KWA Analytics was founded in 2013 by Richard Knight, Phil Walsh and Israr Ahmed. Richard Page and Steve Parsons joined KWA Analytics soon after as Directors. Vikas Jain is a Director of our India subsidiary which was set up in late 2015. Fred Reimer, Jonathan Stochel and Victor Yu are Directors of the Americas office which was opened in 2017. Led by Kevin Wagner, our APAC office opened in early 2019, followed by our offices in Canada and Mexico.
Richard is a highly experienced business consultant and ETRM/CTRM systems professional with 20 years experience of energy, commodity and banking industries.
Having spent 10 years as broker and trader in energy and commodity markets, Richard joined Openlink’s fledgling London operation as a business analyst and systems consultant, eventually becoming Director of their Consulting Services Division.
During his 11 plus years with Openlink, Richard played a lead role in implementing Endur in all the major energy and commodity asset classes at a wide variety of major European institutions and trading organisations.
Outside of work, Richard has a busy family life but also enjoys playing 11-a-side football, sampling real ales and hiking.
Phil Walsh has been an Endur consultant for over 14 years. Prior to becoming a founding partner in KWA Analytics, he spent over 13 years working for Openlink International.
He has unrivalled experience in analysing client’s C/ETRM system functional requirements through working on client projects in the UK, several European countries and Australia, for energy utilities, oil and gas producers, commodity trading houses and investment banks.
In addition to in-depth experience of electricity and natural gas trading, he devoted time as a member of the British Institute of Energy Economics to further knowledge in other aspects of energy trading and also studied for his Certified Diploma in Accounting and Finance.
Phil holds a Bachelor of Social Science in Economics, which included a dissertation in emissions trading, and a Master of Science in Operational Research.
Israr Ahmed has over 17 years experience in the banking and Endur consulting industries. Having started as a Credit Analyst at NatWest, Israr then joined Openlink.
After leaving Openlink, Israr worked at a number of investment banks before joining JPMorgan where he gained FO experience as a trader on the Energy Exotics Desk.
Israr holds an Msc in Mathematical Finance and Trading with a dissertation on modelling Virtual Power Plant options.
Israr also has a keen interest in Science, English Literature and, as a natural complement to these two, also enjoys Cuban Salsa.
Richard has over 20 years experience in the energy and commodities industries, and has wide experience in ETRM projects and solution architecture. He started his career at British Gas and then spent 7 years at Mobil Gas in the UK gas business with experience of Gas Operations and Trading, Business Analysis, systems design, implementation and training.
Richard then joined Openlink where he spent over 13 years holding key roles in Endur solution design, system implementation, and management of consulting resources. He has worked on numerous projects with experience of gas, power and commodities implementations across UK, European and US clients. Through his roles at Openlink Richard developed a detailed knowledge of Endur and has a proven track record gained from the many different client implementations spanning top tier banks, oil and gas companies and utilities.
Outside work Richard is a keen photographer and very novice birdwatcher.
Steve is a Development Manager with over 15 years of experience with Openlink International. He has deep knowledge and broad skill set spanning product development, management, architecture and release techniques.
During the last 10 years with Openlink he was responsible for the “Active Position Manager” (APM) product, taking it from a proof of concept to a successful product within the Openlink portfolio. He has worked closely with many clients in both the Endur & Findur areas.
Steve spends his time outside of work renovating his house, spending time with his family and playing with his hifi system. Also, he’s Welsh and therefore a huge rugby fan
Vikas has been working as an Endur Business & Technical Consultant for approx 6 years, and has built a strong reputation within this period of time. He has experience in both physical and financial commodities, delivering innovative Development projects.
Vikas has been extensive experience of the whole deal life cycle in Endur , from Front Office to Back Office, with a particular specialization on Endur PnL and PnL Explained. Vikas’s additional experience involves analysis and rapid solution development within a live system environment.
Vikas holds a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and also certified by National Stock Exchange India in Courses on Commodities and Risk Management. In his spare time , when not learning and keeping up to date with the latest technology developments, Vikas enjoys reading literature.
Fred has over 15 years of experience working as a leader in the energy, commodity, and capital markets space, with a special emphasis on building teams to deliver innovative technology solutions for trading and risk management.
From his time starting at OpenLink as a Business Analyst, he helped plan and implement some of the company’s earliest physical commodity trading and logistic solutions for clients in Europe, Asia, and South America. Fred then moved on to serve as the Global Liquid and Bulk Commodity Product Manager leading the design, project implementations, and user group community for that market. His last role at OpenLink was in London where he was the Head of the Cross Asset Pre-Sales for Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
Now as a Director of KWA Analytics Americas, he’s focused on leading and developing our Capital Markets, Energy, and Commodity solution teams in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The client needs that Fred supports range from very complex business transformation program advisory roles to the provision of subject matter expertise around trading, risk management, and logistics within commodities markets.
Outside of the office he has been involved with fundraising to benefit Lou Gehrig’s Disease (i.e. ALS) Cure Research for over 15 years and is a Trustee for the Live Like Lou Foundation which works to fund ALS research and support affected families. Fred is also very active as a volunteer and fundraiser for Gettysburg College where he received a Bachelor’s Degree with Honors in Energy Economics and currently serves on the President’s Advisory Circle.
Jonathan is a software design architect with over 27 years of experience working with trading, scheduling, accounting and risk management systems.
He is currently a Director at KWA US. Prior to joining KWA, Jonathan played key roles in important implementations of Crude and Products functionality enabling successful rollouts of V16.
Prior to that, Jonathan was Senior Vice President at Openlink where he headed the Commodity and Energy Solutions Group and led the business and technical design, coding and testing of Openlink’s Endur trading and scheduling products such as gMotion, pMotion and cMotion. He was also responsible for providing vital implementation support for many successful projects enabling his clients to implement important business processes across the energy/commodity sector including natural gas, power, coal, crude, refined products, metals and soft commodities.
Jonathan has a BA in Computer Science from Rutgers University.
Victor has over 25 years of experience in energy/commodity trading, risk management, and technology consulting, working with Openlink Endur/Findur for the last 15 years, While at Openlink, Victor was the Director of Business Services in the New York City office, where he was responsible for delivery of large Endur implementation and upgrade projects, serving as a SME, and managing the NYC office’s team of 20 business consultants.
He has extensive experience with system implementation and upgrades in a variety of roles including delivery lead, project manager, business transformation, business solution architect, lead consultant, and subject matter expert serving clients in the energy, commodity, banking/financial services, and utility sectors.
Victor has a BS in Applied Economics & Business Management from Cornell University, a MBA in Finance from Fordham University, and certifications as an Energy Risk Professional (ERP) from GARP and in Business Analysis and Project Management from Villanova University.
In addition to the commodities markets and trading, Victor has a strong interest in disruptive digital technologies including blockchain, IoT, and robotics.
Kevin has 10+ years of experience as an Openlink Consultant & Project Implementer specializing in complex Liquid and Bulk Commodities solutions utilizing both the Endur and RightAngle platforms.
Prior to joining KWA Analytics, he was most recently an independent contractor overseeing the successful roll-out of a global LNG re-modeling implementation. Prior to that, Kevin was Engagement Director at Openlink in Singapore responsible for all Liquid and Bulk Commodities implementations across the APAC region; spanning from Northern Asia down to Australia. During Kevin’s tenure at Openlink, he was an instrumental part of several successful client implementations & development initiatives across multiple regions.
Through his many years of Project implementing, Kevin has developed a strong understanding of deal lifecycles, allowing him to implement and design practical end-to-end solutions on E/CTRM platforms, whilst working closely with all major stakeholders of a Project; including Business focal points (from Trading, Operations, Risk, and Finance), IT Departments, and Project Sponsors.
Kevin will take on the role of Director of the newly opened Singapore office.