About CNC Asset

Charley Grimston BA

After a successful career in the British Army, Charley returned to civilian life in 1983, joining the insurance industry at Willis Faber's Reinsurance Division serving European and Lloyd's of London Market clients.

By 1991, Charley had set up Grimston Insurance Services to specialise in designing and implementing bespoke insurance programmes for lenders, financial insurance and reinsurance broking with emphasis on non-traditional coverage.

Always an entrepreneur, Charley then formed Hambro Conning Grimston (HCG) in 1993. This was a joint venture with Conning & Co, a US investment bank specialising in the insurance sector, JO Hambro, a UK investment bank and Grimston Investments. HCG Lloyd's Investment Trust was floated on London Stock Exchange, the first quoted underwriting vehicle. Charley was a founder member of Lloyd's Corporate Capital Association, a trade association representing quoted Lloyd's underwriting entities.

In 1999, Charley returned to a full-time focus on Grimston Insurance Services, where he continued his innovation. The result has been, amongst others, the CNC family of companies, including Alt Asset Finance and CNC Asset Management. Common threads through these companies are through their involvement in complex indoor and outdoor industrial machinery from a finance and insurance perspective. Their expertise in this area can be seen by examining their client base which includes Her Majesty's Government and other notable global companies.

Charley has developed a special interest in renewable energy and in 2011 formed an international trade association for old Etonians involved in the sector. Charley is also a member of a consortium established under the Marine Alliance for Science & Technology for Scotland formed to research suitability of sites for tidal and wave energy development.

Daniel Alonso BA Law (Girona) MSc Law (London University), ACII Portfolio Manager (Extended Warranty) for Spain, Portugal and Italy.

Dani became CNC Asset’s portfolio manager for Spain, Portugal and Italy in 2016 following a wide and varied successful international insurance career. Dani brings to CNC technical renewables insurance experience from Spain which was one of the earliest countries to embrace renewables. He also brings an international legal insurance knowledge.

His insurance career has taken him from the London market on Willis’ graduate course to Switzerland and then to Spain. In Switzerland, Dani was responsible for the insurance and risk management of Alstom Power’s worldwide fleet of power plants within their captive insurer.

Dani returned to Spain in 2002 where he set up Willis Barcelona’s Energy Department with special responsibility for contingency and efficacy risks, and for M&A. Whilst here, Dani’s interest grew in the renewables sector and in 2007, he set up Tecnirisk, an independent wholesale broker placing domestic Spanish business into the international insurance markets.

Dani has a range of professional insurance qualifications from the Spanish and London Insurance Institutes and has attended specialist engineering courses run by the major professional reinsurers.

Although Dani lives in Barcelona he breathes different air to those who enjoy the beautiful game and is a seasoned Padel player! He is a family man who enjoys his dogs, British beer and European politics!

Jonathan Davis MBE LLB (Hons) FCIS

Jonathan joined CNC Asset in March 2016 as Head of Secretariat. He brings with him over 20 years' professional administrative experience supported by academic study and continued professional development. He is a graduate of Exeter University, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Buckingham University.

Jonathan completed a successful career in the British Army including the independent command of its largest administrative unit, co-incidentally one on an operation tour.

During an interregnum in his military career, he was finance director of a substantial charity and chairman of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries for Northern Ireland. He has also set up trading companies in specialist areas in Hong Kong and recently spent several years overseeing the disposal of surplus stores and equipment from the Afghanistan war to world-wide buyers.

Jonathan was awarded an MBE for his service during an operational tour in Iraq in recognition of his work during that country's transition to democracy.

Among his many interests, Jonathan is a trans-Atlantic sailor and holds a Royal Yachting Association Yachtmaster Offshore Ticket. He also enjoys watching rugby, his boots having been hung up some time ago! He is an appreciator of 'Real Ale' too!

Colin Griffiths BSc

Colin joined Alt Asset Finance in 2014 and has nearly thirty years commercial banking experience. He has held senior positions with NatWest, National Australia Bank, BankWest and Westpac in the UK and Australia. He has developed and designed complex asset backed debt finance transactions for a variety of asset classes and legal jurisdictions. He has a special interest in renewable energy and industrial machinery. He read economics at Surrey University and enjoys scuba diving for fossils.

Peter Finch ACII

Peter joined CNC in 2012 to develop their distribution channels and do research and development in renewables. Prior to this Peter had held senior positions in the engineering insurance market in underwriting and inspection services for HSB Engineering, a subsidiary of Munich Re and also with Allianz. He has had direct involvement with a number of internationally recognised engineering projects such as Canary Wharf and Vauxhall Motors. He has also managed specialist engineering insurance programmes with Lombard, a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland where his knowledge of the indoor and outdoor machinery market was instrumental in the success of the programmes.

Whilst not running marathons, Peter has travelled extensively on engineering assignments and continues to do so for CNC. His interests include yoga, long distance running and renewable energy.

Otto Ledniczky

Otto joined CNC Asset in 2012 and has 40 years' experience in the London insurance market. Prior to joining CNC he was a specialist in the reinsurance of Lloyd's and London Market insurance companies including engineering insurance companies. He spent 18 years in the Lloyd's broker market working for Willis Faber and C.E. Heath holding senior positions in both companies. This was followed by 12 years at Equitas, the Lloyd's recovery insurance company where he was concerned with asset and liability management and risk mitigation and transfer issues.

Otto joined CNC in 2012 to open up new markets and distribution channels at home and abroad and is deeply committed to what is now referred to as the technology transfer process for engineering and renewable energy clients located predominantly in the south of England.

Otto's interests include rowing and international relations, particularly the old eastern European countries. He is fluent in Hungarian.