Panel of Experts | Pathfinder International

	Ronan McMahon Director Pathfinder Ltd A finance graduate, Ronan McMahon worked in the e-business consultancy and dot-com industries before joining International Living as Real Estate Marketing Director in January 2004. Ronan has been an active real estate investor since his early twenties and joining International Living gave him the opportunity to marry his personal and professional interests. Last year Ronan took up the position of Executive Director with Pathfinder. Ronan writes International Living’s Real Estate Trend Alert and regularly contributes to International Living’s print and online publications. Ronan has travelled to 15 countries in the past 12 months alone following real estate trends with the potential for profit. Instinct, experience and an unrivalled black book of contacts give him access to the inside track to unique profit opportunities.
	Margaret Summerfield Director Pathfinder Ltd Margaret was born in Ireland but has spent her most of her adult life living outside her home country. Real estate has always been her passion. In late 2005 Margaret joined International Living, as an administrator. She spent her first fifteen months with the company analyzing the paperwork and due diligence of countless projects. For the last five years Margaret has traveled extensively in Central and South America, scouting for real estate opportunities. She’s been to places you’ve never heard of...spent hours in meetings with local contacts…and seen more projects in the region than just about anyone you’re likely to meet. Margaret calls Casco Viejo, Panama, home--when she is not scouting.
	Dan Prescher Correspondent, Mexico & Ecuador Dan Prescher is a professional journalist, and travel writer. A graduate of the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Dan has lived and worked outside the United States since November 2001, when he and his wife, Suzan Haskins, moved to Ecuador to work for International Living. In the years that followed, Dan and Suzan opened the first International Living office in Mexico, created Mexico Insider, International Living’s first online publication, lived in or covered Nicaragua, Panama, Argentina, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Belize, and participated in every major International Living conference, seminar, and event to date. Dan and Suzan have owned property in six countries.
	Suzan Haskins Correspondent, Mexico & Ecuador Suzan Haskins has been researching, writing, and speaking about living and retiring overseas for the last decade. As International Living’s Latin America Editorial Director, she has authored numerous articles, books, and special reports, and has spoken at conferences around the world, including AARP’s annual Life@50 event. Suzan calls herself a “serial re-locator.??? Originally from the Midwestern U.S. (Oklahoma, Kansas, North Dakota, and Nebraska) she has also lived in New Jersey and New Mexico. She and her husband, Dan Prescher, left the U.S. in 2001 and have lived in Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama, and three cities in Mexico. They have purchased real estate in six countries and currently split their time between Merida, the capital of Mexico’s Yucatan state, and Cotacachi, in the northern Andes of Ecuador.
	Rick Philps Attorney, Petersen & Philps Law Offices, San Jose, Costa Rica Richard (Rick) Philps is a Canadian citizen, naturalized as a citizen of Costa Rica. He was born, raised, and educated in Victoria, British Columbia, receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1977, and a Bachelor of Laws Degree (English Common Law) in 1980, from the University of Victoria. He practiced law in Victoria, as a member of the Law Society of British Columbia, for fourteen years, prior to moving to Costa Rica in 1998. Mr. Philps returned to university in Costa Rica, where he earned his Bachelor of Laws and Licensing Degrees (Civil Law), with Honors, from the Metropolitana Castro Carazo University, and a Post-Graduate Degree in Notary and Registry Law, from the Escuela Libre de Derecho University in San Jose. He is a member of the Costa Rica College of Lawyers, he is a qualified Notary Public, and he has practiced law in Costa Rica since January 2003 in the areas of real estate and development, corporate, commercial, contract, banking, and immigration.
	Juan Federico Fischer Lawyer partner, Fischer & Schickendantz, Montevideo, Uruguay Juan Federico Fischer manages Fischer & Schickendantz' foreign investment consulting unit, advising both multinationals and individual investors in privatizations, real estate developments, and acquisition of local companies. In his 14 years as a corporate attorney, Juan has worked in some of Uruguay’s main privatizations (Punta del Este Airport, 1994, and Montevideo port, 1995 and 2000); in major local corporate debt restructurings; in international debt restructurings (regional debt-equity swap of Italy’s Parmalat, 2004), in mergers and acquisitions (AstraZeneca spin-off of Avecia, 2000; Katoen Natie’s acquisition of the Montevideo port, 2006; and Sherwin Williams’s acquisition of Pinturas Industriales, 2007). He has advised and is counsel to dozens of multinationals such as Computer Associates, Bechtel Corp., UBS Warburg, Cable & Wireless, HSBC, and Globo of Brazil, and to multilateral institutions such as the World Bank Group. Currently, Juan specializes in major real estate developments. Fischer & Schickendantz is a leading advisor to individuals seeking to buy properties and to obtain residency in Uruguay. Juan graduated from Uruguay’s Catholic University’s School of Law in 1994, and in 2002, he obtained an M.B.A. degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, where he majored in strategy and finance.
	Rainelda Mata-Kelly Attorney-at-Law, Law Offices Rainelda Mata-Kelly, Panama City, Panama Rainelda Mata-Kelly practices commercial and shipping law at Law Offices Rainelda Mata-Kelly. In 1982, she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Law and Political Science at Santa Maria La Antigua University in Panama. She then went on to Cornell University Law School and obtained a Masters of Law, specializing in Commercial and Maritime Law. Upon graduation, she became the founder, resident lawyer, and manager of the London office of a Panamanian law firm. In 1991, she became the Miami Correspondent for the Panamanian newspaper, La Prensa, and then went on to be the paper’s Executive Editor. Ms. Mata-Kelly has been External Legal Advisor to the Colon Free Trade Zone Merchants Association, and External Executive Director and Legal Advisor to INTERED (Internet Service Providers’ Association). Since 1989, she has owned her own private practice dealing in the areas of corporations, immigration, commercial, real estate, and shipping law of Panama. The practice was incorporated in 2005 as a law firm, and has now been expanded to include four other lawyers.
	Benjamin Beja Founder and President, Mexico Alive Serial developer and entrepreneur Benjamin Beja studied law in Mexico, graduating with highest honors, before completing Harvard’s prestigious MBA program. Over the last 10 years, he has sold and/or developed more than 1,300 homes (mostly targeted at the North American market) in Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit, and Riviera Maya. He is the Founder and President of Mexico Alive, a leading company in selling and marketing real estate projects in resort areas of Mexico. Before settling in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Maya, Benjamin dedicated 7 years of his life to traveling all over the world visiting or living in more than a 100 countries. He was recently appointed President of AMPI Tulum, (the Mexican equivalent of NAR) and Vice Chairman of the MREC, (Mexico Real Estate Coalition). Benjamin is developing 2 real estate projects on Mexico’s Riviera Maya. The first, Sian Ka’an, launched in early 2009, is sold out, and his newst one is TAO, a community focused on health and wellness.
	William Ogen Developer: Grand View Estates William Ogen is a former owner of a network consulting company in Los Angeles, California where he worked for 9 years as a systems engineer and developer of proprietary software programs for accounting. During this time, he also worked as a realtor and builder of small condominium projects in the areas of Redondo Beach and Torrance, California. In 2002, having traveled to many places throughout the Caribbean and the Americas he decided to sell out and become an international entrepreneur. He Invested and built in various countries of the Caribbean and Central America before settling in Costa Rica 8 years ago. William now calls Costa Rica home. William stays active in the real estate markets of Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama, and has completed over 100 acquisitions in the region. William has focused a majority of his time concentrating on a development he owns on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, Grand View Estates. He is also actively building the most complete tourism company offered in the Caribbean zone of Costa Rica.
	Steve Linder Developer: Pacific Lots, Costa Rica Steve Linder is from Cambridge, MA, and currently travels between his homes in Key West, FL, Baker’s Island in Salem, MA, and Ojochal, Costa Rica, depending on the season. Steve studied International Business in both the undergraduate and MBA program at Northeastern University in Boston. Steve has traveled extensively in Central and South America as well as parts of Asia. Always an entrepreneur, Steve owned a jewelry manufacturing company in Mexico for over 10 years as well as a sales recruiting firm. Steve discovered Costa Rica about 20 years ago and now is worldwide sales manager for the largest residential development in that country, Pacific Lots. Steve runs monthly property tours to Costa Rica, and the company develops land and builds custom homes for clients. He is also the vice president of a large expat homeowner’s association in Costa Rica and his firm, Pacific Lots of Costa Rica, publishes a quarterly newsletter about the southern Pacific region of Costa Rica, the Paradise Post.
	Daniel Neves Managing Director,Escala International Imoveis Daniel Neves is a real estate broker specializing in investment properties and second homes in Fortaleza, on Brazil’s northeast coast, since 1999. Daniel graduated from High School in Grass Valley, California, and went on to study law in the University of Salamanca in Spain. Daniel has been a partner in Escala Imoveis, a family-owned real estate agency with more than 16 years of experience, since 2003. Increasing international demand for properties in Fortaleza inspired Daniel to create a website exclusively for overseas clients. Daniel has personal connections with Fortaleza’s top developers, giving him early access to the newest real estate releases in the city before anyone else. This gives his clients the opportunity to analyze investments opportunities and act on them ahead of the official launch.
	Robert Kroesen Forestry and Residency in Panama Robert G. Kroesen is a Panamanian of Dutch origin. He lived for many years in the United States, where he obtained his marketing degree and worked as a consultant with a marketing research firm. He later returned to Panama. For several years, he advised international companies and Panama-based law firms on their global marketing and public relations strategies. He also became involved in one of the largest reforestation projects in Panama, and now advises individuals on how to maximize their returns in forestry projects through proper management --and how to take advantage of Panama’s visa/residency options through forestry.
	John Curtis Century 21 Joao Pessoa John is a British expat who has 10 years of experience in Brazil. He has lived in Joao Pessoa for the last four years. His background is in hotel and hospitality management in the UK and Caribbean. Century 21 Agora Imobiliaria is a licensed real estate agency based in Joao Pessoa. The company operates in both national and international markets and has Brazilian and British directors, giving the company an edge when it comes to local knowledge and contacts. Joao Pessoa has a steady, sustainable growth record. The area is stunningly beautiful and boasts some of the best beaches in Brazil as well as good governance, low crime and a high standard of living. The city is now attracting the interest of overseas property investors.