Leadership

Over 30 years of corporate finance experience including CEO of Amber Fusion, Inc., Kinde & Co Ltd., Chairman of Fearnley & Kinde Ltd. and Senior Advisor to Savvy Capital. Previously, he was CEO of Boustead & Co. Ltd, the oldest British merchant banking firm founded by Edward Boustead in 1828. Before that, he was the founder of Libertas Capital and was the Executive Chairman of Libertas Capital Group plc. He later served as the Senior Partner of Libertas Partners LLP. This investment bank focused on both traditional oil and gas and renewable energy, with regulated subsidiaries in London, Los Angeles, New York, Stockholm, Dubai, and Hong Kong. Before that, Jakob held several senior positions at Kleinwort Benson including Managing Director and Head of Nordic Corporate Finance where he worked on significant corporate finance transactions involving equity new issues, IPOs, mergers, and acquisitions, with transactions in various sectors including oil and gas, financial services, engineering/technology, renewable energy, and forestry/paper. Jakob began his career at Samuel Montagu & Co Ltd (now HSBC Investment Banking) in 1982, where he worked in corporate finance in London and Stockholm. He was also part of the joint venture Carnegie Montagu AB between Samuel Montagu & Co. Limited and Carnegie Fondkommission AB. He also founded and was Chairman of Noble Tree Housing Limited, which was wholly owned by Noble Tree Foundation Limited. This UK-registered charity focused on housing for vulnerable people. B.Sc. in Economics from University College London (UCL), a Certified Diploma in Accountancy and Finance (C.Dip.A.F.) and Member Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (M.C.S.I.).

With over 25 years of experience in corporate finance, he previously served as Chief Investment Officer at Boustead Asset Management Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Boustead & Co. Ltd., the oldest British merchant banking firm founded by Edward Boustead in 1828. In this role, he managed the Boustead Investment Fund PCC, a fully licensed and regulated multi-asset class fund focused on diversified strategies across Africa, including equities, fixed income, commodities, private markets, structured oil and gas finance, derivatives, and forex. Prior to that, he was Partner, Shareholder, and Head of Securities Research at Nova Capital Global Markets in New York City, where he led the Africa research division. He oversaw macroeconomic and microeconomic reports for portfolio managers of the New Bridge Global Opportunities Fund, an event-driven fund targeting emerging markets across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He also served on the investment committee and played a key role in growing and managing institutional investor relationships. He has contributed regularly to financial media outlets, including the Financial Times and Thomson Reuters, publishing a monthly emerging markets commentary distributed to over 23 countries. Earlier in his career, he served as Director of Investment Banking at several firms in Los Angeles, including C.K. Cooper & Co. (now part of ROTH Capital Partners) and Ascendiant Capital Markets, working across diverse sectors and industries in both the U.S. and Europe. He is Chairman of M'mabisi Global Foundation, which provides philanthropic grants to emerging growth companies and infrastructure projects across Africa. He holds a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).