Our Team

Christopher Clover, brother of Bill Clover, is the owner and guiding force behind Panorama Properties S.A. in Marbella, Spain. Since the beginning of the company in 1970, Mr. Christopher Clover has led the firm to distinguish itself as the longest established real estate company on the Costa del Sol. His company enjoys a reputation for providing a highly professional and quality service to its buyer and seller clients.

Mr. Clover is an accredited Gestor Intermediaro en Promociones de Edificaciones (GIPE) and a graduate cum laude in Economics of the University of Virginia in the United States. He is trilingual (English/Spanish/French) and has had 38 years experience in the sale and administration of Spanish property and in international real estate counseling — including work in England, France, Morocco, the United States and Japan. Mr. Clover is an active member of the Rotary Club of Marbella.

For almost 40 years Panorama Properties has maintained a presence on the Costa del Sol of Spain, which is the most prestigous retirement and second-home destination in Europe. The company is the oldest established real estate brokerage firm in the Marbella area and is widely respected in all of Europe. Panorama Properties maintains a network of the top brokers in Europe, who supply a steady stream of clients to Panorama’s Spanish offices. For more information, visit www.panorama.es.

Mauricio Zepeda Carranza was born in Mexico City. He obtained a degree in Business Administration and Inter-American Commerce in 1982 from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas and also completed specialized studies at Trinity University in San Antonio.

Mr. Zepeda Carranza has broad experience in International Business Consulting. He has worked with clients throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe as a trusted advisor regarding international venture capital and private equity investments; joint ventures; business acquisitions; real estate acquisition and development; government advocacy and public relations work and general business development. A founding Partner and Chairman of the Board of Transworld Connections Inc., he has overseen the drafting of business plans and been involved with import-export transactions, customs, taxes, real estate, manufacturing, marketing research, public relations, construction, banking, and aviation matters. In 1986, he shared his experience with United Press International, based in Washington, D.C., as special assistant to the President and CEO. Mr. Zepeda Carranza acted as liaison between the CEO and external banking contacts and in-house executives in the editorial, marketing, communications, and administration areas.

He served as Assistant General Director for: CINTEC (Compañía Internacional Técnica — International Technical Company), INFRA (Infraestructura de Ingeniería — Engineering Infrastructure) in the construction and projects field. He worked as Corporate Director of Operadora Seryna, S.A. de C.V. (Planet Hollywood México). In 1995, he joined the Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público (Mexican Department of the Treasury), Revenue Subsecretariat, as local Tax Collections Administrator in the State of Quintana Roo, transferring two years later as local Tax Collections Administrator of Naucalpan de Juárez, in the State of México. In 1998, he was promoted to Central Collections Administrator on a national level. He is a founding partner of Asesores y Consultores ZCT, S.C., and Tron y Petricceioli, S.C. in México City and Cancún, Q. Roo, providing tax, accounting, financial, and corporate advisory services.

As Panorama’s internal counsel, legal advisor and a financing expert, Mr. Bonine brings more than 23 years of experience dealing with the legal intricacies of international business dealings. He has completed work for clients in 22 states of the USA and in several international locales, including Europe, South Africa, China, the Philippines, Australia, Central America and Canada. He has structured corporate organizations for both domestic and international dealings, created corporate financial plans and assisted lenders and financiers to secure their investments in international companies and projects. Mr. Bonine first registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment advisor in 1981.

Formerly with the Mexican Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Sadurni currently drives the company’s initiatives in Mexico and Latin America and assists with development projects. His long history of expertise in tourism and marketing to Latin American audiences included positions with Starcom, Leo Burnet and Univision. He received his law degree from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. He also studied at the University of Pennsylvania and the Instituto de Capacitación Politica del P.R.I. He has been associated with Panorama for more than 25 years.

Mr. Flinn is a professional and consultant with over 20 years of construction management, oversight and consulting experience. Service provided has fostered working relationships ranging from the Construction Site to Wall Street in the U.S. and a broad range of International development projects as well. Responsibilities include establishing and incorporating risk management procedures and guidelines for equity and debt providers on Real Estate and Construction projects. Efforts have included resort, spa and residential development, industrial distribution, fashion retail, and master planned communities. These efforts total over US$10 billion in various construction management services in the U.S, Canada, and the Caribbean and over $3 billion in Mexico/Latin America.

In 2005, Mr. Flinn was asked to join the Export Leaders Council as a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Flinn is also an active member and participant within the Urban Land Institute-U.S./Mexico in addition to being a member of the Free Trade Alliance of San Antonio, Texas. Mark Flinn has been providing consulting services throughout the U.S. Caribbean and Mexico since 1997. He stresses the use of reliable Construction Risk Mitigation procedures and processes, along with traditional construction methodology and Funds Control.

Mr. Flinn is a degreed Construction Manager from Texas A&M University with undergraduate studies in Geology at West Virginia University.

Richard has an extensive, 40 year international corporate finance and investment banking career with specific expertise in the areas of expansion financing, asset-based debt, private and public equity capital placement, strategic investment alliances, international project financing, leveraged buyouts, and merger and acquisition transactions. He began his career as an executive commercial lending officer at Chase Manhattan Bank in the National Division and, after leaving Chase, coordinated the merger and acquisition effort at Gulf & Western Industries, then merchant banking investments at Allen & Company. During the 1970’s, he was asked to reorganize the $185 million debt portfolio of a New Jersey-based real estate investment company that had excessive exposure to defaulted construction loans. The workout program involved default management of the underlying real estate assets, securing sources of private syndicated investment equity and financing project completion for eventual asset liquidation. This extensive real estate financing and syndication experience led to a position at a Dallas-based real estate investment company that Richard joined in 1980. With the syndication and capital finance organization that Richard implemented, this company increased its asset base from $30 million when he joined the company to over $17 billion when he left the company in 1988. For the past eighteen years, he has assisted numerous clients in financing their corporate needs and has implemented and arranged the financing for a number of infrastructure project investments domestically and in the emerging global markets. In the real estate industry, he is also the leading expert on special assessment district improvement financing, which funds over $3 billion in transactions annually. This career activity has resulted in his ability to assess and analyze complex financial situations with clear resolution, to develop creative solutions and, with attention to detail, conclude a record of successful business transactions. Richard has an undergraduate degree in Economics from Hamilton College, an MBA in finance from the University of Miami, and has attended international graduate finance courses at New York University.

Mr. Christianson has made a career of structuring transactions and securing money for commercial ventures for almost 20 years. As a financial officer for Panorama he has developed relationships that are crucial in structuring successful deals in today's commercial finance markets. He was previously one of the first specialists in Florida to exclusively handle commercial financing, enabling his previous company to expand to a national market. Before studying engineering and finance at the University of South Florida, he played professional football in the USFL and was active with the PGA. He comes from a family with a background in development and finance.

A graduate of Montréal University with a master's in Regional Planning, Mr. Llavador has 30 years of architectural experience in Southern Europe, in Africa and in North and Central America. His initial specialization in city planning gradually expanded to include the resort and leisure industry, where he had developed mountain and seaside resorts. He served the Côte d’Azur in Southern France as an architect on for 15 years. There he became an expert on waterfront development while working on residential, commercial, industrial, hospital, hotel, marina and other projects. Mr. Llavador has designed resorts in Idaho, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and Central America.

Mr. Tekie is the vice president of the Middle East and North Africa region. In this position he is primarily in charge of business development, company relationships, and supervision of all activities in the region.

Mr. Tekie was formerly co-founder and executive vice president of Planet Blue Exploration & Production, Inc., an independent oil & gas company focused on Latin America and the Middle East. Prior to that, he was managing partner of Telesyin International, a diversified infrastructure and business development consulting practice for the Middle East and Africa. In that position, he promoted trade and investment initiatives, coordinated joint ventures, performed market research and due diligence to determine project feasibility and identify new investment opportunities for his clients across wide range of industries. In his early career, Mr. Tekie was responsible for institutional investment management in the financial services industry, most recently with Morgan Stanley. In that position, he managed assets for institutional clients utilizing Macro-Investment Analysis approach. In addition, he had direct responsibility in establishing relationship with central banks, pension systems and national banks in emerging markets. An international businessman with worldwide relations in general, and the Middle East in particular, his strength is the knowledge and confidence that his worldwide contacts put on him.

Mr. Tekie holds a B.S. in Finance from the Robert H. Smith School of Business — University of Maryland.

As Panorama’s representative in Morocco and the Middle East, Mr. Ben Satti has a proven track record of success in international finance and development. He is also chairman and CEO of Maroc Interfinance, an investment and private banking institution. There he created the MENA FUND, a regional investment fund of US$70 million for American institutional and private investors in the Middle East region and in prominent Moroccan institutions. He has served as chief financial officer and head of international investment funds for the ONA Group as well as head of cabinet for Morocco’s Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning. Mr. Ben Satti previously served with Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG) in various executive positions. He received his MBA at the Arthur D. Little School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after obtaining his diploma of chartered accountant in France.

Hector Fernandez has over 20 years consulting and asset management experience in the international hotel and resort industry. Based in Madrid, Spain, he helps represent Panorama’s interests in the European market.

He is fluent in four languages and has advised and undertaken financial and market analysis for projects across 20 countries in the Americas, Middle East and Europe. He has experience in hotel operations, having worked for Four Seasons and Accor, and is the former Director of Deloitte Consulting’s strategy consulting team in Spain and Portugal — specifically focused on the hotel and tourism industry.

Over 40 years of executive management experience in sales, marketing, planning, and development. Eighteen years with Texas Instruments, Incorporated, in Dallas and Austin. Developed, implemented, and managed an internationally recognized computer and peripheral distribution model which became the standard in the industry for high volume, relatively low cost, product. Achieved international reputation and recognition for innovation and performance. Following successful implementation of the distribution model at TI, Bishop took the plan from manufacturing to distribution, assuming the responsibility for world wide computer systems marketing for Hall-Mark Electronics (Dallas), TI’s largest distributor. Subsequently, Bishop successfully implemented the program at Racal Datacom (London/Sunrise, Florida), Memotec Communications (Montreal), and Xel Communications ( Denver). He also served as Chairman, CEO of Syntec Corporation (Austin). In 1990, Bishop joined a select team convened to establish a venture capital start-up company in Coral Gables, Florida — the result was the highly successful software company, Citrix Systems. Following the public offering of Citrix on NASDAQ in 1993, Bishop “retired” and formed his own consulting company to take advantage of his long time desire to participate in the marine industry — he had been active in the boating industry/yachting community since the mid 1970’s. Since then, working with both marine engineering and environment specialists, he has focused on research, sales, and marketing for numerous marine related projects in Southwest and Southeast Florida including serving as General Manager of Gulf Harbour Yacht and Country Club (Ft. Myers, Florida) during the transitions from the developer to the condominium association. Most recently, Bishop served as Managing Director for the planning of a major destination resort on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala, which contained a 100+ slip marina for yachts up to 400 feet, a 400 rack dry-storage facility, a yacht/boat yard repair facility, and provisions for cruise ship docks and terminal. Bishop earned a B.A. degree in Psychology from Baylor University in 1961, an M. A. degree in Theology from Southwestern in 1966, and completed residence requirements for a Ph.D. degree in Ethics in 1968.

Dr. Lesch is professor of Middle East History at Trinity University in San Antonio and serves Panorama as its resident expert on the Middle East. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in History and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University. He has published a number books and articles in scholarly journals regarding the Middle East and US policy in that region. Dr. Lesch has commented on Middle East issues on local and network broadcast programs — including CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC — and is a regular commentator on National Public Radio, Christian Science Monitor Radio, and CBS Radio. He has traveled widely in the Middle East and in Europe on scholarly, business, and diplomatic endeavors; and he has been brought frequently to Washington, D.C., to brief the State Department and the intelligence agencies on Middle East topics. He was also the number one draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball club in 1980 as a pitcher. The following is a partial list of Dr. Lesch’s publications:

• The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History, Oxford University Press, 2007
• The New Lion of Damascus: Bashar al-Asad and Modern Syria, Yale University Press, 2005
• Syria and the United States: Eisenhower's Cold War in the Middle East, Westview Press, 1992
• The Middle East and the United States: A Historical and Political Reassessment (editor, Westview Press, 1996, 1999, 2003, 4th edition, 2006)
• 1979: The Year that Shaped the Modern Middle East, Westview Press, 2001
• The two-volume edited work, History in Dispute: The Middle East Since 1945, Volumes 14 and 15, St. James Press, 2003
• The United States in the Middle East: An Interpretative History, Blackwell Publishing, forthcoming 2009

Dr. Al Wazani is CEO of Darat Jordan Holdings. Previously, Dr. Khalid Al Wazani was the GM of Taameer Jordan. He has also held the position of Director General for the Jordanian Customs Department in 1999–2001. Later, he was appointed as an Advisor and Director of the Economic and Development Division at the Royal Hashemite Court, during which he also served as the Head of His Majesty King Abdullah II Economic team between 2001—2004. In early 2004, he served as the Deputy Chairman & Director General/Social Security Corporation in Jordan until early 2006.

He is the Chairman of Arab Bank—Syria since early 2005. He is a board member of International Islamic Arab Bank—Jordan, Housing and Urban Development Corp.

Dr. Al Wazani served as board member of various institutions such as The Economic Council, Arab Economic Research Society, Arab Society for Economic Research, Royal Jordanian, Mobilecom, and Vice Chairman of Jordan Royal Film Commission.

Assisting Panorama as its definitive expert on luxury hotel development and operation, Mr. Mankarios is CEO of the Mankarios Group, which handles operations and asset management for some of the world’s most prominent destination hotels. During his 30 years in hospitality, Mr. Mankarios guided the development and management of some of the world’s most prestigious hotels, including The Lanesborough in London, The Hotel Bel Air in Los Angeles, The Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas and Las Ventanas al Paraiso in Los Cabos, Mexico. Mr. Mankarios served as president and chief executive of St. Regis Hotels and Resorts and of Rosewood Hotels and Resorts; and he is a past Chairman of the Board of Preferred Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc., a prestigious association of more than 120 independent luxury hotels and resorts.

Ms. Nigl has been involved in real estate, consulting and sales for 20 years. Prior to her work for Panorama, she had been an independent consultant in Mexico City for real estate sales, investments and other marketing efforts for several years. Her prior experience includes serving first as sales manager and later as general manager of the Mexico City office for Unity Investments Inc., where she was responsible for supervising a large real estate sales staff. She also worked for Panorama International S.A. de C.V. as an analyst for feasibility studies relating to tourism and for Smith Kirkpatrick & Company Inc. of New York as sales manager.

Mr. Wollner has extensive experience in the management and development of five-star hotels worldwide, including the development, construction and renovation of operations in Spain and South America. He serves as an owner’s representative for multiple hotel properties in the Costa del Sol region of Spain and also directs upscale Spanish development in Mallorca and the Canary Islands. He has served as general manager of The Marbella Club Hotel and The Ritz in Madrid and on the executive management team at Cala Giverola in Barcelona; The Royal Palace in Amman, Jordan; and at The Oro Verde Guayaquil in Ecuador. A native of Switzerland, Mr. Wollner resides in Marbella, Spain.

Ramon Cabrera has been associated with Panorama International as an executive and translator for many years. As director of research he is responsible for doing all original computer based research on competition and governmental information. Mr. Cabrera has had more than 30 years experience as a real estate developer, including completing 12 commercial malls for Aurrerá (now Wall-Mart – Mexico). He is a practicing attorney and has specialized in the financial structure of real estate development. He has distinguished himself as the developer of the first time-share cruise ship; and he also developed the initial time-share project for executive jets. As National Operations Manager for Mexico’s FONATUR, he was involved in Cancun, Ixtapa, Los Cabos, Loreto and Huatulco. He also served as general manager of the Resort of Los Cabos in Baja California Sur.

For over 32 years Scott Blair has honed his expertise in the hospitality industry — as a hotel controller, regional controller, and corporate CFO.

In addition to an advisory role for Panorama International, Mr. Blair serves as CFO for Trevi Luxury Hospitality Group, Inc., a company dedicated to developing managing and marketing the finest independent hotels and resorts worldwide.

He most recently served with St. Regis Hotels and Resorts as VP of Finance where he was responsible for the financial reporting and controls for ten St. Regis Hotels worldwide, the division office and brand sales and marketing. He also supported the brand development efforts through review of financial projections including staffing, operations, and market penetration. Prior to St. Regis, Scott held positions in:

• Foresthills Hotels & Resorts: as CFO, Scott was responsible for the entire office management, accounting and benefits package. Unique challenges included the conversion of an Italian hotel to US based accounting, development activity in Turkey, and Monte Carlo.
• Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Inc. for 14 years in various financial leadership roles. He joined Rosewood as corporate group controller overseeing financial operations for The Remington Post Oak in Houston, Hotel Crescent Court in Dallas and Hotel Bel Air in Los Angeles. He was instrumental in the coordination with Morgan Stanley for the financial packaging of the Hotel Bel Air and Hotel Hana Maui, realizing record trophy value for these assets. He later assumed the responsibility of vice president and chief financial officer for Rosewood, managing the financial growth for a portfolio of 12 hotels worldwide.
• Prior to Rosewood, Scott held a 10-year career with Sheraton Corporation in positions from assistant controller to regional controller in Washington, Boston, Dallas, New Orleans, and Miami.

Scott Blair received his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Northeastern University and his Master of Science and Business Administration degree from Boston University.

John Hilbig, a journalism major and a former regional manager for a major insurance organization, is responsible for controlling the quality of the company's written products. He formerly served as general manager of operations for the company and has been involved in the real estate industry for almost 20 years.

Umar Khan has more than 15 years of experience of working in South Asia as a Consultant on various development projects. His most recent assignment was the prestigious Commonwealth Games Village in New Delhi India as part of an International Consortium having Planners, Architects and Engineers from India Australia, US and Greece.

Presently he is the Managing Director of Omegaworld Consultants, Kashmir and involved in Tourism Infrastructure Planning Projects in various regions of India. He is also on the Board in Sindh Valley Development Agency which provides tourist facilities in Sindh Valley in Kashmir.

He has been a Consulting Planner for projects of the Ministry of Environment and Forests Government of India in Kashmir and Uttaranchal in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. He has also worked with the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Kashmir (India) as consultant planner. His assignments include a project on Tourism Development in the Himalayas encompassing India, Nepal and parts of Pakistan.

He has Masters Degree in Public Administration with specialization in International Development from the J.F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA. He also has a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering and a Master Degree in Planning. He has been a World Bank Scholar for his studies at Harvard and a British Council fellow for studying Environmental Management at Bradford Center for International Development.