First Reserve names first COO

First Reserve Corporation (First Reserve), the energy and energy infrastructure investment firm, has made two senior appointments.

Claudi Santiago joins the London office as managing director and chief operating officer after a 30-year career at GE. During his time there, he was president and chief executive of GE Oil & Gas and senior vice president of GE. The $10 billion Oil & Gas division focused on upstream, midstream and downstream equipment and services.

He is the firm's first chief operating officer. 

In a statement, First Reserve said Santiago would have responsibility for managing the firm’s operations with responsibiity for talent development, implementation of best practice across operational processes and developing First Reserve’s network of advisors, directors and consultants.

Meanwhile, Irene Mavroyannis joins as managing director in the firm’s investor relations group in its Greenwich, Connecticut headquarters from US-based alternative assets giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). The statement said she would focus on the firm’s marketing strategy and messaging as well as overseeing public relations and communications. 

At KKR, Mavroyannis was a product specialist within global energy and infrastructure and served as chief operating officer of KKR Capital Markets, the firm’s broker-dealer. She had previously worked as a lawyer with Shearman & Sterling and an investment banker with Citigroup Global Markets.

Last month, First Reserve announced nine internal promotions. These included five new managing directors: Francesco Giuliani, Neil Hartley and John Mogford in London; Joshua Weiner in Greenwich; and Michael France in the firm’s Houston, Texas office.

In a statement at the time, First Reserve chief executive William Macaulay said the promotions came on the back of “an active year in which we made significant advancements in our portfolio and successfully executed multiple strategic sales”.

First Reserve, which focuses exclusively on energy and natural resources, is currently investing a $9 billion private equity fund, which it closed in 2009, and its debut infrastructure fund, which it closed last year on $1.2 billion.