The Team

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 fun as working in them.

He has taught classes for financial markets and the CFA^® Program for seven years, 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.

Elohor Emmanuel Itoje BSc IMC CFA

Elohor began his teaching career 2002 and has taught at different levels ranging from secondary schools to undergraduate and professional levels.

He graduated with an accounting degree from the University of Benin, Nigeria and has trained as a professional accountant under the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

He decided to pursue a career in financial education, and having succeeded in Level III of the CFA Program is in a position to pass on his experience to candidates in his classes.

He is also an avid investor in stocks, specializing in emerging markets, and uses valuation techniques first proposed by Benjamin Graham in 1934.

Hor Chan CFA

Hor Chan is a Partner with Reoch Credit Partners LLP. He provides specialist financial markets training for international investment banks and their clients. He was previously an Associate Lecturer at the Open University Business School, training Corporate Finance within the MBA programme, and was also a visiting lecturer at City University Business School.

Hor has over 25 years of experience in banking. Until recently, he was responsible for delivering and providing both in-house and client training at ABN AMRO globally. Prior to moving into training full-time, he worked in Emerging Markets debt trading and sales at Raiffeisen Zentral Bank. This was preceded by a period at Unibank A/S where he helped to set up the Asset Structuring Group. He also spent 8 years at SG Warburg where he held various sales and trading positions in Fixed Income, OTC Options, LIBOR trading and Credit Derivatives, and was Head of Structured Euro-MTN issuance.

Hor is a CFA Charterholder and has just passed Level I of CAIA. He studied Corporate Finance at London Business School and holds an MSc in Management Science from Imperial College, the University of London. He earned a BSc in Physics from the University of Birmingham.

Sarpel Ustunel MBA ASA CFA

Sarpel Ustunel received his MBA in Finance from California State University in San Diego and earned his undergraduate degree in Business from the University of Bosporus in Turkey. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder, and an accredited senior Member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) in the business valuation discipline. He is also a Member of the Society of Share and Business Valuers (SSBV) in the United Kingdom, as well as the Valuation Group formed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Sarpel is currently heading the UK operations of Globalview Advisors, a valuation consulting firm with a specialisation in valuations of businesses and intangible assets for a variety of purposes. During his valuation career, he has served companies in Europe, the U.S., Middle East, and Asia. He has been teaching CFA classes as well as intellectual property and intangible asset valuation classes on a part-time basis during the last five years.

David Sellors FSIP CFA

David Sellors has worked within the Investment Management industry for over 20 years, successfully fulfilling a variety of roles for a number of top asset management firms such as Prudential Portfolio Managers, JPMorgan Investment Management and Capital International Limited. These roles have included performance measurement, portfolio analysis, client reporting, business continuity and corporate governance.

During this time, he has also worked within the learning and development arena having developed various internal and external workshops covering topics such as Introduction to the Investment Management Industry, Performance Measurement, Investment Terminology and Introducing the Operational Cycle. He has also developed a Stress Management in the Workplace workshop.

David is a CFA charterholder and a Fellow of the CFA Society of the UK (CFA UK) having fulfilled various roles on the CFA UK Board including Honorary Treasurer and Vice Chair.

David's interests revolve around his family, sport, food and relaxation - he is a qualified Nutritional Therapist and Stress Management Consultant and still runs a private practice.

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.

Atem Akoh-Arrey ACCA BSc (Hons)

Atem is a seasoned financial modeller and currently a senior consultant at PKF (UK) LLP, a top 10 UK firm of accountants & business advisers. He has many years of experience developing complex financial models for infrastructure projects funded by corporate or project finance or bond financing. To date, he has developed financial models with a combined transaction size in excess of £1.0 billion.

He is actively involved in Private-Public Partnerships (PPP), the UK government’s Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) schemes and project finance market, providing financial advice and modelling services.

Atem is a qualified accountant and is currently working his way through the CFA® Program, he is also CEO and founder of 3A Financial Modelling Ltd, a company involved in education and consulting on financial modelling issues.

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.

Galina Alabatchka MBA CFA

Galina graduated with a double major (International Economics and International Business) and a minor in French Civilisation from The American University of Paris and the Sorbonne in Paris in 1996. Upon graduation, she went on to complete her International MBA at the Booth Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago, specialising in accounting and finance. She joined the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in 1998. In 2003, she made the transition to the buyside at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. She became a CFA charterholder in 2004.

Since 2007, Galina has rejoined the academic world by enrolling into a post-graduate programme. She also started financial training for new investment banking joiners.

As an extracurricular, Galina speaks five languages and invests with focus on the green economy. She is also interested in education for newborns through to 100-year-olds!

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.

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

Linlin (Vivian) Zheng MSc

Linlin graduated from Loughborough University with an MSc Degree in Banking and Finance. She received her BA in International Trade and Economics in China. Her interest in investments and the financial markets motivated her to enrol in the CFA Program and she has successfully passed Level III.

Linlin has been involved in the education sector since her second year in university, during which time she was part of an entrepreneurial student group that set up a computer training company. Before joining Quartic, Linlin was an intern with Noozz.com, a financial publisher focusing on emerging markets and offering decision makers a wide range of news, research and analysis.

Within Quartic Training, Linlin is involved with many aspects of the business and is determined to share her enthusiasm regarding the benefits of the CFA Program with as many people as possible.

She is a keen tennis player, ice skater and swimmer with a strong interest in music and travel. Linlin is also partial to spicy food, yoga and Sudoku.

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.