Our Leadership Team

M. Ron Wahid is the Founder and Chairman of Magellan Investment Holdings, an investment holding company with diversified interests in energy and natural resources, aerospace and defense, and technology. Mr. Wahid is an industry leader in the fields of business, finance and international security. Since founding the Company in 1996, he has grown it to a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise with worldwide operations. To date the company has closed transactions worth over $30 billion in diversified industries to include energy & natural resources, infrastructure, defense and information technology. He acts as a key strategic advisor to heads of state and government on geopolitical and international security issues. In 2006, alongside senior intelligence leaders from the U.S., U.K., France and Israel, he founded Arcanum to provide a host of bespoke strategic intelligence services to the U.S. government and governments allied to U.S. interests. In over a decade since its founding, he has expanded Arcanum to become a leading provider of solutions within its field, withan executive leadership team that consists of senior decision-makers from the world’s most powerful intelligence, defenseand government agencies. Under his stewardship, Arcanum’s reach continues to span the globe, with solutions being delivered from its offices in Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Manama, Nur-Sultan, Paris, Tel Aviv, Washington, DC, and Zurich. With more than 30 years of experience in international transactions, Mr. Wahid’s career has spanned the globe and several industries. In the private sector, Mr. Wahid has advised, structured and closed cross-border transactions in energy and natural resources, infrastructure development and capital equipment. He has extensive experience in the energy sector both in upstream oil and gas sector, as well as in power generation and in implementing gas commercialization strategies alongside some of the world’s largest integrated energy companies. His cross-border transactional experience includes project development & financing, privatization and private capital related transactions in Asia, the Middle East, the Caspian and Europe. Earlier in his career, Mr. Wahid worked in the U.S. Senate as a professional staff member on matters related to foreign policy, defense and national security. Mr. Wahid’s opinions and editorials are frequently published in the world’s leading publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Defense One, Politico, the National Interest and Petroleum World. He has appeared an expert commentator on CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange program and Bloomberg TV Reports. He is based out of the Company’s London and Washington, DC offices.

Hasham Sadruddin is Executive Vice President, Finance and Investments and Managing Director of RJI Capital (Middle East) Ltd. In that capacity he is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Group’s business operations in the Middle East and plays a key leadership role in all cross-border transactions, investments and advisory client engagements. A seasoned investment banker with a wealth of asset management and structured finance expertise, he has over 25 years of experience in investment management, and cross-border structured finance execution, spanning multiple industry sectors. Until 2010, Mr. Sadruddin served for several years as Chief advisor to a $20+ billion Saudi family office and led their efforts to diversify its assets and investments in Europe and North America. In this role, he also set up and built a real estate development business comprising of both residential and commercial high rise towers for the Group to take advantage of real estate investment opportunities in the UAE. This business was subsequently listed on the Singapore Exchange. Additionally, he managed the family’s private equity investments in the GCC and Far East. Prior to that, Mr. Sadruddin was an investment banker with CIBC Woody Gundy and Merrill Lynch, where he co-managed a global client base and originated transactions in Canada, U.K., Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. He is based in the Company’s Dubai, UAE offices.

Steven Cuevas is Executive Vice President & General Counsel. In that capacity he is responsible for overseeing the company’s legal work and managing external counsel while maintaining responsibility for Group Corporate Governance and Compliance. He is also responsible for government relations in the U.S. He brings extensive expertise and experience in legal, management, transactional and regulatory functions. Prior to joining the Group in 2017, he served as Vice President and General Counsel of the North American arm of the French utility giant AREVA, the largest supplier of nuclear and renewables technology products and services in the world. He was responsible for the global restructuring of AREVA, and as a member of the executive committee, oversaw all strategy and management for the company and its subsidiaries. His role also included managing all legal, compliance and risk related aspects of U.S. operations and U.S.-based global transactions. Mr. Cuevas was instrumental in taking Group revenue growth from $400 million to nearly $1 billion annually for the U.S.-based subsidiary of AREVA. Mr. Cuevas began his career at AREVA in 2009 as Director of Business Development for Strategic Initiatives. In this role, he developed the corporate business plan for the North American market, developed requirements for annual sales to justify capital investment in the market, identified potential supply chain partners and areas of supply needs, developed the opportunity pipeline and assessed overall market viability. Prior to working at AREVA, in 2003 Mr. Cuevas was appointed by the Administration of George W. Bush as a senior official at the Department of Energy (DOE), where he spearheaded the creation and management of a new program that reviewed the national security implications of foreign investment. After being promoted to Director of Investment Security at the DOE, Mr. Cuevas created and mobilized the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), enabling the DOE to meet national security requirements created by the Foreign Investment and National Security Act. He is based in the Company’s Washington, DC offices.

Efraim Zazo is Managing Director of Global Investments. Mr. Zazo is responsible for all aspects of global investments, from deal origination and investment strategy to financial execution. Mr. Zazo has over 20 years of experience in structured finance, M&A and direct investments. Mr. Zazo is the founder of Beechwood Capital Limited, an investment advisory boutique, which has achieved an outstanding track record in bringing together private investors and institutional funds to acquire and finance various asset classes. To date, Mr. Zazo has closed over £2bn worth of transactions across a range of sectors, including real estate, aviation, shipping, defenseand microfinance in emerging markets. Earlier in his career, he worked for a private family office, focusing on real estate. He developed innovative approaches to valuation, which was used by RotchProperty Group to securitize ground rents. Mr. Zazo developed a new model for valuing a single tenant’s occupation position that was the basis for a new Liability Management platform, which enabled RotchGroup to acquire commercial offices with an arbitrage between the market value of the asset and the tenant’s position under the lease. This was subsequently recognised as one of the game changing strategies in real estate financing. He is based in the Company’s London offices.

Anna Popova is Executive Vice President for Corporate Strategy and New Ventures at the Group level. In that capacity she sits on Magellan’s board and management committee. She is responsible for developing and managing the Group’s long-term strategic planning and overseeing operations for all active projects. She actively manages investor relations, developing and preserving stakeholder value and she is responsible for the Group’s New Ventures team. Reporting directly to the CEO she is also responsible for management of effective workflow at Group level and integration with key operating companies. Ms. Popova joined RJI Capital as Vice President, New Ventures in 2009, and subsequently was promoted to Senior Vice President for Strategic Planning in 2012, where she led the company’s efforts in new ventures, and developing new revenue lines for future growth. Ms. Popova has nearly 20 years of expertise in strategic and management consultancy, business transformation, and international business management, having gained a wealth of corporate and commercial experience while working with some of the world’s largest multinational firms. Prior to joining RJI Capital, Ms. Popova worked at one of the leading management consultancies, PA Consulting, where she advised multinational corporates and U.K. government entities in the areas of growth strategies, business transformation, strategic communications, stakeholder management and corporate development. During her tenure there, she led a variety of successful projects, ranging from the development of a new strategy to the implementation of one of the most significant communications and stakeholder relations campaigns in the U.K. Ms. Popova’s previous clients have included the BBC, BP, Thomson Reuters, the U.K. government and various multinational corporations. In addition to her strategic advisory experience, Ms. Popova has held a number of other positions, including a strategic business development role for oil super major Royal Dutch Shell. During her time at Shell Downstream, she advised the Company’s senior management on new market entry strategies and managed stakeholder engagement for the largest transformation program in Shell Retail. During her role at Shell, Ms. Popova also gained experience in brand development, communications and reputation management. She is based in the Company’s London offices.

OlgaPisarenkois Senior Vice President, Finance for the Group. In that capacity she is responsible forinvestment planning, financial strategy and operations, and developing and monitoring of control systems designed to preserve the Group’s assets. She also takes a lead role in managing M&A and investment strategies as well as in developing Group-sponsored Investment Funds and overall investment portfolio. As a key member of the executive team, she works closely with other senior executives to deliver effective operations and to develop performance measures that support the Group’s strategic direction. She is also accountable for understanding and mitigating key elements of the company’s risk profile, constructing and monitoring reliable control systems and ensuring the company’s compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements. A qualified Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA) and lawyer, Ms. Pisarenkohas over 15 years of experience in the finance industry, specializing in running finance functions for businesses within asset management, hedge funds, private equity and natural resources sectors. She brings a wealth of experience in setting up and running finance functions and overseeing all aspects of financial control. In addition, she has expertise in consulting on general accounting and tax matters. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Pisarenkowas CFO at a technology-centric asset management company focusing on high-frequency trading across asset classes, where she was responsible for the company’s financial reporting, including shareholder, compliance and FCA reporting. She has previously served as Vice President of Finance and Finance Director for the London office of ZaisgroupInternational, a $5 billion global investment manager, where she focused on specialized credit strategies. She is based in the Company’s London offices.  

Bradford Laughlin is Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs and also serves as Corporate Secretary for the Group. His primary responsibility is to oversee and manage all compliance and corporate governance matters, as well as to provide legal input on transactions. Mr. Laughlin joined the Company in 2009 as Senior Counsel and has since been a valuable member of the Company’s legal team.Prior to that, Mr. Laughlin was an attorney at Magister & Partners in the firm’s Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan office. He was part of a team that represented the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan in a number of complex litigation matters involving BTA Bank, and advised private sector clients on in-country corporate and regulatory compliance. Prior to his position at Magister & Partners, Mr. Laughlin served as Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy and International Affairs. In this capacity, he was responsible for monitoring international political, economic, and strategic developments as well as advising senior leadership before international summits.Earlier in his career, Mr. Laughlin worked at the Committee on Oversight and Investigations at the U.S. House of Representatives. He reported directly to the Committee’s Chief Counsel and assisted in conducting legal research, document review and deposition preparation. He is based in the Company’s Washington, DC offices.