Power
Significant talent moves
Talent search and competitive intelligence specialists
We begin the highlighted power moves for this edition with the news from Energie Baden-Württemberg (EnBW) that Dr. Johannes Viehmann joins to be Head-Short Term Trading. Johannes can point to early experience with Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Vattenfall Europe ahead of gaining energy-market university qualifications in Australia and Germany that led to trader positions with E.on Global Commodities/Uniper.
Once an E.on Energy Trading gas portfolio coordination manager, Jochen Nospickel transferred within Düsseldorf in 2013 to head the pricing and analysis of structured gas products for E.on Global Commodities. Next up for him at the group was director of UK market operations, which meant relocation to England, then back to Germany co-ordinating the joint E.on and Innogy energy supply activities. A change in 2020 finds him with E.on-Innogy subsidiary Essent in the Dutch city of Den Bosch, as its Energy Markets Director for The Netherlands.
British electricity and gas supply start-up Igloo Energy has signed Adam McKay for its first Commercial Trading Manager. Igloo recently announced a UK£20 million investment from Japan’s Osaka Gas for a minority stake in the company. Previously an intraday trader in UK power for Centrica Energy, Adam also served almost three years at EDF Energy as an analyst.
*Based on answers given by participants in a recent survey run by Commodity Appointments re. analysts/strategists compensation in Power
*Based on answers given by participants in a recent survey run by Commodity Appointments re. analysts/strategists compensation in Power
A move from AOG Investments in Bucharest to the Czech office of Alpiq in Prague is reported for Octavian Georgescu, who becomes Senior Originator for central/southern Europe. It’s a return to Alpiq for Octavian – he was its deputy MD in Romania until about a year ago. He’d joined from heading Romanian power and gas origination for Axpo and directing power supply and trading for Bucharest company KDF Energy.
Jesse Farmer has exchanged being chief consultant at a Houston data science company for the title of Senior Ercot CRR Trader with Danske Commodities in Connecticut. Back in 2017 Jesse had left Great Bay Energy in Puerto Rico to be a Freepoint Commodities analyst in power markets. Before that had come placements with Cargill, Glencore and Koch Industries.
Power specialist James Hunt is Shell Energy Europe’s choice for Senior Originator. RWE npower and Vattenfall Energy Trading Netherlands were James’s most recent former employers, in asset management and origination.
Rod Duke has been appointed CEO of publicly-owned Energy Queensland, the parent company of Energex and Ergon. Rod previously had senior roles with Santos, Singapore LNG Corporation, the energy market regulator in Singapore, and Woodside. He joins from a CEO position with Gladstone LNG project operating company for Santos and its partners.
Centrica Energy Trading has hired Lena Lehmeier to be an Originator, based in the Hamburg office. Lena joins from Enmacc where she was most recently Strategic Account Manager. She was previously based in London with roles both at Tullett Prebon and Marex Spectron.
European energy trading platform Enmacc (appoints) new CRO
These have been busy times for Norway’s Hafslund E-Co, formed by the city of Oslo in 2018 from the merger of electricity generator E-C0 Energi and grid operator Hafslund Nett.Plans for the further merger of Hafslund E-Co and Eidsiva Energi were announced towards the end of last year. Meanwhile E-Co Energi has continued as a subsidiary, adding further to its team in 2020 with the appointment of new portfolio manager Christian Gulbrandsen. Christian was a Norsk Hydro power trader and risk manager for the past nine years.
News from Boston Energy that Jeremy Goldsmith is in place as Asset Manager after arriving from Enel Green Power, where he was senior real-time trader. Jeremy’s previous trading background had been with The Energy Authority in Seattle.
John Bergeron is made VP of Rockland Capital. It keeps him in Houston, his base both when real-time power trading with Merrill Lynch/Entergy Koch Trading and when he was Entergy’s manager of North-East power trading.
Utility engineering consultancy service Pennine Energy in Northern England brings in Anthony Pears for Fund Manager/Trader. Working at Trafigura since 2006, he’d begun as an analyst in energy swaps and futures. Later upgrades at the company were to the desk for physical trading of aluminium and to be global head of lead and zinc as a derivatives trader.
Ins and outs to note at Direct Energy in Houston. In as Power Trader is Benjamin Bernier, until lately a training and performance manager for Texas company Gridforce Energy Management. In the other direction, Xander Stover departs Direct Energy after being Ercot power trader there for the past two years. He’s arrived at Engie North America to be its new Power Trader.
After seven years as Global Head-Power/Gas/Coal & Carbon at Refinitiv/Thomson Reuters, Rukes Ahmed joins European energy trading platform Enmacc as their new CRO from April. He will be focused on driving growth of their international business and raising their brand profile, as a company with the interest of energy traders and the energy community at heart. Rukes was a Gazprom M&T senior energy trader between 2006 and 2012.
Finally, the Houston branch office of JPMorgan Chase is now the work address of Philip Carey, having joined the bank as Executive Director. On his resumé are 14 years with Bank of America Merrill Lynch (director of energy origination) and a 2004-2005 period with Eagle Energy Partners (real-time power trader).
See the write-up here from our recent analyst/strategist rewards survey with 200+ participants
This is merely a snapshot of some of the recent people moves and associated trends observed by our Power research team at Commodity.
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