Leadership Team

EQX Biome is led by a team of highly experienced financial markets, technology and biodiversity professionals.

Meet the Team

Dr. Matthias M. Pitkowitz
Founder & CEO

Matthias is an entrepreneur, investment banker and capital markets expert, responsible for executing more than $72bn worth of M&A and capital markets transactions for clients including Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Dell, IBM, Ferrari, Mylan, INEOS, American Express, and Credit Suisse, among others.

Prior to EQX, Matthias was a sixth-year corporate lawyer at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, consistently ranked as the top US law firm for M&A and capital markets matters.

Matthias was a pioneer of sustainable finance in the US, is the inventor of ESG Equity (green shares for publicly listed companies), and is a respected author and speaker on equity capital markets and ESG, and has addressed audiences at the Aspen Institute, FCLT’s Conference on Long-Termism; Columbia University, Fordham Business School, and others.

Matthias earned his Master of Law from Columbia Law School; a PhD in corporate law from the University of Vienna and a JD degree from the University of Vienna, each with Honors.

Matthias holds the Series 7, 79, and 24 license exams with FINRA, and is licensed as an attorney in New York.

Julian Sluyters
Head of Institutional Investments

Julian Sluyters previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Allianz Global Investors. He was previously also Chief of Operations at Aegon Asset Management, Chief Operating Officer of PineBridge Investments, and as Chief Executive Officer and President of Old Mutual Capital.

Julian holds a BS in Accounting and Finance from Lehigh University.

Dr. Frauke Fischer

Director of Biodiversity Science

Dr. Frauke Fischer is a leading biodiversity expert, speaker, author, and entrepreneur with experience in biodiversity and ecosystem. She has been recognized with multiple awards and nominations for her work, including German Price for Sustainability Projects from Deutsches Institut für Service Qualität and ntv, Sustainability Heroes – Biodiversity from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Qualität, Trophée de Femmes from the environmental prize of Yves Rocher. She served as the Scientific Advisory Board of WWF Germany, the committee for sustainability of the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK), member of the World Commission on Protected Areas, IUCN WCPA.

In academics, she was the head of working group on International Conservation and the lecturer in courses on nature conservation and valuing of ecosystem services at the University of Würzburg, Germany. As a social-ecological entrepreneur, she started Germany’s first biodiversity-focused management consultant (Agentur auf!) and a direct import and organic cacao company from Peru (PERÚ PURO).

Dr. Frauke hold a PhD in Tropical Ecology and Wildlife Biology, University of Wurzburg and MS in Biology, Zoology, Animal Ecology

Fernando Ferrer
Director of Biodiversity Technology

Fernando is Director of Biodiversity Technology at EQX Biome, where he is responsible for technology, data and analytics. He is highly experienced with large scale distributed data systems, mega-scale databases and artificial intelligence.

Prior to joining EQX Biome, Fernando has built a long career in data and technology, founding various startups (with successful exists in 2017 and 2021) including Q2 Metrics, Glitch Trax and Immutable Data. Fernando is advisor to various technology start-ups and VC funds with focus on technology and is a professor at Seneca College in Canada.

He has received various awards and nominations to the Ontario Premier Award for his work in technology, big data and analytics.

Jon Flaute

Director of Trust & Compliance

Jon Flaute is responsible for Trust & Compliance at EQX Biome. He has extensive experience in the financial services industry designing sustainable compliance programs with a focus on evolving legal and regulatory issues. 

Prior to EQX Biome, Jon worked at UBS as the Head of Compliance Programs and the Chief of Staff to the regional Chief Compliance Officer. He also previously served as the Director of Corporate & Investment Banking Compliance at Citigroup and as a Vice President of Regulatory Compliance at Brown Brothers Harriman. He started his career as a corporate lawyer at Kaye Scholer (now Arnold & Porter) with a focus on M&A and securities transactions. 

Jon holds a JD from New York Law School, where he served as the Supervising Editor of the Law Review, and a BA in Political Science from Loyola University Chicago. Jon is licensed as an attorney in New York.

Sophie van Berchem 

Biodiversity Finance Associate

Sophie van Berchem worked for 4 years at a digital marketing agency in London where she developed strategies for large corporate client accounts and executed data-driven campaigns daily. She actively participated in the creation of new marketing products and the expansion of the business in Spain and Switzerland. Prior to that, she interned at Mirabaud Bank in Geneva to research investments in microfinance.

Most recently, she worked as a research assistant at the Earth Institute of Columbia University to help their partner UNDP Guinea analyze the impacts of the mining industry on local communities. As part of her studies, she advised the World Resources Institute on their AFR100 land restoration initiative and rePLANET on a mangrove planting project financed by blue carbon credits.

Sophie holds an MSc in Sustainability Management from Columbia University and a BA in History from the University of Bristol.