MANNA’s Team

Eamonn McConnell, CEO

Eamonn McConnell is the CEO of MANNA and the Portfolio Manager at Kensington.  He has served as the Deputy Chairman of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) Canada since 2008.

For nearly 25 years, Mr. McConnell has been involved in investment banking and the fund management business. He has worked in Canada, the UK and Asia during his career. He has worked for many large international institutions including Barclays Global Investors, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch. In the late nineties through 2002, he was an MD at Deutsche Bank responsible for the pricing, underwriting and risk management of Deutsche Bank’s debt new issue business (Asia and Europe). His areas of activity have ranged from capital markets work in both debt and equity products, the establishment of a mutual fund investment management company and the subsequent launch of several funds, to the establishment of a private equity fund investment management company. Mr. McConnell has been an active investor in all types of assets and the management of risk products. He is currently also a director of Gryphus Capital, a Private Equity firm he co-founded in 2002, which is based in Singapore.

Education: 1980, BA, American University in Paris, France, International Business; 1984, MBA, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, International Finance; 1984, Diplome, Ecoles des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, France, International Management Program. SFA Certification and Canadian Securities Certification. Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association (CAIA) designation. Recognized globally, the CAIA designation certifies mastery of the concepts, tools and practices essential for understanding alternative investments, and promotes adherence to high standards of professional conduct.
 

 Michael Gratch, Managing Director and PM

Michael Gratch is Executive Vice-President and a Portfolio Manager of Manna. He was appointed to his current position in September 2009. 

Mr. Gratch’s career encompasses over 20 years of experience in the Investment Industry. He began his career in 1985 as an Engineer in concrete structures design.
 
Mr. Gratch entered the Investment industry in 1989 acting as a Finance Project Manager of Nord Bank, Ukraine. In 1997, He joined CIBC Wealth Management Group as a Senior Product Manager. From December 2000 to February 2004 Mr. Gratch acted as a   Supervisor and Senior Analyst in the Portfolio Analytics Department of Mackenzie Financial Corporation.
 
Prior to joining Manna Asset Management, from February 2004 to August 2009, Mr. Gratch served as a Portfolio Manager and the Chief Compliance Officer of Bayshore Asset Management Inc.
 
Mr. Gratch obtained his MBA from the HEC MONTREAL Business School in 1996, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2000 and Financial Risk Manager (FRM) certification in 2002. He is a member of Toronto Society of Financial Analysts and Global Association of Risk Professionals.
 
In addition to English, Mr. Gratch is fluent in Russian, Ukrainian, and French.
  

  W William Woods, Director

W. William Woods LL.B, is a lawyer, admitted to practice in Bermuda, England, Wales and Hong Kong. He was a solicitor with Linklaters & Paines in Hong Kong where he specialized in corporate finance work.

For three years he acted as Legal Counsel to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. He then co-founded the International Securities Consultancy, a consulting group based in Hong Kong and London that specializes in advising on the development of both emerging and mature securities markets. From August 1995 to December 2001 he was the CEO of the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

He is currently the Chairman and CEO of WWWoods & Co. Limited based in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Woods serves as an independent director on the boards of a number of hedge funds with assets under management ranging from $100 million to over $9 billion.

Education: LL.B, 1982, University of Manchester, England. Admitted to the Law Society in England and Wales in 1985. Admitted to the Law Society in Hong Kong in 1987. Admitted to the Bar in Bermuda in 1997. Associate Member of the Canadian Bar Association.
 

  Thomas Kennedy, Director

Thomas Kennedy is a co-founder of Kensington. Mr. Kennedy acts as Chair of the Investment Committee and of the Advisory Board. Mr. Kennedy has spent 10 years in operational and management positions with Consolidation Coal Co. and Alberta Energy Company. He has investment banking experience as a senior executive with Bunting Warburg, Lancaster and TD Securities. Mr. Kennedy serves on the Advisory Committee of Tricor Pacific LP III, TriWest Capital Fund II, Torquest Partners Value Fund L.P. and Kilmer Capital Fund L.P., and on the Board of Directors of Polymer Plainfield Holdings Inc. Mr. Kennedy is Chairman of the Board of Regent Park School of Music. He has served on the board of directors of Loft Community Services and Triax Growth Fund, as well as several public companies. Mr. Kennedy holds a B.Sc.Eng. (Mining) from Queen’s University and a D.B.A. from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and is a professional engineer.

Rick Nathan, Director

 Rick Nathan is a Kensington Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee, he is also the current Chairman of CVCA – Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. Prior to joining Kensington, Mr. Nathan was Managing Director of Goodmans Venture Group, a division of Goodmans LLP. In that role, he acted as legal counsel and as strategic business advisor to entrepreneurs and emerging growth companies and to private equity investors in the Canadian market. Mr. Nathan also had responsibility for a related investment portfolio. Prior to joining Goodmans, Mr. Nathan was a founding partner of Brightspark, one of Canada’s leading early-stage venture capital funds. Prior to founding Brightspark, Mr. Nathan spent more than 10 years as a corporate and securities lawyer at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, including as leader of the firm’s Technology Business Group. Mr. Nathan sits on the Board of Directors of Boundless Mobile Ventures Inc., and Mobile Knowledge Inc. and is also a member of the Advisory Council to the Toronto Region Research Alliance and Co-Chair of the Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX). Mr. Nathan holds a BA (Computer Science) from Dartmouth College and an LLB from the University of Toronto.


John Matovich, Director

John Matovich is a Kensington Managing Director, responsible for leading the development of Kensington’s investment programs in the power utility and infrastructure sectors.

John has been involved in the financial services industry for 18 years, with broad and deep experience across several areas, including investment banking, corporate banking, mergers & acquisitions, risk management and project finance. Prior to joining Kensington, John was a Managing Director of Scotia Capital where he was involved in numerous strategic and financing transactions for a variety of clients in the regulated utility, independent power and broader infrastructure sectors.

John has an Honours Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from the University of Western Ontario and a Masters of Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business.

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