Persella has a double graduate degree (MBA and MS in Financial Engineering) from Columbia University in the United States, and a BSc in Mathematics and Statistics from Bristol University in the United Kingdom. She spent three years as a risk manager for Morgan Stanley’s institutional equity derivatives desk in New York. In 2007, Persella set up MeritKapital, a CySEC licensed investment firm with an initial focus on asset management and investment advice. Since, she has progressively grown the firm’s product offerings to include custody, repo, brokerage and the underwriting business. She has developed a niche in the in the Eurobond fixed income field, particularly in Russia and the CIS. Persella’s strong relationships with large buy side funds testify to the positioning of MeritKapital in its field of expertise.