Blake J. Noah is the principal of Palmela Partners. He leads the firm’s engagements directly, working with private clients, institutions, family offices, and advisors on cross-border matters that require presence, judgment, and direct execution.
His career has been shaped by operating in environments where outcomes depend on trust, context, and relationships as much as formal process. He has particular experience in matters where financial, regulatory, stakeholder, and operational considerations must be coordinated into a single working response.
Blake spent more than a decade in Asia, primarily in mainland China, holding senior operational roles on large institutional projects in Beijing and Shanghai. That work brought him into direct engagement with government-adjacent entities, institutions, commercial counterparties, and private clients across the region. It informs Palmela’s particular depth in matters involving China-related exposure, complex counterparties, and frontier-market operating conditions.
He later built and operated a corporate services business backed by a single family office, focused on Luxembourg-based alternative investment fund structures. The firm supported private clients and investment groups with research, formation, administration, and cross-jurisdictional coordination of corporate and fund structures.
Blake currently serves as Vice President of the Board of the American Club of Lisbon, a 79 year old transatlantic institution that convenes leaders across business, diplomacy, government, and civil society in Portugal.
Palmela Partners was established to formalize the work Blake was repeatedly asked to perform: taking ownership of complex matters, coordinating specialist capability, and helping clients move from analysis to execution.
The firm is based in Lisbon, with active work across Europe, Asia, and North America.