Francis Carpenter

Bio

Mr Carpenter is a Senior Advisor to Cogent Partners Europe. Prior to Cogent, Francis Carpenter was Chief Executive of the European Investment Fund (EIF). At the EIF, whose shareholders include the European Investment Bank , the European Unionand some 30 European banks, Francis was in charge of a multi-billion Euro venture and mid-cap fund of funds programme. With. net equity of close to EUR 1bn, the EIF is also active in credit enhancement and guarantee schemes operating in some 30 European countries. Prior to his appointment to the EIF, Mr Carpenter was for six years Secretary General of the EIB, where he oversaw corporate strategy, governance issues, HR, IT, as well as key organization changes. Francis Carpenter first joined the EIB in 1975 as Head of Lending in Energy and Industry, and later held several positions related to project finance and other lending areas. He started his career with Citibank, where he worked in Paris, New York and ,Geneva. Mr Carpenter holds degrees from Oxford (UK), the New School for Social Sciences (NYC) and from the Institut d’Études Politiques in Paris. He is fluent in English, French and Italian, with working knowledge of German, Spanish, and Portuguese.