Our Leadership Team

SAMUEL PLAGNARD

Co-Founder, Managing Partner

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Samuel has over 20 years’ experience in capital markets, structured finance and IB across Asia and Europe. He has been in Asia for more than 16 years; originating, designing and distributing financial solutions (hedging, investments and financing) targeting financial institutions (insurance and pension funds) as well as financial sponsors with exposure to the region. His career as a banker has been driven by entrepreneurial projects he successfully developed within international banking organizations such as BNP Paribas, Lehman Brothers or Natixis where he held various senior roles. Over his career, he had the opportunity to deepen his knowledge of the PE ecosystem, and actively participates in the disintermediation of the market of private credit by originating large strategic transactions and by recycling risks and assets on the bank’s balance sheet to institutional investors.

Samuel graduated from the ENSAE Paris tech - with a degree in engineering and a post-graduate degree specialized in finance and actuarial science - and he holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

The 𝜏-PAM Trusted Partners Team.

𝜏-PAM was born at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where the founding partners first began to rigorously evaluate liquidity in Asia’s private capital markets. With distributions to investors at historic lows and innovative debt solutions such as NAV financing almost completely absent, the founders created 𝜏-PAM to address a clear need in the market. The founding partners were subsequently joined by additional senior professionals in finance. After successful careers in investment banking and private equity, they launched 𝜏-PAM with the backing of a select group of limited partners and a major player in global private credit.

To contact our partners directly: partners@tau-pam.com

With over 75 years of combined experience, our team brings a wealth of expertise in capital market solutions, structured credit, and private equity.

This unique combination of skills allows 𝜏-PAM’s team to develop bespoke, executable financing solutions for its clients.

Our mission is simple: to offer debt solutions such as NAV financing that empower private equity firms to achieve their goals and exceed investor expectations. 

  • Arnaud Bernard is an Associate Partner at 𝜏-PAM where he focuses on analysis and implementing transactions. He is a seasoned finance professional with over two decades of extensive experience in structured finance solutions and derivatives. For 15 years, he has been heading structured financing & derivatives solutions for corporate clients in the Asia-Pacific region at Natixis and its subsidiary Nexgen Financial Solutions. He developed there a precious expertise in customizing tailored solutions for corporates, holdings and PE/PD fund and deepened his knowledge in various regulations (market, bank, insurance) across Asia. Prior to this role, and before transitioning to structured financing at CALFP bank in London for 4 years, he served as the head of the interest rate option desk in Tokyo and London.

    His educational background includes a master's degree in finance from the ESSEC Business School, complemented by engineering degrees from the IFP School and ENSTA Paris.

  • Desmond is an Associate Partner at 𝜏-PAM where he focuses on [origination and analysis].  He has over 20 years of experience in originating and executing transactions for Asia's Financial Sponsor industry with various banks including Santander, Natixis, Standard Chartered and ABN Amro Rothschild.  He has led numerous award-wining transactions for Buyout Funds in the M&A, LBO, Infrastructure Financing and High Yield category as well as being one of the first to structure NAV facilities in Asia.  He started his career in the technology hardware space in San Francisco.  Desmond holds am Honours Bachelor of Science from Queen's University in Canada and an MBA jointly from Alliance Manchester Business School and University of Texas at Austin.  He is also a CFA Charter Holder.

  • Delphine Le Court is a seasoned investment banking executive with nearly two decades of international experience in cross-border M&A, corporate finance, and strategic advisory. Most recently, she served as Executive Director at Natixis CIB in Hong Kong, where she led the bank’s cross-border M&A efforts across Asia, supporting origination and execution of complex transactions and expanding the APAC client base. Prior to her Hong Kong role, Delphine was Director of M&A at Vermilion Partners in Beijing, focusing on inbound transactions for European clients in China. She also held leadership roles at Solomon Partners in New York, where she spearheaded cross-border integration efforts and originated landmark transactions. 

    She holds an MBA from Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, a Master’s in Corporate Finance from EM Lyon, a master from IESEG School of Management and and studied in Brazil at FEA USP. Multilingual in English, French, and conversational Portuguese, Delphine brings a global mindset and collaborative approach to each engagement. 

    Beyond her professional roles, she is an active board member of the Karen Leung Foundation, co-chair of the Capital Markets Committee at the AI Association of Hong Kong, and a founding member of the Women Council at AIAHK, reflecting her commitment to leadership, community impact, and diversity within finance and business.