Nicholas Blain MA FCA FCSI CFA

Nicholas graduated with a maths degree from Queens' College, Cambridge in 1990. He qualified as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse (now PwC) then joined Ernst & Young as a management consultant, specialising in emerging markets banking sectors. Nicholas spent a few years in investment banking with ING Barings before realising that teaching financial markets was as much fun as working in them.

He has taught classes for financial markets and the CFA^® Program since 2001, including three years based in Singapore, and has presented in places as diverse as Johannesburg, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, Zurich and Dublin.

As chief executive of Quartic Training he is proud to have built a business founded on quality of tuition and excellence of client service.

Outside class Nicholas also invests, being treasurer of an investment partnership that has averaged nearly 20% per year. His guru is Warren Buffett, who is on a distant corner of Nicholas' family tree.

James Irving DCL CFA

James became a CFA Charterholder in 2009 and is the founding chair of the Value Investing Special Interest Group at the CFA Society of the UK. James has been an active investor for over 15 years, first with an exclusive focus on his native Australia, but now also extending his research to many other jurisdictions. James has read widely in the field since he first (fatefully) picked up "Security Analysis" by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd (the 2nd Edition, 1940).

Aside from his long-standing interest in finance James is also a lawyer. He has worked at major firms in both Melbourne (Australia) and New York City. He holds a doctorate from McGill University in Montreal, where he graduated on the Dean's Honour List in 2005. James continues to pursue his interest in international law and human rights (specifically the right of self-determination).

James' experience as an instructor extends from yachting and German (language) to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching (at the University of London). James is a qualified university-level instructor, having graduated from the LSE with a Post-Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (Teaching) in 2009.

Yemi Lanipekun MEng

Yemi graduated with a Masters degree in Engineering and Computing Science from St. Hughs College, Oxford University in 2006. She completed all three levels of the CFA exams in 2011. 

Yemi worked as a freelance financial consultant helping companies with valuation models, strategic business plans and financial proposals. Prior to that, she was a Financial Analyst at Deutsche Bank’s UK Mergers & Acquisition department where she worked extensively on various deals including mergers, acquisitions, divesitures and other corporate actions. Yemi has also worked at other leading Investment Banks in various capacities. 

Outside of class, Yemi manages her own (tiny) investment portfolio and enjoys travelling.

Mark Colley MA MBA CFA

Mark read Economics at St Johns College, Cambridge University and has an MBA from the international business school, INSEAD. He completed the CFA in 2008.

Mark works in Private Equity, having worked in UK Buyouts at 3i plc, and most recently at EPIC Private Equity, investing across a range of Buyout, Growth Capital and Turnaround investments. He is also a member of the Professional Development committee for the Institute for Turnaround.

He is a serial investor in both small private companies and listed stocks. Outside of work, he enjoys travel and rugby.

Guenter Klas PhD

Guenter graduated from Technical University of Vienna, Austria, with a MSc degree in Electrical Engineering before gaining a PhD in computer science from the Technical University of Munich in Germany. He currently holds a management position in a FTSE 100 company in the UK and is involved in research, strategy, industry alliances and corporate ventures. He has gained significant experience in the real economy with major insight in the TMT sector right at the cutting edge of innovation - and realised that this is also a good basis for equity research and investment management.

A keen interest in finance and economy was his best companion to pass a series of qualifications including IMC (CFA UK), CFA L 1-3, FRM (GARP) and CFQ (ICAEW and CICA), overall a highly exciting mix of financial analysis, investment management, financial risk management, modelling and corporate finance. He is ready to share this experience with candidates and pass on valuable lessons learnt.

Apart from that Guenter has a big interest in the areas of business excellence (what makes companies outperform), new ventures, new technologies and portfolio management.

Gustavo Tella FRM CFA

Gustavo Tella graduated in business administration at Fundacao Getulio Vargas in Sao Paulo in 2004. During his undergrad studies, he was awarded a scholarship to study at University of Illinois at Chicago, where he turned his course focus to the financial markets.

Since then, he has worked in major institutions ranging from derivatives exchanges and investment banks to providers of investment decision support tools. Most recently he has made the move from product management to a sales role. Today he is a Sales Specialist for different portfolio analytics products. His main areas of interest are in portfolio construction, risk management and performance attribution.

Gustavo was awarded his FRM certification in 2006 and became a CFA charterholder in 2009. Prior to joining the Quartic team Gustavo taught a wide range of courses at the financial firms in which he has worked.

Stephen Coe MA

After gaining his MA in Engineering at Cambridge University, Stephen joined KPMG and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1984, before moving to KPMG’s Management Consulting firm, specialising in writing financial forecasts using a variety of spreadsheets. During this time he realised the importance of setting work out clearly and how difficult that can be with spreadsheets. 

Having developed his own spreadsheet methodology and applied it to numerous acquisition and other scenarios, Stephen was asked to lecture it to other spreadsheet users and to clients, including Schroeders, SBC Warburg, Hambros, NM Rothschild and NatWest.

Stephen left KPMG to join UBS Warburg’s Education Department at the start of 1996, and was there for two years before leaving to set up as an independent management consultant, specialising in educating and advising people about financial modelling. 

His clients in this role have included: Colliers CRE, KPMG, Baker Tilly, Grant Thornton, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Merrill Lynch Asset Management, Close Brothers Corporate Finance, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland, Cinven, Rawlinson & Hay and the BBC. 

Paul Meadows ASIP CFA Institute

Paul has fifteen years experience on the Buyside of the Market, working in both Institutional and High Net Worth Portfolio Management (including Royal Insurance Asset Management and Lloyds Private Banking). His roles ranged from managing the UK Equity component of a larger Portfolio on behalf of a Scandinavian Insurer through to Heading up the Global Research effort in London for a Bermudan-domiciled Private Bank.

Paul also has ten years experience designing and delivering both Public and tailored in-house training programmes, with audiences ranging from Graduates and new starters, through to one-to-one coaching of Senior Managers. He has delivered programmes on Wealth & Portfolio Management, Equity Valuation, Technical Analysis & Hedge Funds in the Middle East, Asia, Emerging and Western Europe, Russia and South Africa as well as London, for blue chip Investment Banks, Fund Managers, Regulators, Hedge Funds, Private Banks and Law Firms.

Vanessa Rucian Ruiz de Almeida MBA

Vanessa Almeida graduated in Business Administration from Unaerp in Brazil and has an MBA in Financial Management from the University of Sao Paulo.

She has more than 10 years of financial & administrative experience, which she gained whilst she worked as finance manager for a Brazilian confectionery manufacturer.

Vanessa recently fulfilled her desire to travel by re-locating to London. She joined Quartic Training as Customer Service Manager in 2007.

Vanessa believes that the most successful team is one in which individual and team goals are aligned. Within Quartic Training those goals are to ensure smooth procedures for all candidates and clients.

"Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." Henry Ford.

Wayne Pocket

Wayne joined Quartic from the training sector, having worked for over 12 years for the British Standards Institution in the UK. He has held various roles in sales and marketing of certification and training to ISO standards, covering quality, environmental, heath & safety, information security and business continuity. Wayne's last position within BSI was managing the training business in mainland Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Wayne is originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, where he graduated in clothing, textiles and work study engineering.

Wayne is responsible for ensuring that the expectations of our corporate clients are surpassed, as well as developing Quartic's business both in the UK and overseas.

Outside work Wayne spends his time working on various website designs and spear fishing.

Marcus J Cooper BSc (Hons)

Originally from the Midlands, Marcus graduated from Cardiff in 2002 before gaining six years' experience running operations, logistics, IT, graphic design and website management within the jewellery retail sector.

At Quartic he oils the company wheels; overseeing the day-to-day practicalities of printed workbooks, functioning computers, accurate timetables and stocked cupboards.

Marcus has a keen interest in sport and music, and can frequently be found in one of London's many small venues, listening to bands no one else has heard of.

Robin A Speculand - associate tutor

Robin Speculand is the CEO of Bridges Business Consultancy Int, which specializes in making strategy come alive. His work has been featured on business channels such as the BBC and in various business magazines.

Robin is a specialist in implementing strategy as well as a masterful event facilitator, an engaging keynote speaker and author of Bricks to Bridges - Making Your Strategy Come Alive and Turning It On - Sure-Fire Business Stories to Ignite, Excite and Entertain.

Before founding Bridges, he was Asia Pacific Regional Vice President for Citigroup. He has lived and worked in the UK, US and Australia, and has operated in Asia since 1989. He holds an MBA from the National University of Singapore. Robin is the founder and president of Business Roundtable for Innovative Management, a Singapore-based management think tank and a founding member of Asia Speakers Association.