Team
Board of Directors
Jacques Diwan
Executive Director
Mr Diwan co-founded Crescendo in 2004.
Prior to founding Crescendo, Mr. Diwan was a member of the Executive Board of Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild, Geneva from 2000 to 2006. Mr. Diwan was also member of the bank’s alternative investments committee. Previously Mr. Diwan served with Union Bancaire Privée in Geneva from 1988 to 2000 – a leading bank in the alternative investment arena – where he oversaw a book totaling $2 billion (LatAm & EU).
Diwan received a degree in Political Sciences from the University of Geneva and followed executive programs at the IMD in Lausanne.
Wahbe Tamari
Chairman
Mr. Tamari serves as Chairman of the Board Crescendo and has over 35 years experience in banking, wealth management, commodities trading, real estate, and insurance.
Mr. Tamari started his career at Sucafina S.A, one of the leading coffee trade houses in the world, where he held several positions from trader to CEO and now sits on its Board
Mr. Tamari received a degree in Management from Webster University Geneva and is a Harvard Business School Owner/President Management (OPM43) Program Alumni.
Andreas Stricker
Independant Director
Stricker is an independent member of the board of Crescendo since 2019. In addition, he advises Crescendo’s Executive Committee in regulatory and corporate matters.
Stricker has over 40 years of experience in the banking sector. After starting his career at UBS (Switzerland and UK) he held several senior executive positions including the role of CEO of GS Bank, and COO of UBP Group and Bordier & Cie.
Executive Committee
Benjamin Diwan
Managing Partner
Mr. Diwan joined Crescendo in 2018 and oversees its operations and Asset Management department.
Mr. Diwan was nominated to join Crescendo’s Executive Committee in 2021 and became a partner in 2024 succeeding to his father.
Prior to joining Crescendo in 2018, he was a member of the investment team at Fundana SA, a Swiss based regulated asset manager managing hedge fund portfolios. Previously he worked at Genesis Capital LLC, a California based specialty lender (backed by Oaktree Capital Management and later sold to Goldman Sachs), where he was the lead analyst of the business strategy and analytics department.
Mr. Diwan holds a degree in Economics from the University of Richmond (VA, USA).
Douglas Kalen
Managing Partner
Mr. Kalen Co-founded Crescendo in 2004 and oversees its wealth management department. In addition, Mr. Kalen is a member of the Crescendo’s investmentcCommittee.
Prior to founding Crescendo, he worked with Mr. Diwan at Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild in Geneva as a Portfolio Manage covering and developing a book of Latin American and European clients. He started his career in London first at Lehman Brothers and then at Debt Capital Markets in sales.
Mr. Kalen holds a Bachelor in International Business from The European Business School (London).
Céline Motière
Head of Compliance
Mrs. Motière joined Crescendo in 2021 and oversees its compliance and risk department.
After starting her career in the reinsurance industry in Paris, she joined Diapason S.A a regulated Asset Manager in Lausanne managing more than 7Bn as Head of Compliance and Legal. Following 8 years at Diapason and prior to joining Crescendo, she held the responsibility of Group Chief Compliance Officer at Unigestion S.A in Geneva and Head of Legal & Compliance at Asteria Investment Managers S.A (Group Reyl).
Mrs. Motière holds a B.S and M.S in Law from the Jean-Moulin University in Lyon. Céline also holds multiple certificates in the field of Compliance and Risk (e.g., Diploma in Investment Compliance; Compliance Officer specialized in CIS).