Speaking and mentoring

How deals are really done

Twenty years of buying, developing and negotiating in prime central London, told candidly to students, founders and the people who will do this job after me.

Speaking

I speak at universities, business schools and private events about the part of the property market that does not appear in the textbooks. I do not give market forecasts and I do not sell anything from the stage. What I can offer is twenty years of specific, first-hand cases, told plainly, including the ones that went wrong.

The market you cannot see

How the best London property changes hands before it is advertised, why sellers prefer it, and how a buyer gets in. Built around the 16 Old Bond Street acquisition for Prada, a building that was not for sale.

Negotiation when there is no listing

Understanding the other side before you make an offer: who owns it, why they bought it, how it is held, and what would make them reconsider. Why the proposition matters more than the price, and why patience is a tactic rather than a virtue.

Building a firm from nothing

Leaving investment banking, arriving in London from Naples, founding Arbitrage in 2006 and growing it for twenty years without advertising, on referrals alone. What I would do again, and what I would not.

Formats: keynote, fireside conversation, panel, or a closed-door session for a family office, an executive programme or a company retreat. I speak in English and Italian.

Mentoring and internships

I was given time by people who did not have to give it, and I try to return the favour. Each year I mentor a small number of young adults, students and early-stage founders, and Arbitrage takes on interns who want to see how a boutique advisory firm actually runs: the research before an approach, the paperwork behind a deal, the conversations that never make it into a press release.

Mentoring is informal and unpaid. Internships are in our Covent Garden office and suit people with an interest in property, finance or building a business of their own. Write to me with a short note on who you are and what you are trying to do; I read every one, and I reply to the ones where I think I can be useful.

Invite Aldo

For speaking, mentoring or internship enquiries, write to aldo@arbitragegroup.com with the date, the audience and what you would like the session to achieve.

Get in touch