Goldman names new head of US power trading

Other commodities moves at BTG Pactual, EDF Trading, Javelin and Munich Re

Goldman Sachs, New York: two new hires in power trading and commodities, respectively

Teoman Guler has been appointed as New York-based head of US power trading at Goldman Sachs. Guler replaces Max Coreth, who joined Chicago-based proprietary trading firm DRW Trading Group last year.

Guler has been with Goldman since 2011. Prior to that, he ran the power basis trading desk at New Jersey-based utility Public Service Enterprise Group. He has also served as a quantitative research analyst at Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel.

In his new role, he reports to Owen West, a New York-based partner in the bank’s commodities unit.

In a separate move, Forrest Lu Shen, a former director of commodity sales at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong, has joined Goldman as executive director of commodity sales in Singapore. Lu Shen had been in charge of iron ore sales at Standard Chartered since 2013. Prior to that, he worked for Singapore-based physical iron ore trading platform globalOre.

A spokesman for Goldman Sachs declined to comment on the hires.

Traders join BTG Pactual

BTG Pactual has recently taken on two traders in its commodities business.

Ivan Georgiev, a former head of quantitative analytics at Geneva-based trading house Mercuria, has joined the bank as an algorithmic trader in London. Georgiev joined Mercuria in 2014 after spending five years as executive director and head of energy quantitative analysis for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa at JP Morgan.

Mike Taylor, a former US emissions trader with Connecticut-based commodity merchant Castleton Commodities, has joined BTG as an environmental trader in Houston. Most recently, Taylor worked for Houston-based natural gas and environmental commodity marketer Element Markets.

BTG Pactual is reportedly analysing plans to spin off its commodities business amid wider problems at the bank. André Esteves, its chief executive, was arrested in November last year for allegedly obstructing justice in relation to corruption charges surrounding Brazilian national oil company Petrobras. The news was first reported by Reuters.

The bank’s London-based energy unit has seen a raft of departures during the past year. Most recently, Andrew Dodson, head of non-US oil trading, left the bank to join New York-based hedge fund Millennium Management.

A spokesperson for BTG declined to comment.

Javelin adds two new hires

London-based commodity merchant Javelin Global Commodities has added to its coal and power business with two new hires.

Tyler Shotkoski has joined from Illinois-based coal producer Foresight Energy, where he worked as a sales and marketing manager. In his new role, Shotkoski is based in London.

Meanwhile, Tark Miyai, has joined from Goldman Sachs, where he worked as a Singapore-based executive director. Previously, Miyai served as a director at Maryland-based power generator Constellation Energy. In his new role, he continues to be based in Singapore.

Javelin launched in June last year as a partnership between Ohio-based coal miner Murray Energy and Düsseldorf-based utility trader E.on Global Commodities.

On December 6, Javelin announced that Ron Smith – a former vice-president at LyondellBasell’s Houston refinery – would become chief executive of Javelin Hydrocarbon, taking responsibility for the firm’s trading and investments in hydrocarbons.

A spokesperson for Javelin confirms the hires, but declined to comment further.

Munich Re hires ex-Mercuria director

The Houston-based energy and weather derivatives arm of German reinsurer Munich Re has appointed Varun Lumba as managing director of structured origination.

In his new role, Lumba will be responsible for short- and long-term structured transactions in power and gas markets, as well as providing credit solutions to energy market participants.

Lumba is a former director of marketing and origination at the US energy unit of Switzerland-based Mercuria. While working at the trading house between 2011 and 2012, he was responsible for building up its Houston-based trading team.

Prior to joining Munich Re, Lumba worked as chief financial officer of BrightLeaf Energy Ventures, a Virginia-based natural gas and power trading company.
A company spokesperson declined to comment.

EDF hires Citi’s Tremblay

Carl Tremblay has joined EDF Trading, the trading arm of the French utility, as a Houston-based senior power trader.

In his new role, Tremblay is responsible for power and gas trading in the northeast US and Canada, with a focus on the New England, New York and PJM electricity markets.

Before joining EDF Trading in December, Tremblay worked for Citi in a similar role. Prior to that, he worked as a New York power trader at Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners, a subsidiary of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management.

A spokesperson for EDF Trading confirms the hire.

Shear takes over at Cheniere

Neal Shear, the former global head of commodities at Morgan Stanley, has been named interim president and chief executive at Houston-based Cheniere Energy.

Shear, who has been a member of Cheniere’s board of directors since 2014, was appointed to the position in December last year. It followed a decision by the company’s board to replace Charif Souki as president and chief executive.

Souki – who co-founded the company in 1996 – is understood to have disagreed with the board over the company’s future plans. His departure followed the acquisition of a 13.8% stake in the company by activist investor Carl Icahn.

Shear worked at Morgan Stanley for 26 years. After leaving the bank in 2008, he became a partner at New York-based private equity firm Apollo Global Management. He also worked at Swiss bank UBS as global head of securities.

ČEZ names head of renewables

Czech utility ČEZ has appointed Martin Pacovsky as head of renewables in Prague. The move is part of a wider strategy to develop renewable energy projects, a company spokesperson says.

In the newly-created role, Pacovsky is in charge of the operations of renewable projects across Europe, with a focus on neighbouring countries. Since joining ČEZ in 2009, Pacovsky has held a number of senior positions at the firm, including head of international operations.  In his new role, he reports to Tomáš Pleskač, chief renewables and development officer.

Separately, ČEZ has named Tobias Munk as head of options trading in Prague. Munk joined the company in November 2015 after spending three years with Swiss utility Axpo as head of fuel and carbon trading. In his new position, Munk leads a team of oil, gas, power, carbon and coal traders and reports to Chad Tschudi, head of commodity trading.

Munk’s arrival will boost the company’s presence in an “under-serviced market segment”, the spokesperson adds.

Lowitt takes top job at Marex

Ian Lowitt has been appointed as chief executive of Marex Spectron, the London-based commodity broker announced on January 6.

Lowitt, who previously served as chief financial officer (CFO), replaces John Wall, who has retired. He will move from New York to London to take on the new role. Meanwhile, the position of CFO has been taken on by Rob Watts, the company’s group financial controller.

Until joining Marex Spectron in 2012, Wall worked for Swiss bank UBS, where he was global co-head of investment banking.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Isaacs has stepped down from his position as a non-executive chairman. Isaacs has been replaced by non-executive director and former London Metal Exchange chief executive Simon Heale. Isaacs, who is the co-founder of private equity firm JRJ Group, will remain on the firm’s board of directors. JRJ Group and its partners, US-based Trilantic Capital Partners and  Netherlands-based BXR Group, together hold a majority share in the broker.

A spokesperson declined to comment on the moves.