons Hotels, and Arthur Andersen.
Darius earned an MBA from INSEAD and his undergraduate degree from William & Mary (USA).