Ivars has more than 20 years of global financial market experience. After working for four years on the buy side in Australia with Colonial Mutual Investment Management, he has spent the rest of his time on the sell side. This included seven years in London with HSBC Investment Bank, where he was the global coordinator for natural resources research and part of an Institutional Investor research award-winning team. Since 2004 he has focused on the Baltics and has participated directly in almost every significant Baltics-related IPO/ECM transaction as a senior team member of SEB Enskilda (2007-2008) and Suprema Securities / Evli (2004-2006).

He has used this role to forge a powerful network of relationships with institutional investors active in the Baltics, accounting for their unique needs and investment styles, a skill honed during his time in London and Australia, where the bulk of his client contacts were with emerging market specialists.

Shana has completed two double Masters degrees in South Africa: the first specialising in channels of equity market contagion and the second in financing of environmental projects; and is a published author in international peer reviewed journals.

Prior to joining Emerging Nordic Research, she spent four years working on product development in the Baltics (Finasta Financial Brokerage House: 2005) and equity analysis (DnB Nord Bankas: 2006 and SEB Enskilda: 2007-2008), participating in several IPO/ECM transactions. To date she has covered the agricultural, construction, facilities management, food, gaming, property, retail, telecommunications and water utilities sectors.

Between 2005-2009, she was an observer to the UNEP FI Central and Eastern European Taskforce on sustainable financing (with specific involvement in Lithuania) and has been an Associate of the IEMA since 2007.

Since 2001, Michael has been living and working internationally, spending five years in Vilnius, Lithuania and three years in Chicago, USA. During this time, he has picked up a variety of contracts, writing and editing for local journals and magazines, as well as teaching English at Lithuania’s presidential and parliamentary offices. Before his current job, he worked for Enskilda Equities, from November 2007 – December 2008, editing analytical releases and researching background information for the analysts.

Before leaving the UK, Michael spent five years with the Aon Corporation, handling some of the company’s major insurance accounts, including Coca-Cola Beverages (Europe), BP and Hilti AG. Each of these companies had a large portfolio of foreign assets that Michael packaged together into a single insurance policy to be placed in the London markets.