Our Management:
Gilles Koch
Gilles has over 25 years of management experience in structured finance. He is specialized in the management of international private and public, oil and gas companies.
Gilles started his career in 1990 as buy-side equity analyst and fund manager at Bank Leu in Zurich. Late 1992 he was hired by Finter Bank in Zurich to become the bank's Chief Investment Officer, responsible for the asset management of the clients' wealth and the formation of an income oriented SICAV Fund domiciled under the laws of Luxembourg and one of Switzerland's first alternative cross-hedge fund domiciled in an off-shore jurisdiction. Late 1994, Gilles co-founded his first Zurich based corporate finance institution and acted for over 20 years to come as its CEO and Chairman. Gilles furnished large sums of funding, exclusively to distressed, either privately or publicly held oil & gas companies. As activist investor for all of his invested companies, Gilles surveilled corporate strategies, held a seat at the Board of Directors, participated actively in all corporate committees, decided on staffing matters and last but not least, occasionally had to step-up as the interim corporate CEO of public traded oil & gas companies. Gilles gained vast experience in acquiring oil & gas licenses, funding and rolling them into publicly listed companies. In 2016 he co-founded Canopus Capital, a Liechtenstein based investment company focusing on oil & gas investments and acting as it's Managing Partner.
Gilles is a member of the management body of Waterful, a non-profit foundation, responsible for water treatment and the electrification of households in the Democratic Republic Congo. Waterful's Kinshasa based sister foundation SODIS, is an entity which is recognized through all local ministries and enjoys tax freedom on all activities.
Gilles studied economics and political science at University of Bern in 1990. He finished his High School with a degree in Mathematics and Physics in 1989.
Gilles has over 25 years of management experience in structured finance. He is specialized in the management of international private and public, oil and gas companies.
Gilles started his career in 1990 as buy-side equity analyst and fund manager at Bank Leu in Zurich. Late 1992 he was hired by Finter Bank in Zurich to become the bank's Chief Investment Officer, responsible for the asset management of the clients' wealth and the formation of an income oriented SICAV Fund domiciled under the laws of Luxembourg and one of Switzerland's first alternative cross-hedge fund domiciled in an off-shore jurisdiction. Late 1994, Gilles co-founded his first Zurich based corporate finance institution and acted for over 20 years to come as its CEO and Chairman. Gilles furnished large sums of funding, exclusively to distressed, either privately or publicly held oil & gas companies. As activist investor for all of his invested companies, Gilles surveilled corporate strategies, held a seat at the Board of Directors, participated actively in all corporate committees, decided on staffing matters and last but not least, occasionally had to step-up as the interim corporate CEO of public traded oil & gas companies. Gilles gained vast experience in acquiring oil & gas licenses, funding and rolling them into publicly listed companies. In 2016 he co-founded Canopus Capital, a Liechtenstein based investment company focusing on oil & gas investments and acting as it's Managing Partner.
Gilles is a member of the management body of Waterful, a non-profit foundation, responsible for water treatment and the electrification of households in the Democratic Republic Congo. Waterful's Kinshasa based sister foundation SODIS, is an entity which is recognized through all local ministries and enjoys tax freedom on all activities.
Gilles studied economics and political science at University of Bern in 1990. He finished his High School with a degree in Mathematics and Physics in 1989.
Christophe Darbord
Christophe has over 20 years of physical and financial commodity trading and investing experience, mainly in Energy (Petroleum, Coal, Natural Gas and Electricity). He has gained specific experience in creating new businesses, delivering outstanding performance thanks to appropriate strategy, assets and risk management.
Christophe started his career at Pricewaterhouse before joining Cargill. During these eleven years, he has been exposed to the different facets of energy trading both in the physical and futures markets, also trading several managed accounts for third parties investors. Leaving Cargill as a Business Unit Leader, Christophe joined Bunge as the Global Director of Energy and Biofuels. During these five years, he has built a worldwide profitable business across the entire energy spectrum and has expanded his trading, asset acquisition and managerial expertise across different markets and geographies. Since January 2012, Christophe has been an active entrepreneur and private investor in the commodity industry. He was a co-founder of DH Minerals Ltd., a private natural resource trading and investment company with main involvement in coal in South Africa and the United States. He was the CEO of two petroleum refineries. He has founded and been developing an asset-backed trading oil company in Southern Europe in joint-venture with one of the largest commodity groups. He is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Canopus Capital.
Christophe is Vice-Chairman of EcoFormation, a Swiss non-profit foundation involved in reforestation, agro-forestry and healthcare in Madagascar; a founding ex-member of EFET, European Federation of Electricity Traders; former advisor to the French, Belgium, Spanish and British Gas & Electricity CEOs think-tank and a regular invited speaker at energy conferences.
Christophe has graduated from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Marseille (Master Degree in Finance, 1996) and holds a High School diploma in Mathematics and Physics with honors, 1991.
Christophe has over 20 years of physical and financial commodity trading and investing experience, mainly in Energy (Petroleum, Coal, Natural Gas and Electricity). He has gained specific experience in creating new businesses, delivering outstanding performance thanks to appropriate strategy, assets and risk management.
Christophe started his career at Pricewaterhouse before joining Cargill. During these eleven years, he has been exposed to the different facets of energy trading both in the physical and futures markets, also trading several managed accounts for third parties investors. Leaving Cargill as a Business Unit Leader, Christophe joined Bunge as the Global Director of Energy and Biofuels. During these five years, he has built a worldwide profitable business across the entire energy spectrum and has expanded his trading, asset acquisition and managerial expertise across different markets and geographies. Since January 2012, Christophe has been an active entrepreneur and private investor in the commodity industry. He was a co-founder of DH Minerals Ltd., a private natural resource trading and investment company with main involvement in coal in South Africa and the United States. He was the CEO of two petroleum refineries. He has founded and been developing an asset-backed trading oil company in Southern Europe in joint-venture with one of the largest commodity groups. He is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Canopus Capital.
Christophe is Vice-Chairman of EcoFormation, a Swiss non-profit foundation involved in reforestation, agro-forestry and healthcare in Madagascar; a founding ex-member of EFET, European Federation of Electricity Traders; former advisor to the French, Belgium, Spanish and British Gas & Electricity CEOs think-tank and a regular invited speaker at energy conferences.
Christophe has graduated from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Marseille (Master Degree in Finance, 1996) and holds a High School diploma in Mathematics and Physics with honors, 1991.