Our Team
Our executive team is made up exclusively of financial services industry veterans, with diverse but complementary backgrounds, knowledge, and experience. We have worked for global financial institutions and industry service providers, but we also have track records as entrepreneurs and investors in start-ups and small businesses.
Stephen Lazar
Chairman of The Board
Steve is a serial angel investor with a background in financial news and information. His positions at Reuters and Dow Jones included region-wide editorial as well as business development roles. He has also worked in recruitment and management consultancy in the Greater China region.
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame in the US, he also led the Notre Dame Club of Hong Kong for many years. He has studied in the UK with the Chartered Institute of Marketing and has an Executive MBA from the University of Hull.
Click here to view Stephen’s LinkedIn.
James Hughes
Chief Executive Officer
James graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in Economics. He is a Lifetime Fellow of the Hong Kong Securities Institute and a Chartered Fellow of the UK Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.
Originally an equity derivatives trader with Japanese investment bank Nomura, before transitioning to private banking with HSBC and then Pictet, James co-founded Black Swan Capital, a successful wealth management business based in London. James later established Buchanan Capital in Hong Kong.
Click here to view James’s LinekdIn.
Jarl Smidt-Olsen
Executive Director
Jarl has spent almost 30 years in the financial services industry, working across Asia and Europe both within larger established banks and as a co-founder of a successful wealth-management fintech.
More recently, Jarl has been both an angel investor and mentor to a number of Asian start-ups.
Jarl is a Charted Financial Analyst, holds a MSc from CASS Business School and a BSc from the University of Warwick.
Jarl is currently based in Hong Kong, with his wife and two children.
Click here to view Jarl’s LinkedIn.
Joanne Fung
Portfolio Manager
Joanne is a business analyst with a background in financial services, having held positions with AXA and Sun Hung Kai Financial. Notably, she was part of the founding management team of SHK Private, the high-net-worth sales unit of Sun Hung Kai Financial, in the lead-up to its sale to Everbright Securities International.
A graduate of the Chinese University of Hong Kong with a major in statistics and qualifications in financial services, Joanne is fluent in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin and lives in Hong Kong with her husband and two children.
Click here to view Joanne’s LinkedIn.