Why us?

Geoffrey Hoodless

ghoodless@thesharerepublic.com
+44 (0)7973 322 959

Geoff has over a 40 year career within the financial services sector. His enterprising activities started in 1979 first as a freelance investment analyst; he then set up an insurance broking firm, before establishing a stock broking firm Hoodless Brennan plc in 1992. The business grew from the original seven people to almost 150 at its peak with interests in small market cap companies, market making, corporate finance, online trading, general advisory broking and settlements. The firm won several awards which culminated in the Investors Chronicle Stockbroker of the Year Award in November 2008. Geoff resigned as a CEO in April 2009, following the sale of the online execution only broking business to T D Waterhouse Investments Services Ltd. He was a member of the London Stock Exchange and is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Securities Institute.

It all started after completion of his business studies. Geoff joined Mullens &Co (Stockbrokers) as bond analyst in 1970. He then moved to Touche Remnant & Co (Fund Managers) as investment analyst and portfolio adviser covering financial companies, then onto W.N. Middleton (Stockbrokers) and Carr Sebag & Co in the same capacity. He subsequently worked in institutional sales at Quilter Goodison & Co; W Greenwell & Co; and Scott, Goff Layton – Smith New Court plc. He then subsequently set up Hoodless Brennan plc.

Geoff was a member of the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the Worshipful Company of International Bankers. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment and the Royal Society of Arts. In his spare time, Geoff races his March-Toyota 803, a 1980 Historic Formula 3 motor racing car, and occasionally pilots Cessna planes.

Vola Parker

vola.parker@thesharerepublic.com
+44 (0)7986 383 707

Vola has 15 years management and marketing experience in the education and financial services sectors. She was a Researcher and Equity Analyst at HB Markets plc (formerly Hoodless Brennan plc). She later became adviser to CEO and Interim Head of Marketing and Communications and was a member of the Executive Management Committee. Previously, Vola was Head of Administration at pfeg (Personal Finance Education Group) – a charity funded by FSA, BBA, IMA, AIC and other financial services companies and trade bodies. Vola holds an Executive MBA from London, and graduated from the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar. She is an Associate Member of the Chartered Securities Institute (ACSI), a member of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) and the Institute of Leadership and Management. Vola is director of Andrew Lees Trust, a London charity operating in her native Madagascar. Previously, she represented her country at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics swimming events.

Wendy van den Hende

wendy.vandenhende@thesharerepublic.com

Wendy is a member of the Member Panel of NEST (National Savings Employment Trust), and was Chief Executive of the Personal Finance Education Group from 2000 to 2012. pfeg is an educational charity helping schools to plan and teach personal finance relevant to students’ lives and needs. This is vital, not just in equipping young people with the skills to be in control of their money as they move into independence but also in enabling them to make financial decisions that will impact on their future. Wendy was previously Chief Executive for Parent Network, Deputy Director of the National Council for One Parent Families and Interim Director of the Camelot Foundation. She is Chair of Milton Keynes Citizens Advice Bureau and has served on the boards of a number of charities. In the birthday honours list 2012 she was awarded an OBE for services to financial educations.

Eurico Covas

eurico.covas@thesharerepublic.com

Eurico has 15 years experience in research and development that spans the academic and financial services sectors. Eurico holds a PhD in Astrophysics and Applied Mathematics, an MSc in Mathematics, and MSc in Economics and Econometrics from London Universities, and holds a BSc in Applied Mathematics from the University of Porto. He was planetarium presenter at the Centre of Astrophysics in Porto, Portugal, and a researcher at Queen Mary and Westfield University of London. Eurico manages a large team of software/IT developers and quantitative analysts to develop, monitor and maintain HSBC’s bespoke quantitative & risk valuation and hedge accounting systems. Eurico is an active reviewer for scientific journals, and a founder and member of the Portuguese Association for the Teaching of Astronomy.

Mauro Bampo

mauro.bampo@thesharerepublic.com

Mauro has several years of experience in research and practice of online and viral marketing, optimisation and software development. With a background in computer engineering (Bologna University, Italy) he has worked as a software developer for the financial sector in the UK, Australia and Hong Kong. After completing his masters with a thesis on simulation and decision support for viral marketing campaigns he went on to undertake a Ph.D (Monash University, Australia) in optimisation applied to scheduling algorithms. He has spent several months during his Ph.D as a research intern at Microsoft Research Cambridge working on viral marketing and distributed systems in optimisation. Mauro is currently consulting with several start-ups in Italy and Australia on issues of online and viral advertising. He is always up for a challenge, loves anything that rhymes with adrenaline and spends his Sundays jumping out of planes, or teaching people how to do it.

Danesh Varma

danesh.varma@thesharerepublic.com
+44 (0)7740 932 766

Danesh (FCA, ATII) has over 20 years experience in the mining finance industry. A qualified accountant in the UK and Canada, Danesh is Chief Financial Officer of several mining companies including Conquest Resources Limited, Xtierra Inc. and Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Limited and holds directorships with Anglesey Mining plc, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LLP and Minco plc.