Prior to founding GraySky Aviation, Mr. Borchers was President and Co-Founder of TrueAero’s leasing business. During his nearly 10 year tenure at TrueAero, he was responsible for numerous C-suite responsibilities including; investor relations, strategic business planning, origination activities, investment management, underwriting, legal and risk. He was recognized by Airline Economics as a top 40 Under 40 individual in aviation finance and leasing.

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Mr. Borchers began his career with ConocoPhillips advancing through various competitive analytical and commercial roles to become a commodities trader while leading multiple investment ventures in real estate.

Mr. Kauffmann serves as Senior Vice President, Lease Finance at GraySky Aviation, drawing on his tenure as Vice President, Portfolio Management at TrueAero, where he directed the financial analysis and underwriting of aircraft and engine acquisitions. He oversaw the company’s modelling division, produced investment recommendations for the executive team, and supported fundraising by running cash‑flow simulations for joint ventures, sidecars, and ABS structures. His market outlooks and lessee credit assessments were integral to shaping TrueAero’s growth strategy.

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Early in his career, Mr. Kauffmann led the ABS modelling team at ICF, generating maintenance‑cash‑flow forecasts and analyzing more than 500 lease agreements for leading lessors, and acted as lead underwriter on the Lyon‑airport acquisition mandate for a major investment bank. He holds a Master’s degree in Transport & Business Management from Imperial College London.

Nicolas joins GraySky Aviation with over 25 years of experience in aviation. He was most recently an Executive Vice President with SMBC Aviation Capital where he led the lessor’s exponential growth in Asia Pacific.

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Based in Hong Kong since 2007 and with meaningful connections across the industry, Nicolas' hands-on experience across multiple roles and cultures is bringing to GraySky an in-depth understanding of tailored transactions and a genuine recognition of the uniqueness of each customers and investors needs. Nicolas holds a Master in Private International Law from Sorbonne University and was admitted to the Paris’ Bar.