Gala 2015

Outstanding Alumni Award
Massimo Tosato '80
Executive Vice Chairman, Schroders plc
Chief Executive, Schroder Investment Management ltd

Young Alumni Award
Ivan Retzignac '04
CEO, MedicAnimal

Alumni Awards presented by
Xavier Rolet '83
CEO, London Stock Exchange

Outstanding Alumni Award: Massimo Tosato '80

Massimo Tosato was born in Venice in 1954 and lives in London. He is married with three children. Educated at the University of Rome, he received an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1980.
In 1981, Mr. Tosato founded Cominvest S.p.A., an investment banking and asset management organization, and became its chief executive officer.
In 1991, at a time when Cominvest had become a significant independent financial services company, it was sold to the Cassa di Roma Group. He also cofounded Tonic-Ata-Ecom, an advertising company, and served as its chairman from 1982 to 1987. In 1994, he cofounded Viasat Assistance S.p.A., which was subsequently sold in 1997 to the Telecom Italia Group.
In 1995, Mr. Tosato joined Schroders as managing director of investment management in Italy. In 1999, he relocated to London, where he became head of Schroder Investment Management for Continental Europe and the Middle East.
In 2001, he was appointed group managing director, retail, and joined the Schroders plc main board and the group executive committee.
In 2003, he was appointed global head of distribution at Schroders. He is responsible for managing Schroders’s institutional and retail businesses globally across the group.
In May 2007, Mr. Tosato was appointed vice chairman of Schroders in addition to his responsibility for global distribution. He is also in charge of the fund of hedge funds subsidiary, NewFinance Capital. In 2012 he became Chief Executive for Schroder Investment Management Limited, in addition to his role as Executive Vice Chairman of Schroders plc and his responsibility as Global Head of Distribution.
From April 2002 until April 2005, Mr. Tosato was an independent director of the board of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, Rome. In March 2005, he became a board director of the Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London.

Young Alumni award: Ivan Retzignac '04

Ivan Retzignac is the Founder and CEO of MedicAnimal Ltd., one of the largest and fastest-growing e-commerce companies in Europe with revenues of over £70m and employing a team of approximately 250 people. MedicAnimal specializes in sale of veterinary products, namely medicines, food and accessories, to end pet owners. The company has over 2.7m transacting customers and operates in the UK, France, Germany, Benelux and Spain. MedicAnimal was last year ranked the 11th fastest growth technology company in the Sunday Times Tech Track league table and was chosen as one of the Future Fifty companies, a UK Government backed initiative supporting “scale-up” businesses.
Ivan received a BA in Economics from Tufts University in 1997 and worked in Equity Research in New York, London and Madrid. In 2000 Ivan joined Geocapital Partners, a US and London based venture capital fund, making investments on both sides of the Atlantic, during which time he witnessed the internet bubble and aftermath. Following this experience he received an MBA from Columbia Business School and it was in his second year of the MBA that he wrote the business plan for MedicAnimal.
Immediately after Business School Ivan joined the Sales & Trading desk of Goldman Sachs in London, first trading Credit Derivatives and ultimately Commodities. Upon leaving Goldman, Ivan set up MedicAnimal, together with his business partner Andrew Bucher (a veterinary surgeon), which was a very late entrant in the space and over the course of the following 6 years grew the business into the largest online pet retailer in the UK.
Ivan is 40 years old, married and lives in London with his wife and three young children.

The Alumni Awards are given each year to an alumnus or alumna of Columbia Business School residing or doing business in the UK, for a distinguished career in any industry, for an outstanding personal achievement, or for a notable contribution to society. The award recipients are nominated by the alumni community in London.

Previous Award Recipients & Speakers | Gala 2014 | Gala 2013

Gala Chair: Kristen Burley '13

Tuesday, 21 April 2015
The London Stock Exchange
10 Paternoster Square
London EC4M 7LS

7 pm: Cocktail Reception
8 pm: Dinner
Dress Code: Cocktail Attire
Spouses and guests are welcome