Sydney
23:18
Tokyo
22:18
Hong Kong
21:18
Bangkok
20:18
Mumbai
18:48
Abu Dhabi
17:18
Riyadh
16:18
Paris
15:18
London
14:18
New York
09:18
Chicago
08:18
San Francisco
06:18

Operating Officers

Operating Officers

Organizational Chart

Senior management averages more than 30 years of experience per executive, completing numerous executive operating roles, advisory, fund, and transaction assignments with a combined value addition of well over US$ 10 billion, including several landmark achievements in Indochina. The team has been seasoned under complex real-world circumstances at other major institutions, and while working together at Baron Point. Experience includes success during the early 1990s U.S. recession and the first Gulf War to liberate Kuwait, the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the technology boom of the 1990s and subsequent Dot-com bust at the end of the 20th century, the time-frame during the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City, the U.S. Shale Gas and Tight Oil Boom of the early 2000s and subsequent Commodity Bust, the Great Recession near the end of the first decade of the 21st century, and the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic and market disruption of 2019–2022. These nine monumental periods and their structural impact on business and the regulatory landscape caused substantial change.  Each period presented distinct challenges and helped condition Baron Point’s principals to adapt to changing business, market, and regulatory environments.

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Experienced Management and Other Stable Support Personnel:

Jim Coppola, Chairman Emeritus (USA)

With a passion for strategic guidance, Jim Coppola significantly shapes Baron Point’s long-term vision, planning, and objectives, particularly in fund accounting, business management, and physical commodities trading. Boasting over five decades of expertise as a business leader and lumber industry veteran, Mr. Coppola, alongside his father and eight siblings, transformed his family’s lumber and building supply business into a community staple.

 

 

James Philip Coppola III ("J.C."), Managing Partner & Chief Investment Officer (Indochina and USA)

Mr. Coppola III joined Baron Point in 2007 and has since headed all aspects of the enterprise from funding to deal making.  Mr. Coppola III has spent over three decades in investment banking, asset management, M&A, private equity and the securities industry. According to Morningstar, his track record ranked him in the top 25% of fund managers for over a decade (1998–2010). Morningstar and Barron’s ranked Mr. Coppola, the #1 Global Macro Fund Manager, separately, for the years 1994, 1995, 2000, and 2001.  From 2010 to the present, his focus has been on systematic trading, structured and credit rated notes, and the investment banking business at Baron Point.

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

Martin John McCarthy, Partner, CEO of Portfolio Company, Energy & Chemicals Group (Indochina and Europe)

Joining Baron Point in 2024, he brought nearly four decades of experience as a senior energy executive and entrepreneur with multinational integrated energy and petroleum companies. His leadership experience includes serving as CEO of TotalEnergies businesses across 10 countries, where he directed the development of downstream retail, commercial, and energy operations in the United Kingdom, France, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Fiji, Tonga, and Papua New Guinea.

 

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

Todd R. Hollander, Partner, Global Head of Business Development (USA and Europe)

Joining Baron Point in 2025, Mr. Hollander leads business development. He began his career at Susquehanna Investment Group as an index-options trader on the floor of the American Stock Exchange and has since accumulated nearly four decades of experience on Wall Street.  At Susquehanna, he was a protégé of New Market Wizard Jeff Yass and, in 1993, became the first market maker to trade SPY, the S&P 500 Index ETF and the first ETF listed in the United States. He later joined Jane Street as one of its earliest employees and investors. During nearly two decades with the firm, he held multiple senior roles, helping to build and expand its global ETF trading and client businesses and establishing its London office.

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Tunji Abiola, FCA, Chief Financial Officer (MEA)

Joining with the Baron Point team on assignment in 2025, he is an accomplished Fellow Chartered Accountant at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales with over two decades of professional experience with a career spanning audit, treasury and CFO assignments with increasingly senior posts at leading global commodity and agribusiness companies.

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

Glenn S. Coppola, Partner, Controller (USA)

Joining Baron Point in 2007, he has over five decades of business experience, with deep knowledge of alternative investment fund accounting, finance, business accounting — including US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP), budgeting, and cost control principles. He has managed several audit processes being conducted by Big Four accounting firms and worked with some of the largest fund administrators in the world during his career, including master-feeder structures with US and offshore entities.

 

 

Andrew A. Alberti, BA, JD, External Chief Risk Officer at Baron Point & Chairman of the Board at the Bermuda General Business Insurance Company (USA)

Associated with the principals at Baron Point since the early 2000s, he is a seasoned insurance and securities professional who has over five decades on Wall Street. A member of the New York State Bar Association and the Insurance Federation of New York, he served as Deputy Superintendent of the State of New York Insurance Department’s Liquidation Bureau. Prior to this, he served as the Bureau’s General Counsel and Attorney of Record and served as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the New York State Senate Insurance Committee.

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

Ira E. Blumenthal, Esq., General Counsel (Indochina and USA)

Counseling Baron Point and its principals since 2009, Ira Blumenthal assumed the role of General Counsel in 2022, enhancing the firm’s legal, compliance, and dealmaking capabilities in Indochina. A serial entrepreneur and co-founding partner of Blumenthal Richter & Sumet, a leading independent law firm, he brings over 40 years of transactional and deal making expertise to Baron Point.

 

 

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

Peter John Gregory, Director, Energy & Chemicals Group (Indochina and Europe)

Joining Baron Point in 2015, Mr. Gregory has over four decades of experience in senior management roles handling large projects at major companies. An expert in the oil, gas, and energy sectors, he is particularly well versed in Middle East and Southeast Asian businesses. Prior to joining Baron Point, his most recent post was serving in the role of President-Business Development for Punj Lloyd Ltd.

 

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

Steven James Drayer, Director of International Business (Secundo), Global Markets Group (USA, Indochina, and MEA)

Mr. Drayer is focused on Baron Point's building materials and physical commodity trading with an emphasis on the Middle East and ASEAN exit markets. Close to the Coppola family for over three decades, he spent his formative years in business covering the Coppola Family account while developing his skills at Georgia Pacific Corporation (later BlueLinx) and is now a Director of International Business Development and Territory Manager at the BlueLinx Corporation. He is also a Secundo member of the Baron Point team.

 

 

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

Andrew M. Sullivan, Vice-President, Business Development, APAC (East Asia)

Joining Baron Point in 2026, he brings more than 20 years of experience leading institutional trading, investment strategy, and client development across the Asia-Pacific region. Recognized for his thought leadership, adaptability, and deep knowledge of Asian equities and trading ecosystems, he serves in a senior strategic role for Baron Point in Asia, combining long-term vision with disciplined execution.

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Phillip John Evans, Executive Vice President, Project Management & Information Technology (Indochina)

Associated with Baron Point’s principals since 2007, Phillip joined the executive team in 2023. He brings more than three decades of experience in technology and technology-infrastructure projects across East Asia, including senior management and advisory appointments.  Most recently, before the COVID-19 pandemic, he held a senior management role in a private equity-backed greenfield venture in Southeast Asia. The project developed into a major operating company and subsequently completed a successful secondary offering involving several of the world’s largest private equity firms.

 

 

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

Matthew Megally, Vice-President, Business Development and Real Estate Development (USA)

Joining with the Baron Point team in 2013, Matthew has over a decade of combined experience in engineering, business development, and strategy on complex assignments. He started his career with the firm securing over US$ 120 million in revolving investment commitments and negotiated contracts advancing key projects in infrastructure and commodities. He has developed and managed key client relationships, including those with the Carlyle Group, Pertamina, PetroVietnam Oil, a member of the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi, and Credit Suisse.  Having a passion for trading, he is a registered large trader with the CME and SEC and is experienced in equities, digital assets, and their derivatives. He has degrees in Engineering and Soil Sciences from Texas A&M University and has attended the Booth School of Business in Chicago and the University of Washington in Seattle.

 

 

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

Phan Cam Tuan Huy, Associate Vice-President & Senior Process Engineer, Energy & Chemicals Group (Indochina)

Joining Baron Point in 2018, Phan Cam Tuan Huy was appointed by Petrovietnam Oil in a senior management role to lead a landmark bilateral project between Vietnam and Cambodia, developed as a public-private partnership with Baron Point. Currently a senior executive at Baron Point, he has over 15 years of expertise in process engineering and financial modeling in the oil, gas, and chemical industries.

 

 

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

Serhat Ozvaris, Research & Analysis (Europe and Western Asia)

With nearly a decade of progressively senior experience in financial analysis, he has held roles spanning investment analysis, risk management, auditing, and fund operations. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Econometrics and Quantitative Economics from Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey.  He also holds several advanced professional certifications, including the Capital Markets Activities Advanced Level License (Level III) (CMB 3 License), Credit Rating License (CMB Credit Rating License), and a Derivative Instruments License (CMB Derivatives License) issued by Turkey’s Capital Markets Board.

 

 

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

Raymond S. Houpt, Business Manager - Lumber, Timber, and Building Materials (Indochina, USA, and South America)

Associated with Baron Point since 2017, Mr. Houpt brings more than four decades of experience in the lumber, building-materials distribution, and construction-management industries. A recognized specialist in tropical hardwoods, he led the tropical hardwood division of a major exporter for more than a decade, developing proprietary trademarks and branded wood products that created market differentiation and enhanced pricing power. He subsequently worked across lumber milling, sales, and trading.

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San Anh Hong, Business Manager - Lumber and Timber (Indochina and USA)

Associated with Baron Point since 2018, Mr. San brings more than three decades of experience with major corporations and in the international timber and lumber trade. He has deep technical expertise in grading logs for conversion into construction-grade and furniture-grade lumber.  Based in Indochina, he leads Baron Point’s wood trading activities in the region. His previous experience in North America and the Middle East enabled him to build an extensive global network of commodity-trading relationships.

 

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Jackie Zhang Jian 张健, Business Manager - People's Republic of China (PRC)

Associated with Baron Point since 2019, Mr. Zhang brings more than two decades of experience in financing, investment, international trade, and overseas market development, with particular expertise in the minerals and energy sectors. His background also includes cross-border resource integration, strategic planning, and business management.  Before joining Baron Point, he served as General Manager of Investments, Energy, and Mineral Resources within the Financing Division of Silk Road Economic Promotion and Investment Development Co., Ltd.

 

 

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

John D. Pickard, Enterprise Business Technology (Indochina)

Joining the Baron Point team in 2007, he brought more than two decades of experience with Lloyds Bank, where he rose to Regional Manager and was later appointed by the company’s CEO to lead a special information-technology task force.  He subsequently founded an independent consulting firm that served as a strategic outsourcing partner to multinational institutions. In this role, he designed large-scale, multi-regional corporate systems for regulated asset managers across Asia while advising small and medium-sized businesses navigating periods of rapid growth.

 

 

Experienced Strategic Advisory Board:

Victor H. Sperandeo ("Trader Vic"), Non-Executive Director, Strategic Advisory Board (USA)

Having worked with Mr. Coppola on assignments spanning more than two decades, “Trader Vic” is the founder and CEO of Alpha Financial Technologies and EAM Partners L.P. The principals of both firms bring extensive experience in derivatives, structured notes, and other complex financial instruments.  With more than five decades of experience on Wall Street, he has traded across numerous markets and managed significant institutional capital. Inducted into the Traders Hall of Fame in 2008, his career includes trading the full market exposure of George Soros’s Quantum Fund and managing capital for Leon Cooperman, T. Boone Pickens, and BT Alex. Brown.

 

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Patrick Daly, Non-Executive Director, Strategic Advisory Board at Baron Point, and Managing Partner, Sextant Securities LLC. (USA)

Joining with Baron Point in 2025, Patrick Daly has over three decades of experience in the alternative asset and financial services, and he is currently the Managing Partner of a U.S. FINRA broker dealer.  He was a partner at Blackstone from 2006 to 2015.  In 2006, he co-founded the hedge fund and credit placement business for Blackstone’s Park Hill Group.  PJT Partners was spun off from Blackstone in 2015.  From 2019 to 2023 he was a Partner of PJT Park Hill Group.  Mr. Daly was a Director in Credit Suisse First Boston’s Private Fund Group and a Managing Director at Norfolk Markets, specializing in fixed income products and alternative investments.  Mr. Daly began his career as a trader on the mortgage desk of Morgan Stanley in 1991.  He received a BBA from James Madison University and is a CAIA Charter holder.

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here

Vu Hai Binh, Non-Executive Director, Strategic Advisory Board (Indochina)

Associated with senior management at Baron Point since 2017, he has held numerous senior executive positions in a successful career spanning over three-decades. In his past, he served at the Vietnamese National Oil company in increasingly senior roles as a Managing Director, Capital Representative for strategic NOC subsidiaries, Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Investment Officer, and Senior Assistant to the Chairman of the NOC. He also served as a CEO of a private asset management company. 

 

 

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Iqab Fraij, Non-Executive Director, Strategic Advisory Board (MEA)

Over the last 3 decades, Iqab Fraij was instrumental in growing a business fabricating construction materials such as steel, aluminum, and other metal products established by his grandfather in 1935. Working with notable global steel mills such as Nippon, Sumitomo, Hyundai, Posco, METInvest, MMK, Severstal, Dufurco, and Salzgitter, Mr. Fraij has played an instrumental role in operating strategic offices he established throughout the Gulf, China, and Russia.

 

 

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Lynn R. Murtagh, Non-Executive Director, Strategic Advisory Board (USA)

Mr. Murtagh has spent three decades in the real estate development business. A LEED accredited professional, he has earned the distinguished building certification through the USGBC and has earned a national reputation for his visionary leadership and innovation.

Michael E. McMurtrey, Non-Executive Director, Strategic Advisory Board (USA)

Michael has maintained a trading relationship with Baron Point's CEO since 1995 and has over three decades of institutional trading experience. Formerly he was the Head of NASDAQ Trading for Bridge Trading Company (then a division of Reuters). Mr. McMurtrey's trading desk ranked 5th in the world in terms of alpha production as published in a research survey by Institutional Investor Magazine. In the past he was a Senior Vice President at Wells Fargo Advisors and is currently an SVP at RBC in St. Louis, Missouri.

 

 

Benjawee Niyompornphat, Director of Baron Point (Indochina)

Working in a variety of roles and on assignments with senior management since 2006, she has supported Baron Point’s deal advisory and asset management activities since 2015. Her work has focused primarily on Southeast Asian transactions and has included extended, on-location assignments alongside experienced dealmakers.  Her experience includes engagements involving representatives of Vietnam’s national oil company and work in Abu Dhabi related to a fund investment vehicle partnered with a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family.

For Curriculum Vitae Click Here