Patrick Vizzone, Franklin Templeton
Franklin Templeton has named Patrick Vizzone as managing director and head of agri-food for its Asia Pacific alternatives group. In this role, Vizzone will lead private equity and venture capital investments in the sustainable agri-food sector globally.
Vizzone is a finance and agri-food industry veteran with 25 years of experience. Based in Hong Kong, he will report to Jing Su Vivatrat, president and COO of Franklin Templeton’s Asia Pacific alternatives group.
“Food security is increasingly a central economic and geo-political concern which will re-orient the global economy with long-lasting investment implications,” Ben Meng, chairman of Asia Pacific at Franklin Templeton said in a media release.
Vizzone was previously international head of food, beverage and agribusiness and head of Hong Kong coverage at ANZ Banking Group.
Prior to that, he was Asian head of institutional banking and head of food & agribusiness at National Australia Bank. Vizzone has also held senior leadership roles at Rabobank and GE Capital Asia-Pacific where he advised leading agri-food companies on cross-border M&A, business strategy and corporate finance.
Vizzone was also a senior advisor to Agfunderc, an agri-food tech insights and venture capital managers, since its inception in 2017. He also served for 13 years as an independent non-executive director of China Agri-Industries, the Hong Kong listed subsidiary of China’s COFCO Group.
In addition, Vizzone is a member of the board of directors of the International Fresh Produce Association, where he sits on the executive committee as secretary-treasurer.
