Marco Dunand, head of Swiss energy trader Mercuria Energy, has indicated that Nick O’Kane, the former star trader at Macquarie, will take on a senior job at the company to help its “overstretched” management rethink how the business operates and manages risk.
It was a “good thing to bring someone from outside to take a look at how we run the company and maybe come with different ideas, and with a certain level of seniority,” Dunand said at the FT’s Global Commodities conference.
“Our trading business is a very complex machine … it requires constant work to be done to make sure you stay on top of your risk and everything.”
The company is also set to hire Steve Hill, the former head of liquefied natural gas, natural gas and power trading at Shell.
“We do trade LNG, but more from a financial perspective, and we wanted to grow on the physical side of things,” Dunand said.