Key Personnel

Harald Bareit

Local Head of Asset Management

Before joining Kepler Capital Markets, Mr Bareit, an economist and CFA Charterholder, worked as a senior portfolio manager for Lupus Alpha with responsibility for absolute return mandates. Prior to this he worked at DZ Capital Management GmbH, Frankfurt, where he reached the position of Deputy Head of Portfolio Management.

Dominik Belloin

CEO of Kepler Corporate Finance (Kepler Holding S.A.)

Dominik graduated from Essec and Harvard Business School. In 1987, he began his career as Associate at Goldman Sachs in New York. In 1992 he was promoted Executive Director of Corporate Finance for France. He pursued his career in Berstelmann Group where he held several executive positions, including CFO of the RTL Group in Luxembourg. In 2000, he joined Merrill Lynch as Managing Director in charge of Media Corporate Finance for Europe. In 2003, he joined Oddo & Cie as member of the executive committee and as Managing Partner of Oddo Corporate Finance.

Robert Buller

Deputy Head of Brokerage, Head of Account Management

A graduate of Cambridge University, Robert spent 16 years at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in a variety of Sales roles in London, Hong Kong, Moscow & Zurich. At Kepler, he runs the account management process, and is deputy Head of Sales.

Francis Canard

Managing Director - Chief Financial Officer

Francis Canard joined Julius Baer Brokerage in 2001 as CFO of the group. He is now Managing Director, in charge of the support activities of the group. Prior to joining Julius Baer Brokerage, he acquired 13 years of experience in brokerage. From 1998 until 2001 he was Chief Financial officer of Credit Agricole Indosuez Cheuvreux, and, before that, from 1988 to 1998, he was Managing Director of Dynabourse, the French broker arm of Credit Agricole group. Prior to this, he worked in Credit Agricole Group for 5 years as a manager in Internal Audit and for 5 years as a financial analyst. He graduated with a Master in Economics from Limoges University.

Michael Creedon

Managing Director, Geneva

Michael Creedon is a Managing Director of Kepler Capital Markets and the Head of our office in Geneva since June 2006. Prior to this, and since April 2001, Michael was Director, Head of Emerging Markets of Decillion/Cedef in Switzerland where he managed a team of 36 persons. Beforehand he developed GNI’s OBS Emerging Markets Desk within GNI, London for two years. From March 1997 to April 1999, he set up and developed Cantor Fitzgerald’s South African Derivatives Desk in London and Johannesburg. Michael started his career in 1995 as a Business graduate for Allied Irish Bank Plc. Michael Creedon holds a BA of Economics from the University of Cork, Ireland.

Joseph Cusanno

Managing Director, Geneva

Joseph Cusanno is a Managing Director at Kepler Capital Markets in Geneva. Previously, Joseph was responsible for the Credit Bond development at Décillion (South African Fund). Prior to this, and since 1991, Joseph worked 11 years at Viel Tradition, one of the world’s biggest broker dealers. He was Director in charge of developing Credit Bonds in Western Europe. Joseph started his career at Rank Xerox in 1986 where he was Head of Sales for large client accounts in Paris. Joseph Cusanno holds a masters degree in Export Business obtained in Paris.

Jose Antonio Hernandez

Managing Director. Co-Head of Equity Brokerage

Jose A Hernandez joined Kepler Capital Markets in 2000. In 2006 he became Group Head of Research and Co-Head of Brokerage. He started his carrier at the former Arthur Andersen & Co in 1986. From 1989 to 2000, he was an equity analyst and partner at Espinosa Partners, a Spanish stockbroker. He graduated in Economics and BA from the Complutense University in Madrid.

Thomas Karlovits

Deputy Head of European Research

Thomas graduated with a master of Economics and BA from the University of Vienna and obtained the CEFA in 1995. He worked as a senior analyst at RZB Raiffeisen Zentralbank (1991-1996), SMH Schröder Münchmeyer Hengst (1996-1997), CAI Cheuvreux Germany (1998-2002) and Santander Central Hispano (2002-2003). He joined Kepler Equities in 2003, covering German telecom operators. In 2007, he was promoted to Deputy Head of European Research and is also Co-Head of the German Research team.

Marlon Kelly

Managing Director, Co-Head of Equity Brokerage

Marlon Kelly started his career in 1985 at ABN Amro, where he first worked in private banking before moving to institutional equity sales marketing Dutch equities to UK based clients. In 1990 he moved to BZW in Amsterdam as a senior salesman in Dutch equities, selling to US and UK-based institutions. He then became General Manager Research at ING Investment Management, responsible for managing the insurance company's 5%-plus equity holdings in Dutch companies. In 1996 Marlon returned to BZW as managing director of the Amsterdam office. In 1998 he left BZW with a team of 18, to set up the Dutch brokerage office for German private bank Metzler. He joined Julius Baer Brokerage, now Kepler Capital Markets, in July 2002 as the Managing Director of the Amsterdam office. Since 2006 he is the Co-Head of Equity Brokerage for the Group. Kelly has earned a higher national diploma in business studies in the Netherlands.

Elias Khoury

Managing Director, Deputy Head of Equity Brokerage

Elias Khoury is Managing Director of Kepler Capital Markets and Deputy Head of Equity Brokerage of our New York office since October 2008. Founding Partner of Exane SA (now Exane BNP Paribas), he worked from 1993-2008 in various positions particularly and the recent past years as Head of Sales-European Equities to US investors (2007-2008, New York), Head of Sales-European Equities to Continental European and US investors 2006-2007, Paris), Head of Sales Continental Europe since 1995. Prior to this, he worked at Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) from 1988-1992, French Equities Sales to institutional investors in Europe and the Middle East. Previously, he held different positions in Retail Banking at HSBC (from1977-1984). Elias Khoury holds a MBA obtained at St Joseph University in Beirut and also earned a DESS at Dauphine University in Paris.

Jochen Kurz

European Head of Alpha Capture Products

Jochen Kurz joined Kepler Equities in October 2004 as a senior salesperson for UK clients. He was promoted to Head of UK Sales Germany in January 2005 and to European Head of Alpha Capture Products in November 2008. Prior to working for Kepler Capital Markets he worked as a senior equity advisor at CAI Cheuvreux in Frankfurt and at Schröder Münchmeyer Hengst & Co in Frankfurt and London. Jochen started his career as a credit analyst at J.P.Morgan in Frankfurt. He graduated from the European Business School.

Christopher Kerr Lavagnino

Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer, Compliance Officer, New York

Christopher Lavagnino is a Managing Director of Kepler Capital Markets and Head of our New York Office. From October 2004 to June 2006, Chris was Chief Compliance Officer of Proctor Investment Managers, LLC, a holding company and strategic investor, formerly Overture Asset Managers, LLC. He was previously Senior Vice President and Director of Avatar Associates, LLC, from June 2002 until the company was acquired by Overture. From October 1997 to June 2002, Chris worked for Spencer Clarke, LLC where he held various positions. He started his career in June 1994 as Vice President of Bull’s Run, Inc. Chris graduated from Columbia University in 1994 with a B.A. in East Asian Studies, as well as additional study at Hokusei Gakuen Daigaku, Sapporo, Japan. Chris holds the Series 24, 7 and 63 licenses and is a member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals.

François Mallet

Managing Director, Paris; Head of Equity

Since August 2006 François Mallet is a Managing Director of Kepler Capital Markets and the Head of Equity for our Paris Office. Prior to this, François held the position of Head of Pan European Equity Sales within HSBC CCF Securities where he managed a team of 65 people including analysts and salesmen. From 1998 to 2002, he was part of Julius Baer France SA in Paris, as Head of French Equity Sales. François started his career at Cheuvreux-De Virieu in 1986, where he was appointed French Equity Sales Manager in 1996. François Mallet graduated from Florida Atlantic University with an MBA in finance.

Julian Micklethwait

Head of Market Activities, Paris

Julian Micklethwait started his career at James Capel & Co. in London before moving to Swiss Bank Corp (now UBS) where he pursued advanced in-house courses in Risk Management and Derivatives. Afterwards he moved to Paris in 1992, and joined Julius Baer France in 1997. He is currently responsible for all equity market activities at Kepler, Paris.

Laurent Quirin

CEO

Laurent Quirin was one of the founders of Julius Baer France in 1997. Prior to joining Julius Baer Brokerage, he was a Director of Dynabourse International, the French brokerage arm of Crédit Agricole Group, where he started his career 14 years ago as equity salesman before assuming the role of Head of Equities. He graduated from the European Business School.

Serge Ragotzky

Managing Director, Head of Corporate Finance Germany
(Kepler Capital Markets)

Serge joined Kepler in 2007. As a Managing Director he is responsible for Kepler’s Corporate Finance activities in Germany. From 2003-2007 he was part of UBS' small and mid-caps M&A team (Corporate Advisory Group). Prior to that, Serge worked several years in the Corporate Finance Department of HSBC Investment Bank in London and for Sal. Oppenheim Mergers & Acquisitions respectively. Serge’s transaction experience covers M&A and ECM transactions in a variety of industries, including real estate, building materials, utilities and general industrials. Serge is a graduate of EBS Oestrich-Winkel and Bonn University and holds a PhD in finance from HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management. He is fluent in German, English and French.

Klaus Schilling

European Head of Brokerage Projects

Klaus began as a junior equity salesperson at Vereins- und Westbank AG in Hamburg in 1985, before he moved to M.M. Warburg & CO in Hamburg in 1987. Prior to joining Julius Baer in October 2001, he ran MM Warburg's New York brokerage operation for 2 years. Next to having been an equity salesperson ever since, he now helps to identify new growth opportunities for Kepler Capital Markets as European Head of Brokerage Projects.

René Seitz

Managing Director, Frankfurt; Head of Asset Management Business Line

Rene Seitz joined Bank Julius Bär (Deutschland) AG in 2001 as general manager responsible for research, sales, sales trading, trading and treasury. In July 2002 he was appointed member of the board of directors. Prior to this he worked 13 years for Deutsche Kapitalanlagegesellschaft (DEKA) as a senior European equity fund manager. During his last four years there he headed the European equity fund management department, which under his leadership managed more than EUR25bn. Before joining DEKA he worked eight years at Dresdner Bank AG where he acted as a financial advisor for institutional and private clients. He holds a degree in business administration and a degree as a qualified investment analyst (DVFA) from the German association for investment management and research.

Roland Sturm

Head of Swiss Sales

Roland Sturm joined Kepler in 2003 to Head up Sales to UK clients for the swiss equity product after having worked for other swiss brokerage firms before in Switzerland and for London as financial analyst and sales person. He now heads up the sales and trading floor in the Zurich office of Kepler and services predominantly UK based institutional clients of the firm. A German national, he graduated in Economics at the University of Basel in Switzerland and lives in Zurich with his wife and two children.

Antonio Urbano

Managing Director, Milan

Antonio Urbano is Managing Director of Kepler Equities’ Italian office. Prior to joining Julius Baer Brokerage, Urbano set up and managed the UK operations for AFV Sim, a local Italian brokerage. His career started as a specialist small-cap sales analyst at Yamaichi Securities in the late 1980s in Milan. Subsequently, in 1992, he joined SocGen European Equities and then Carnegie Securities in London. His role developed into specialist Italian equity sales to UK institutions. He graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in Business Studies with prior education in both Italy and England. Prior work experience was obtained in the UK Tour Operator industry.