Institutional Investment Manager
spacer spacer

ABOUT US

Michael J. Nugent
President – Founder
Mike began his career in the futures industry in 1973 at Merrill Lynch, and has since served in management roles for three of the largest bank/brokers on Wall Street.

Appointed to the “Coffee Trade Advisory Committee” in 1990, Mike remains a member of that ICE committee.

Currently he is a member of a select committee advising the board of The National Futures Association.

Mike is active in The Southern Coffee Association, Pacific Coast Coffee Association and the National Coffee Association of the United States.

Elected to the board of the New York Coffee Sugar and Cocoa Exchange in 1995, Mike was reelected in 1998 as a member of the board of The New York Board of Trade, after the merger of CSCE with The New York Cotton Exchange. He remained on that board until the sale of NYBOT to The Intercontinental Exchange in 2007.

 

Joseph Locandro
Managing Director
Joseph Locandro began his career in commodities working with the government export agency of Brazil in the mid 70's.

Upon arrival in New York, he learned the physical coffee trade with a large importer.

At Merrill Lynch in the early 80's, Jo worked with Mike Nugent in his futures brokerage. From there, Jo went to Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, where he was pioneered in developing soft commodity proprietary trading and structured finance

After Bear Stearns was dissolved, Mr. Locandro joined MJ Nugent & Co, Inc., where he has focused on presenting hedge funds with opportunistic trade ideas. Fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and English, Jo also arranges credit and trade finance for commercial customers with a strong presence throughout Latin America.

 

Herman Kohlmeyer
Managing Director
Herman is the most senior member of the Cotton Trade Advisory Committee of The Intercontinental Exchange. He was formerly a Director of The New York Cotton Exchange and The New York Board of Trade.

Herman has been a lifelong participant in the global cotton industry, as was his father before him.

A Yale graduate, Herman is based in New Orleans, Louisiana.

 

Richard Cantor
Managing Director
Rich’s introduction to this business began as an analyst for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, focusing on the global supply and demand of cotton.

After a career in the cash cotton business in Memphis, Rich worked as an analyst for a major international investment bank before joining Herman Kohlmeyer, servicing the cotton industry and its hedging needs.

Rich relocated from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and now lives in Orlando, Florida. He is a graduate of Rutgers University.

 

Fred Oltarsh
Director of Options Analysis and Execution
Fred works with clients to create options strategies with the appropriate risk/reward requirements to meet their futures and options speculative and hedging needs He leads our execution team to attain the best value available (through synthetic or hedged strategies) to meet the needs of the client.

In addition to fifteen years of trading both on and off the open outcry floor and electronic markets, Fred spent seven years as Vice President and Head of Risk Management at InterContinental Exchange (ICE/NYBOT), leading a dynamic risk management program with responsibility for all aspects of risk to the Exchange and Clearing House, including establishing settlement prices for all options products. Under his leadership, his team used VaR and Stress Testing to set position limits and modify trade positions and established unique margin methodologies for the ICE/NYBOT Exchange.

Fred was a contributor to Forbes magazine and has been a consultant to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Fred and his wife live in New York City. He is a graduate of Tulane University with a degree in Managment.

 

Jim McSweeney
Comptroller
Jim holds an MBA from The University of Chicago and an undergraduate degree in Economics from University of California, Berkeley. He has worked in business consulting and finance, and has served as both CFO and CEO of a major public institution.

   
Hedge Fund Manager