Panama Portfolio, an asset manager specialized in private equity investments in Panama, was founded in 2006 by Henri Kerkhof. Henri made his mark at an early age (27) as General Manager of the largest furniture chain (600 employees) in the South of The Netherlands, greatly expanding turnover and profits and adding significant shareholder value. After a number of years, he left the Netherlands and emigrated to the USA with his American wife, and specialized in real estate. After developing his own valuation model to rank the attractiveness of international real estate Henri identified Panama, Central America, as one of the most attractive countries for real estate investments. Subsequently, in the years 2006-2009, he founded and expanded Panama Portfolio, backed by a group of 30 Dutch investors including the family office of his former employer in The Netherlands.
In 2007 Panama Portfolio hired Marvin Ortega as the president of Panama Portfolio. Mr. Ortega, a former ABNAMRO banker and a Panamese national, added necessary local expertise and in the following years, the team was expanded to the current 35 FTE’s. Mr. Ortega holds a significant percentage of Panama Portfolio shares.