Our team

Stephen is Chief Executive Officer of Cubico and has ultimate responsibility for the execution of the company’s strategy and day-to-day management.

A chartered engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers with more than 35 years’ experience in the power industry, Stephen has extensive knowledge of the energy, finance and infrastructure sectors.

He was previously a Director on the Group Board of International Power plc, and Regional Director for Europe, responsible for plant operations, financial performance, energy trading and business development across the European portfolio. During this time, he led the company’s growth in renewables in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Prior to this, he was Regional Director for Australia, with responsibility for the financial and operational performance of existing assets and growth in the region, which included the company’s first ever wind-farm and gas pipeline developments.

Earlier in his career, Stephen held a range of diverse senior roles including power station manager, Head of Energy Trading and Head of Group Strategic & Financial Planning.

As Chief Financial Officer, Matt Donaldson has responsibility for Cubico’s finance, treasury, tax, investment oversight, portfolio management, global risk management and IT functions.

Matt has over 15 years of international experience in the energy infrastructure and renewables sectors, during which time he has been part of several successful and diverse management teams and boards. His areas of expertise include financial accounting and analysis, mergers and acquisitions, business development, treasury, corporate financing and IT.

Prior to joining Cubico, Matt held various senior positions within the ENGIE Group across Australia, France and the UK, including Chief of Staff to the ENGIE Group CFO and CFO for ENGIE’s Australian joint venture operations with Mitsui.

Matt holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Ricardo Díaz is Head of Americas at Cubico. Based in Cubico’s office in Stamford, Connecticut, Ricardo is responsible for managing the business across North and Latin America. He brings more than 20 years of investment experience across energy and infrastructure in Europe and Americas.

Previously, Ricardo was European Head of Asset & Capital Structuring at Santander and was responsible for the company’s equity investments in energy, infrastructure and transport, which had assets under management in excess of €1 billion. During this time Ricardo originated, structured and executed some of Europe’s landmark renewable energy transactions in PV, wind, CSP and water infrastructure. Prior to Santander, Ricardo worked for Arthur Andersen.

Ricardo holds a Bachelor of Arts with honours in Economics from Vigo University, a Master of Business Administration from the London Business School and an Executive Education degree from Harvard Business School.

David Swindin has been Head of EMEA at Cubico since its inception in 2015. Based at the company’s head office in London, he manages Cubico’s business across Europe and Oceania.

With more than 25 years in structured finance and infrastructure, David has worked on transactions around the world, across a variety of asset classes and project lifecycle stages. He has expertise in equity and debt financing and brings a wealth of cross-border experience to the company.

Prior to Cubico, David was Head of Credit Markets for Asia Pacific at Santander in Hong Kong, responsible for debt and equity financings across the region. Before this, he was Santander’s Global Head of Asset Structuring, focusing primarily on equity investments in renewable energy, shipping and aviation transactions. The earlier part of his career was spent advising multinational corporations and governments in structuring complex financing transactions.

Olga is General Counsel and Head of Corporate Affairs at Cubico, based in London. She is responsible for overseeing board governance and all legal, compliance, human resources and communications matters. She is also Group Company Secretary.

With more than 25 years of international experience in the financial and infrastructure sectors, Olga has advised on investments in diverse regions of the world (Europe, Latin America, the USA and Australia) and across various sectors and asset classes. She is an expert in corporate governance and managing legal risk in a global environment.

Previously, Olga was Head of Legal for Credit & Global Transactional banking at Santander, based both in London and Madrid. She had all acquisition and project finance, asset and capital structuring, debt restructurings, sales and trading and global structured trade finance businesses under her supervision in the Global Banking & Markets division.

Olga holds an English law degree from the College of Law and an M.A. Spanish law degree from the UAM, Madrid.

As Head of Asset Management, Steve Drapper oversees the company’s operations, technical and health and safety functions.

Steve is a chartered engineer with over 30 years’ experience in the electricity industry. He has held several senior roles in the UK and Australia with responsibilities for asset-backed trading, portfolio management and commercial operations for generation and retail assets, risk control and business development oversight.

Steve has also held positions in power station operations and maintenance and has broad experience of power generation technologies including renewable. He has participated in business development activities, including both working in development teams and leading in dependent reviews of projects.

David Smith is Head of Australia at Cubico, with responsibility for origination and execution of new investments and whole of life asset management.

David has had extensive experience in renewable energy, from development to construction, origination, execution and asset management. David was previously Head of Iberia at Cubico, leading the growth of the business from 2 water assets to a team of 15 asset management specialists managing 8 assets in wind, water, PV and concentrating solar thermal generation. Prior to moving to Cubico, David was Head of Santander’s Asset & Capital Structuring team in Australia, following broad M&A experience as a director in investment banking at ABN AMRO and at an independent power producer where he managed development and M&A.

David has a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) and an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW.

Francisco provides considerable experience in both project finance and equity investment across Europe and America. He has experience in originating, structuring and executing renewable and infrastructure transactions, including PV, wind, hydro and transport infrastructure. Previously, Francisco worked in Santander’s Asset & Capital Structuring team and was responsible for the origination and execution activity in Peru and Colombia.

Francisco graduated from Polytechnic University of Madrid and holds a BSc Civil Engineer (MSc in Structures and Foundation), MBA from Instituto de Empresa in Madrid and Capital Markets Executive Education from IEB in Madrid.

Previously, Stephen worked for 11 years at RES – a global renewable energy company – where he held several roles including Commercial Director for the UK & Ireland region and heading the global strategy team. He has extensive experience of a range of renewable energy technologies from development right through to operations and has delivered in excess of £1bn of transactions across many different countries.

Stephen graduated from Bristol University, holds a MSc in renewable energy and is a chartered accountant.

José has wide experience in management of renewable energy assets from origination and construction to operational management, across Europe, and America. Previously, José was head of Poland and Romania at EDP Renewables.

José holds a Law degree from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid and a Master in Finance and Renewable Energy from the Carlos III University in Madrid.

Alessandro Asperti is Head of Italy and Greece at Cubico, with responsibility for the origination, M&A structuring and execution of transactions in these countries.

Previously, Alessandro was Head of Santander’s Asset & Capital Structuring team in Italy and was responsible for the bank’s equity investments in energy and infrastructure. Prior to this, Alessandro worked as head of finance in Enfinity and had extensive experience in the project finance department of GE Capital and Intesa San Paolo with a focus on the energy sector.

He graduated from University Bocconi and holds a MA Degree in Institutions and Financial
Markets Management.

Previously, Osvaldo was managing director of the Balam Fund I (funded by institutional investors including the IDB and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation), whose mandate is investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency exclusively in Mexico. Prior to that, Osvaldo was Head of Santander’s Asset & Capital Structuring team in Mexico, deploying equity in investments in renewable energy in excess of US$ 250 million.

Osvaldo holds a BS in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México (UNAM), and an MBA from New York University’s (NYU) Leonard Stern School of Business.

Matt took on the role of Head of Northern Europe after four years leading Cubico’s central Technical Team, responsible for the technical evaluation of proposed investments and the provision of energy analysis, engineering, procurement and construction support across the Group.

Prior to joining Cubico, Matt spent seven years at Mainstream Renewable Power, where he led the North American project development teams as country manager for the US, and latterly Canada, during a five-year placement in Chicago. Matt was originally a product of BP’s graduate scheme and spent 11 years with BP in London, including four years with BP Alternative Energy in analytical and business development roles in the Europe and Asia wind business.

Matt holds a Joint Honours bachelor’s degree from the University of Leeds in French and Management Studies.