Our Team
We are in the process of building a world-class aviation team with in-depth knowledge in all aspects of aviation finance and investments. At this time, the following highly qualified individuals are committed in principle to be part of the team at Hong Kong Aviation Capital.
Mathis Shinnick, CEO
Mathis Shinnick comes to HKAC from HSH-Nordbank AG where he held the position of Global Head of Transportation since 2004. He has well over 20 years of experience in the transportation sector specialized in deployment of significant capital in transportation-related assets. In addition, his management experience will enhance consolidation of existing lease management business within the recently acquired Allco aviation portfolio and help position HKAC as a leader in the global aircraft leasing marketplace.
Mathis Shinnick is known to be a highly respected and globally acknowledged leader in the transportation finance sector. He has vast experiences at Chase Securities and HSH-Nordbank and is intimately familiar with the different types of assets and also the complex structures associated with such financings.
He most recently held the position of Global Head of Transportation at HSH-Nordbank AG. Prior to HSH-Nordbank AG, he was Head of Transportation at Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance where he significantly expanded the firm's penetration into the transportation industry as a Lead M&A Advisor. He also previously held the position of Co-Head of Global Aviation at Chase Securities where he led the league tables as agent and arranger for aerospace and defense debt financing. Mathis has an MBA in lnternational Management from the American Graduate School of International Management and a BBA in accounting from the Robert O. Anderson School of Business, University of New Mexico.
Tom Zhuo, Deputy CEO
Tom Zhuo graduated from Tsinghua University with Master of Civil Law. He started his aviation career in Xin Hua Aviation Company as an in-house lawyer responsible for dealing with legal matters, contract processing, handling legal disputes and risk prevention. He also worked as the in-house lawyer in HNA Group Auditing and Law Department. In 2004, Tom assumed the position of Head of HNA Group capital management department responsible for capital planning and fund balancing. Tom was later appointed to be Head of Investment Banking department in 2006 and participated in HNA Group investment business responsible for issuing Group bond. In 2009 Tom was appointed as Deputy General Manager of HNA Industry capital management department and was responsible for establishment of HNA Group fund, fund raising management and investment. January 2010, Tom was appointed as Deputy Chief Executive of Hong Kong Aviation Capital after HNA Group acquired Allco Finance Group aviation business.
Kaixiang Mo, Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Kaixiang Mo started his professional and aviation industry career in 2001 with HNA Group Co., Ltd. responsible for fleet planning, aircraft purchasing, aircraft lease and aircraft disposal from HNA Group's subsidiary companies. Kaixiang also has 5 years experience in HNA Group's Purchasing Mangement Department managing aircraft lease, purchasing of aircraft over and above managing the Group's aircraft financing, financial planning and cash flow management. He was also extensively involved in HNA Group's international projects. In January 2010 after HNA Group acquired Allco Aviation business, Kaixiang then became the CFO of the newly named Hong Kong Aviation Capital.
Rich Cherney, Head of Commercial and Technical
Rich Cherney is the Head of Commercial and Technical and
based in Hong Kong. Before his appointment to HKAC,
Rich was the Executive Vice-President of Aviation
Capital Group (ACG), a commercial aircraft leasing
and asset management company based in California;
and was responsible for the sales and marketing as
well as the asset management functions, overseeing a
fleet of more than 400 owned, managed and ordered aircraft.
Before joining ACG, Richard was Managing Director, Fleet
Transactions at American Airlines where he led the group
responsible for developing more than $10 billion of aircraft
acquisition and disposal strategies. Prior to this, he held
senior positions with two Canadian airlines, and also has
pilot accreditation from both the United States and Canada.
Rick Macker, Head of Capital Markets
Rick Macker is the Head of Capital Markets and based in the
company’s London office. He comes to HKAC from HSH-Nordbank
AG where he was Senior Vice-President, Head of Transportation
Americas. Rick has 20 years of experience in the transport finance
sector. Prior to joining HSH, he worked for GATX Capital in San Francisco
as Vice President, Structured Finance and before that he was the Chief
Financial Officer of a global transportation finance company, Gateway
Container International. He started his career at GE Capital and left
there to co-found and set up Gateway. Mr. Macker was educated at
The University of Maryland.
Robert Watson, Head of Technical
Mr. Bob Watson brings to Hong Kong Aviation Capital over 37 years of commercial aviation experience at the highest executive levels.Mr. Watson's experience ranges from management and Chief Executive positions is international airlines, leasing companies and MROs in countries across the globe. Most recently, from 2003 to 2008, Mr. Watson was a Managing Director of Pemco Aviation Group, where he established the first Boeing 737-300 and -400 passenger to freighter conversion centers in Jinan and Xiamen, China. Prior to his experience at Pemco, from 2001 through 2003, Mr. Watson was General Manager and Board Director of GAMECO in Guangzhou, China. Previously, Mr. Watson has held high-level positions in maintenance and project management at Unisys, Volvo, PLM Worldwide, Denel Aviation, Lucas Aviation (formerly Tracor Aviation), Omni International, and Cathay Pacific Airways. Mr. Watson is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and holds a Aeronautical Engineering Degree from Sydney University.
Nick Hardge, Head of Transaction Management
Nick Hardge is the Head of Transaction Management, based in Sydney. His team is responsible for deal execution and structuring from term sheet / LOI through to closing, and for the ongoing management of the transaction through to the end of the investment. Nick has spent over five years in Aviation deal origination and execution, mainly focusing on SLBs and asset backed financing for a range of long-life transportation assets. Prior to that Nick had over ten years experience as a commercial and asset finance lawyer. Nick was a Director in the Allco Aviation division prior to the acquisition by HKAC. Before joining Allco in April 2004 Nick spent five years with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy LLP in New York, where he was a senior associate in the Global Transportation Finance Group.
Tony Stocks, Risk
Tony Stocks is HKAC's Head of Risk Management, based in Sydney. The Risk Management function oversees and manages the investment and risk management processes for HKAC, including analysis over counterparty assessment, asset types, jurisdictional and structural aspects of our transactions. Prior to HKAC's acquisition of the Allco Aviation business Mr Stocks was the Chief Risk Officer for Allco Finance Group, managing the Risk Management division for the group. Before joining Allco, Mr Stocks was the Head of Risk Management at Record Investments, a publicly listed investment vehicle associated with Allco and has also held Risk Management roles at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
