Board of Directors

Joachim Gottschalk

Chief Executive and Chairman founded Gottex in 1986. Prior to founding Gottex, Mr. Gottschalk spent fourteen years with the Lausanne-based financial services firm, Tradition S.A. In 1980 Mr. Gottschalk was appointed director responsible for Continental Eastern Europe and in 1984 he was appointed to the board of Tradition S.A. and Tradition Holding S.A., Mr. Gottschalk started his career in 1965 with Dresdner Bank AG in Munich, where he spent four years prior to relocating to Lausanne. Mr. Gottschalk is also a director of Gottex GmbH and Select Asset Management Limited.

Richard Leibovitch

Senior Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer, joined Gottex in September 2003. From 1985 until 1998 Mr. Leibovitch worked at JP Morgan, starting as a foreign exchange trader and an asset and liability manager for Morgan Bank of Canada. In 1998 Mr. Leibovitch joined the Derivatives group in New York as the manager of the Canadian and Australian dollar swap books.

In 1991 Mr. Leibovitch was made responsible for the U.S. dollar swap book, and subsequently became head of all U.S. interest rate derivatives trading, working closely with Mr. Bennett and Mr. Bailey. From 1993 until 1995 Mr. Leibovitch was Head of Trading of Morgan’s mortgage-backed securities business. From 1995 until 1997, Mr. Leibovitch was responsible for the structuring and marketing of derivative products. In 1997, Mr. Leibovitch moved to focus on the equities business as the Co-Head of Morgan’s North American Equity Derivatives business.

In 1999, Mr. Leibovitch joined Putnam Investments as Head of Derivatives. In 2000, he was given the additional responsibility of Global Head Trading, where he oversaw the daily operations of both equity and fixed income trading. Mr. Leibovitch was a member of Putnam’s Partners and Executive Committees. Mr. Leibovitch has an Honors Bachelors Degree in Economics from McGill University and an M.Phil Degree in Economics from Cambridge University.

Maximilian Gottschalk

Senior Managing Director, Head of Global Marketing, joined Gottex in August 1998. Prior to joining Gottex, Mr. Gottschalk was a Vice President at Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., New York, where he was responsible for hedge fund sales in the Fixed Income Derivatives Group. From 1994 until 1998, while at Bear Stearns, Mr. Gottschalk structured and marketed derivative strategies to alternative funds. Mr. Gottschalk developed and implemented numerous strategies for these clients using complex derivative structures. Mr. Gottschalk’s coverage of alternative funds spanned fixed income, foreign exchange options, credit derivatives and emerging markets. Mr. Gottschalk has a BA in finance, marketing and international business from the University of Virginia where he graduated with Honors.

Bruno Pfister

Non-Executive Director, became a director of the Company in 2007. Mr. Pfister began his career working for Chase Manhattan Bank in London and Geneva. Between 1988 and 1996, Mr. Pfister was a management consultant for McKinsey & Co. In 1996, Mr. Pfister became Chief of Staff of the private banking division at Liechtenstein Global Trust, where he managed a global strategic project before being appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Liechtenstein Global Trust Group and the Liechtenstein Global Trust Bank in 1998. In 1999, as a member of the Credit Suisse Group Executive Board, Mr. Pfister took over as Head of Customer Segment and Product Management at Credit Suisse. Mr. Pfister has been with the Swiss Life Group since August 2002, initially as Chief Financial Officer and, as of January 1, 2006, as Chief Executive Officer International. Mr. Pfister graduated from the University of Geneva with a master’s degree in law before being called to the bar in Geneva. Mr. Pfister has a MBA in business management studies from the graduate School of Management in Los Angeles.

Michael Garrett

Non-Executive Director, became a director of the Company in 2007. Mr. Garrett began his 44 year career with Nestlé in 1961 and has worked in Switzerland, Australia, the U.K. and Japan. In 1974, Mr. Garrett headed Nestlé’s confectionery business in the U.K. before taking a position in Australia, first as Marketing Director and subsequently as Managing Director of Nestlé Australia Ltd. Mr. Garrett was assigned to Japan as Head of Market between 1990 and 1993 before being appointed as Zone Director and Member of the Executive Board of Nestlé S.A., responsible for Asia and Oceania in March 1993. In July 1996, Mr. Garrett’s responsibilities were expanded to include Africa and the Middle East. Mr. Garrett sat on the World Trade Organization Business Advisory Council in Switzerland between 2002 and 2005 and was also a member of the Lausanne/Tokyo Business Leaders Club and a visiting International Fellow of the Sir William Tyree Foundation of the Australia Industry Association. Mr. Garrett retired from Nestlé S.A. as Executive Vice President on April 30, 2005. Mr. Garrett continued as a Board Member of Nestlé India until February 2008 and also serves as a non-executive director on the Boards of Prudential plc, the Bobst Group in Switzerland and Hasbro Inc.

Mr. Garrett was recently appointed as a Member of the Finance and Performance Review Committee of the Board of the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum as well as being an international member of the Swaziland Business and Economic Advisory Panel under the auspices of the Global Leadership Foundation, London. Mr. Garrett graduated from the IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Douglas L. Brown

Non-Executive Director, became a director of the Company in 2007. Between 1982 and 1986, Mr. Brown was with GE Credit in strategic planning with a focus on acquisitions and business planning and ran its Leveraged Sale Leaseback program. Between 1986 and 1993, Mr. Brown was an Executive Director with First Boston in their Global Insurance Group. Mr. Brown joined Morgan Stanley in 1993. While at Morgan Stanley, Mr. Brown served as Co-Head of the Global Financial Institutions Group, head of the Global Insurance Group, head of the Client Diagnostic Group, head of Firm Relationship Management, and leader of the firm’s China Financial Institutions Privatization initiatives. Most recently, Mr. Brown was Vice Chairman of Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley. In 2006, Mr. Brown founded DLB Capital, LLC a private investment firm. Mr. Brown is member of the Board of Aegon USA and The China Institute. Mr. Brown has an A.B. degree from Bowdoin College in the United States.

David Staples

Non-Executive Director, became a director of the Company in 2007. For thirteen years until 2003, Mr Staples was a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers and led the tax practice in the South East of England advising several large family and owner-managed businesses. He was also a member of the management board of the firm’s London and South East Middle Markets Tax Practice. Since leaving PwC, Mr Staples has joined the boards of several groups of companies as a non-executive director. He is Chairman of MedicX Fund Limited (listed on LSE main market) and Chairman of the audit committee of Premier Renewable Energy Fund Limited (listed on LSE main market). His other appointments include directorships of the general partners of four very large Apax private equity funds and a private property investment group. Mr Staples is resident in Guernsey where he is Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and an associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. He also holds the Institute of Directors' Diploma in Company Direction and has been granted a personal fiduciary licence by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. Mr Staples has a BSC in Business Economics and Accounting from the University of Southampton.

Larry Lasser

Non-executive director, became a director of the Company in 2008. He held a number of senior management roles at Putnam Investments from 1969 to 2003. In 1985 he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer and presided over a remarkable period of growth at Putnam, as assets under management rose from approximately USD 10 billion to over USD 400 billion.