Matteo Marinelli
Sustainable Finance Asia Pacific Lead at WWFMr. Matteo Marinelli is an accomplished expert in Sustainable Finance and Mass Market Banking, with over 20 years of experience spanning Europe, Africa, and Asia. He launched his career as an intern with Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus at Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Following this, he undertook short-term consulting roles with organizations such as MEDA in Tanzania, Banyan Global in Afghanistan, WHO in Serbia, and FAO in Thailand. Ultimately, he settled in Geneva, Switzerland, where he joined BlueOrchard Finance, a prominent impact investing asset management firm. In 2009, Matteo relocated to Cambodia to establish BlueOrchard’s inaugural office in Asia. As the Head of Asia, he successfully managed a diverse portfolio of clients throughout South Asia, Southeast Asia, China, and Mongolia. He subsequently joined Fullerton Financial Holdings, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, initially serving as a Project Manager in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. There, he spearheaded the development of a greenfield MSME banking project, culminating in the establishment of Cambodia Post Bank. Since 2013, Matteo has been representing Fullerton in Yangon, Myanmar, where he has facilitated the set-up and launch of Fullerton Myanmar.
During his time in Myanmar, Matteo cultivated a strong interest in addressing the challenges faced by agribusinesses and small-scale farmers, particularly regarding their access to capital and resources. This passion led him to assume the role of CEO at Maha Agriculture Microfinance in 2017 with IFC as a minority shareholder. His recent consulting work included preparing for the launch of a new greenfield financial institution in Ethiopia and implementing financial inclusion projects for fish farmers in Nigeria and Zimbabwe on behalf of FAO.
As of September 1st this year, Matteo has joined WWF International as the Asia Pacific Lead, Sustainable Finance, based out of Singapore.
Born and raised in Italy, Matteo holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Bocconi University. He has had academic exchange programs at the University of Niigata in Japan, at the New York University, the London School of Economics, and the University of California, Berkeley. Additionally, he has earned an executive management diploma from INSEAD. Matteo is married and the proud father of a three-year-old boy, and he is fluent in Italian, English and Spanish.