The details of the current Directors and Management of the Company are set out below. All of the Directors are non-executive and a majority are independent in accordance with the AIC Code of Corporate Governance. The Directors supervise the Management of the Company and represent the interests of shareholders.
The Board of Directors
John Herring
Chairman
John qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1982. In 1986, John joined the corporate finance department of Kleinwort Benson, where he was involved in the IPOs on the LSE for several companies. In 1996 he established his own private equity advisory business and joined the boards of a number of public and private companies including JD Wetherspoon plc where he became deputy chairman and served as a non-executive director for 14 years.
Andrew Pegge
Non-Executive Director
After obtaining a BA in Social Psychology and Cognitive Studies, Andrew started his career in the investment department of Laurentian Life. He then moved to Buchanan Partners where he analyzed and managed closed end funds and similar structures for the Emerging Markets and other funds. During this time, he completed the 3 year CFA program and a 2 year executive MBA. In 1995, Andrew co-founded Regent Kingpin Capital Management, then after a brief stint as a consultant at the Isle of Man regulator, he co-founded Laxey Partners in 1997. He now manages his family office, POP Investments, which is a circa 10% shareholder in the Company.
Simeon Goddard
Non-Executive Director
Mr Goddard is a Chartered Financial Analyst and is Director of Equity Investments and co-Chief Investment Officer of Northview Services Ltd and is also a member of their Investment Committee. Additionally, Mr Goddard serves as a director of Northview Investments Ltd., which owns 37,764,018 shares in the Company. Mr. Goddard has over 20 years’ experience in fundamental equity analysis and portfolio management and is primarily responsible for Northview’s investments in liquid securities and asset classes. More recently, he has become increasingly active in Northview’s major real estate development projects. Mr Goddard started his career with Barclays Wealth in London, before spending time with GFI Securities in both London and New York. He joined Northview Services Ltd. in 2012 and was appointed co-Chief Investment Officer in 2021. He resides in the Cayman Islands.
Dena Bellamy
Non-Executive Director
Dena Bellamy is an experienced corporate finance professional with over 25 years of experience in investment banking. After completing her Ph.D., she embarked on a career that saw her work at international financial institutions including Rothschild, Merrill Lynch, and Commerzbank. Dena has provided strategic advice on M&A transactions, IPOs, and bond issuance to clients in a range of sectors, including real estate and infrastructure. Dena has held board director roles in both public and private companies, including Biofarma Innovations, a joint venture with BioCubaFarma, the Cuban state-owned pharmaceutical company. She has also recently spent a number of years working on the establishment of a new international investment bank in Cuba.
Mary Dunphy
Non-Executive Director
Mary Dunphy, a law graduate from Trinity College, has held numerous positions as a Chairperson and Board member of Private, Listed and Global Not-for-profits organisations and on a pro bono for international and national charities. Most recently she has chaired two Nasdaq listed companies. Previously she was a Global Equity Partner / Senior Managing Director at both Accenture & Teneo (Global Board & C-Suite Advisory). She worked with C-Suite teams, boards and VC / PE investors of high profile and FTSE100 organisations; on defining and delivering double digit EBITDA and valuation improvements. Mary was the Global CEO of CoderDojo: a charity she activated and led in 65 countries. Mary is an experienced keynote speaker at global events including at the World Economic Forum at Davos, The Web Summit, SouthxSouthWest, Salesforce World Tour & Dreamforce, EU Parliament and Buckingham Palace. She is also a multi award recipient and media presenter.
Robin Smith
Non-Executive Director
Robin Smith is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA) who was educated in Guernsey, studied accountancy in the UK and trained professionally with Deloitte, Haskins & Sells in London. He is also a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). From 1984 until 2024, Mr Smith held senior positions with three fiduciary groups, first with Havelet and Nerine where he performed a variety of roles including Company Secretary and Group Finance Director with board appointments on their principal Guernsey based fiduciary and fund operations. Most recently until February 2024 he was Managing Director of the Praxis Guernsey Fiduciary business until his retirement in February 2024. He is a non-executive Director of a UK Charity, Servol Community Services Limited and is a Non-Executive Director of each of Darwin Property Investment Management Limited and Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited who between them manage three Guernsey Open Ended Class B Collective Investment Schemes.
Crispin Latymer
Non-Executive Director
After graduating from Oxford University in 1977 Crispin worked in London, New York and Zurich for both American and European institutions including Bankers Trust, the European Banking Company and Coutts/NatWest. In 1990 he became Head of International Private Banking for Coutts UK and Senior Executive of Coutts International. In 2000 he moved to Cazenove to head the transformation from stockbroker to full-service private wealth manager. He subsequently became advisor to two private Family Offices, an NED of Manek Investment Management, an NED and later Chair of Blackrock Throgmorton Trust and a Trustee, later Chair, of UCLH Charities.
Management Team
Sebastiaan Berger
Lead Manager and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Sebastiaan A.C. Berger is a Dutch trained lawyer who has resided in Cuba since 1996. He has been assisting foreign investors in Cuba since 1996, first as founder of the Havana office of an international law firm, then as a founding partner of Berger, Young and Associates (1998). He has been the lead investment manager of CEIBA Investments Limited and Representative of the Havana Office of CEIBA Property Corporation Ltd. (CEIBA) since 2002.
Cameron Young
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Cameron Young is a Canadian lawyer who worked in Montreal, Canada and Budapest, Hungary prior to arriving in Cuba in 1998. He was a founding partner of Berger, Young and Associates Ltd. (a consulting firm serving foreign investors in Cuba) and joined the investment management team of CEIBA in 2002.