OUR VALUES
INTEGRITY above everything.
INDEPENDENCE acting in the best interest of our clients.
CONFIDENTIALITY is at the core of our relationships.
TRANSPARENCY in all we do.
OUR TEAM
Francisco Narvaez is a co-founder of Valor Advisors and as its CEO leads the company’s strategy and client relationships. Francisco started his career in 1997 at J.P. Morgan in New York where he worked in the Latin America investment bank focused in debt structuring in the energy and power sectors. In 2000, Francisco relocated with J.P Morgan to London as an Associate for its healthcare and biotech coverage team focusing in mergers and acquisitions in EMEA.
In 2002 Francisco joined the J.P. Morgan Private Bank and helped to develop the bank’s lending and structuring capabilities for the European market. In this role, Francisco worked with some of the most important families in the region, helping structure, optimize, and size financing solutions for their business. During this time, Francisco was recognized as a Founding Member of the J.P. Morgan Private Bank Advisory Council.
Francisco returned to the US, Miami, in 2006 as a senior private banker. In 2010, as a Managing Director, Francisco relocated to NY to be the team leader for the Andean and Central America region. Francisco held several senior management positions for J.P. Morgan in London, New York and Miami, including his last role as Managing Director and Senior Executive for the Latin America Private Bank in Miami.
Francisco has a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Investments Magna Cum Laude from Babson College in Massachusetts. He lives in Miami with his wife and three children.
Gonzalo Mendoza leads the firm’s strategy and is part of its Investment Committee. Prior to co-founding Valor Advisors, he worked at CANTV, Venezuela’s largest telecommunications company in its business consulting department. After completing his MBA, Gonzalo joined J.P. Morgan’s Investment Bank Latin America group where he worked on several mergers & acquisitions and equity raising transactions in the consumer products, power and energy sectors. In 2009, Gonzalo joined the Private Bank as a Banker covering clients in the Andean region, where he spent five years managing one of the most important ultra-high net worth books of business as an Executive Director.
Gonzalo holds an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.S. in Business from Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas, Venezuela. He lives in Miami with his wife and three sons.
Francisco leads the firm’s strategy and chairs its Investment Committee. He is responsible for defining the strategy and tactical positioning for all discretionary and non-discretionary accounts. Prior to co-founding Valor Advisors, Francisco worked for Citigroup in Peru as a sovereign debt trader and corporate finance analyst. Francisco co-managed the bank’s balance sheet and the proprietary investments in local currency. He represented Citigroup as a Market Maker before the Peruvian Finance Ministry, actively collaborating in the development of the local government debt markets. After completing his MBA, Francisco joined J.P. Morgan’s Private Bank to advise some of the bank’s most sophisticated and institutional-scale portfolios in the Andean region. In addition, Francisco was a member of the firm’s Opportunistic Investment Committee, where he actively participated in the generation of tactical ideas for clients globally.
Francisco holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de Lima where he graduated cum laude, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He lives in Miami with his wife and five children.
Roger joined Valor Advisors in September of 2016 as an Investment Advisor Representative. He began his career in the financial services industry at the Central Bank of Nicaragua, where he worked in his last role as Vice General Manager. Mr. Icabalceta started his Private Banking career at Bank America International as an Assistant Vice President and later joined J.P. Morgan where he served as the Managing Director and Senior Banker for Peru and Ecuador. At J.P. Morgan, Mr. Icabalceta provided customized banking and investment solutions to ultra-high net worth families.
Roger holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering degree from Centroamericana University in Managua, Nicaragua with a concentration in Production and Economic Analysis, and an MBA from The Wharton School with a concentration in Finance and Marketing.
Ari is a member of the Investment Committee at Valor Advisors. Before joining Valor Advisors, Ari was a Vice-President and worked as a Global Investment Specialist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. In this role, Ari was responsible for advising some of the bank’s most sophisticated and institutional-scale relationships in the Andean region. Ari was also a member of the LATAM Tactical Opportunities Committee at JP Morgan, where he actively participated in the generation of investment ideas for clients in the region. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Ari worked at UBS Wealth Management from 2006-2010 where he was an Associate covering ultra-high net worth clients from Mexico.
Ari holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics with concentrations in Finance and Actuarial Science from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a CFA® and CAIA® charterholder. Ari lives in Miami with his wife and two daughters.
Carlos Heighes joined Valor Advisors as an Investment Advisor Representative in January 2020 to focus on developing and managing client relationships from Central America and the Caribbean. Carlos started his career in 1984 at Chase Manhattan Bank in Lima, Peru. Over the years, he held several positions as Operations & Systems Manager in Peru, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, playing an active role in opening a new branch in Lima as well as two new brokerage houses in Venezuela. In 1994, he became head of the Institutional Sales Group for Global Payments and Treasury Services, responsible for developing correspondent banking relationships with Latin American banks. Carlos joined J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s Miami branch in March of 1999 as Relationship Manager, covering Latin American clients. He served as Managing Director and Senior Banker, advising clients on delivering customized solutions and providing strategic advice to ultra-high net worth families from Central America and the Caribbean.
Carlos holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University in New York, and a B.A. in Economics from Universidad del Pacifico in Lima, Peru. He also registered in Kellogg School of Management to participate in Forming Family Enterprise Governance and Governing Family Enterprises courses. He is a member of “Beta Gamma Sigma”, an Honor Society for Collegiate Schools of Business.
Claudia is a member of the Investment Committee at Valor Advisors. She joined the firm as a Senior Portfolio Manager with an emphasis on macro investment strategy, processes and implementation. Claudia began her career at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth & Investment Management as an Investment Analyst where she was responsible for investment proposals, idea generation, and client trading. She later transitioned to HSBC’s Private Bank Latin America as an Investment Counselor Associate in the Investment Strategy Group (ISG), a niche investment management team that provides customized asset allocation solutions. On this team, she covered a group of ultra-high net worth families providing investment proposals and solutions.
Claudia holds an MBA with a concentration in Finance from IE Business School. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Finance, a Liberal Studies Major in Global Perspectives and a minor in Law from Bentley University in Massachusetts.
Juan Carlos joined Valor Advisors as a Portfolio Analyst to lead the data management and analytics efforts. He is currently involved in the security selection and manager due diligence process. Juan started his career in the energy industry at Victory Petroleum as a Gas Allocation Manager, where he was responsible for forecasting the monthly fuel allocation for 153 terminals in South Florida. In his last role as Pricing Manager, he was the leader of the company’s data analysis team and was responsible for the strategic pricing of part of the global business.
Juan Carlos holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance and Economics from Texas A&M University.
Carlos joined Valor Advisors in 2022 as a Portfolio Analyst to support the data management efforts and the firm’s Investment Team. He began his career as an intern at Santander Private Bank in Miami, FL where he worked in Risk Management before transitioning to the Fixed Income Investment Strategies Group. Carlos later joined AmRock Financial, a boutique consulting group, where he focused on brokering business loans between companies and financial institutions across the Americas. His exposure ranged from supply-chain and purchase-order financing to factoring and mortgage loans.
Carlos holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Operations Management with a minor in Business Analytics from Boston College’s CSOM.
Gerardo joined Valor Advisors as a Portfolio Analyst to lead the data management and analytics efforts. He started his career in 2015 at Santander Private Bank in Miami, FL where he worked as a financial analyst for the Investment Solutions Group (ISG) Private Wealth department. Gerardo’s role involved explaining structured products to bankers as well as giving financing solutions to clients against their investment portfolios to optimize their lending values. Gerardo later joined Ocean Bank’s Commercial Real Estate (CRE) and Commercial & Industrial (C&I) Corporate Lending team as a Lending Assistant. His role consisted of supporting the Corporate Lending relationship managers by structuring, underwriting, analyzing, and closing new loans.
Gerardo holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance and Economics from the University of Buckingham (UK).
Leyanet joined Valor Advisors in 2019 as a Client Associate committed to providing dedicated, professional service to clients in support of their account management needs. Her background includes experience as a Legal Secretary at the Law Office of Weisberg and Weisberg where she worked diligently to prepare her team for legal trials.
Leyanet holds a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs from Florida State University.
Erika joined Valor Advisors in 2021 as a Client Associate to support the Client Service Team in providing tailored services to our clients. She began her career in 2007 at Banco de Chile, which was acquired by Citi Bank IPB. In 2012, she joined J.P Morgan as an Account Opening Specialist, and later became a Client Onboarding /KYC Specialist for the Andean, Mexico, and Southern Cone region. She joined EFG Capital in 2017 as an AML Compliance Officer, and then transitioned to a Client Service Assistant role.
Erika holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Florida International University.
Carolina joined Valor Advisors in 2022 as a Client Associate. She is committed to supporting our clients in their account management needs. Her background includes extensive customer service experience as a subject matter expert executing client needs at Cigna International Health Insurance.
Carolina is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resources at Miami Dade College.
Maray joined Valor Advisors in 2017 as a Lead Client Associate to support the Client Advisor Team and provide a tailored service to our clients. She began her career in 2008 at Bank Leumi USA and later joined J.P. Morgan as a Client Service Associate, Banker Analyst and Banker Associate for the Andean and Southern Cone regions. During this time, she was responsible for enriching client relationships by providing solutions to manage, grow and protect their wealth.
Maray graduated Magna Cum Laude from Florida International University with a Bachelor of Business Administration. She completed her degree with a major in Finance and a minor in Economics.
Ana joined Valor Advisors in 2018 to deliver comprehensive service to clients by tending to their account management needs. Her daily responsibilities include executing client requests and assisting both the client service team and the advisors. Ana previously worked at JPMorgan Chase bank as a Lead Teller Operations Specialist for three years in which she assisted the manager with all aspects of branch operations.
Ana holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Florida International University.