Danilo oversees the Alternative Investments deal flow for GGC, managing the origination, structuring, and distribution of this asset class. Previously, he worked as an Investment Banker, focusing on Energy, Infrastructure, Technology, and Industrials.
Danilo studied at the London School of Economics, Queen Mary University of London, and Sapienza University of Rome.
Maurice holds an MSc in Real Estate with merit and a First-Class Honours BSc in Business Studies with a specialism in Finance, both from Cass Business School, London.
Samuel holds an MsC in Risk and Finance from EDHEC Business School, and joined Gold Grain in 2023 after starting his career at HPC Investment Partners.
Loss of Protections for Elective Professional Clients
By choosing to be treated as a professional client, you will lose some rights and protections that are afforded to retail clients. This disclaimer summarises the main differences between the treatment of professional and retail clients. Before proceeding to our website, please ensure that you have read and understood this information.
This disclaimer is not comprehensive, and the relevant regulations are subject to change. Please seek professional advice if you require assistance.
Below are some of the differences in protections for professional and retail clients:
Communications
Communications with retail clients are subject to certain standards and requirements that do not apply to professional clients. However, communications with all clients must be fair, clear and not misleading.
Information about services and remuneration
Professional clients do not have to be informed about certain information regarding our services and remuneration, whereas retail clients do.
Recourse to the Financial Services Ombudsman and compensation entitlements
Professional clients cannot complain to the Financial Services Ombudsman (“FSO”) in the UK, unless they are, for example, consumers, small businesses or individuals acting outside of their trade, business, craft or profession.
Similarly, professional clients do not usually have a right to claim compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”) in the UK.
Suitability & appropriateness
When recommending or managing an investment for a clients, we assume that professional clients have the necessary level of experience and knowledge for the products, transactions and services for which they are classified, such that they understand the risks involved in the product, transaction or service in question. This may mean that we are not required to provide suitability reports to a professional clients, whereas to a retail client, we would be required to provide them.
In the case of non-advised services, such as an execution-only trade, we are entitled to assume that a professional client has the necessary level of experience, knowledge and expertise to understand the risks involved in relation to those particular investment services or transactions, or types of transaction or product, for which the client is classified as a professional client. In contrast, for a retail client, a firm would be required to assess the appropriateness of any given investment service or transaction for that retail clients, to check whether the retail clients has the requisite knowledge and experience to understand the associated risks, and to render warnings to the retail client, should the firm be unable to determine the appropriateness of the service or transaction in question.
Reporting information to clients
When reporting information to retail clients in a periodic statement, the content of that statement is prescribed; however, the content is not prescribed for professional clients. Moreover, timeframes for reporting information to retail clients are more rigorous than those for professional clients.
Dealing and execution
Categorisation as a professional client may affect the way in which a firm deals and executes orders on behalf of that client. Specifically, retail clients must be informed of any material difficulty related to the proper execution of orders as soon as possible; this obligation does not exist for professional clients. Additionally, requirements pertaining to the trading of shares in particular circumstances in certain venues apply for retail clients, but may not apply for professional clients.
Saul holds an MSc Cum Laude in Corporate Finance and a BA in Economics and Management, both from Luiss Guido Carli, Rome. He is an analyst in the Sales and Trading team at Gold Grain Capital in London, assisting with Structured Products deal flow for institutional clients.
James graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2021 with First-Class Honours in Business Management. He joined Gold Grain in December 2023 following stints at Société Générale and another London-based structured products broker.
Frederique is an expert in the pricing and modelling of structure products, having worked on the equity derivatives sales team at Nomura, and holds a BSc in Economics and Statistics from University College London. He is also an accredited FCA CF30.
Gerald has an extensive background in investor relations, product development and asset management. He began his career at Rabobank Private Banking in 1997, and spent over 12 years at the forefront of TCM Investment Funds’ practice, focused on the implementation and distribution of emerging and frontier market investment funds. Gerald is also a member of the Dutch Security Institute, and is a frequent speaker at events and conferences on opportunities in global markets.
Daniel studied Finance, Accounting and Management at the University of Nottingham. He is currently working as a Junior Analyst for Gold Grain Capital.
Alex supports the Structured Products deal-flow for trading and business development functions.
He graduated with a First Class Honours in International Political Economy from City University in the summer of 2022.
Walter has over a decade of experience within the financial services industry, having worked closely with independent wealth managers, fund managers and private banks in the Benelux and Switzerland. Walter’s expertise spans across all asset classes. He started his career at Commerzbank London followed by Leonteq Securities in London and Amsterdam. He is currently a director at Fortem Capital responsible for European fund distribution and a director at Gold Grain Capital BV in Amsterdam.
Walter is fluent in Dutch, English and French.
Alexandre is a director of GGC Securities, and specialises in Corporate Finance and Wealth Management. Previously, Alexandre was Head of Investment Solutions for Italy at Kepler Cheuvreux, Sales Director at Ossiam and Head of Investment Solutions for Italian private banking institutions at Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking.
He holds a MSc in Business Administration from Luigi Bocconi University, Milan, Italy.
David is an ACCA-qualified accountant with decades of experience in finance leadership in hi-tech and finance. He holds an undergraduate in Business major in Finance cum laude from Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel.
Definition of a Professional Investor
Gold Grain Capital BV only deals with professional clients and is regulated by the AFM, which uses MiFID II guidelines to define a professional client.
A professional client is a:
Or a legal person or company that meets two of the following size requirements:
By proceeding to view this webpage, you are confirming your status as a professional client as defined above. You also acknowledge that you will receive the levels of protection and means of recourse that apply to professional clients, and that you have the necessary experience and knowledge to make your own investment decisions and understand the risks involved.
Loss of Protections for Elective Professional Clients
By choosing to be treated as a professional client, you will lose some rights and protections that are afforded to retail clients. This disclaimer summarises the main differences between the treatment of professional and retail clients. Before proceeding to our website, please ensure that you have read and understood this information.
This disclaimer is not comprehensive, and the relevant regulations are subject to change. Please seek professional advice if you require assistance.
Below are some of the differences in protections for professional and retail clients:
Communications
Communications with retail clients are subject to certain standards and requirements that do not apply to professional clients. However, communications with all clients must be fair, clear and not misleading.
Information about services and remuneration
Professional clients do not have to be informed about certain information regarding our services and remuneration, whereas retail clients do.
Recourse to investor compensation schemes
Professional clients may not have recourse to the same investor compensation schemes that would be accessible to retail clients.
Suitability & appropriateness
When recommending or managing an investment for a client, we assume that professional clients have the necessary level of experience and knowledge for the products, transactions and services for which they are classified, such that they understand the risks involved in the product, transaction or service in question. This may mean that we are not required to provide suitability reports to a professional client, whereas to a retail client, we would be required to provide them.
In the case of non-advised services, such as an execution-only trade, we are entitled to assume that a professional client has the necessary level of experience, knowledge and expertise to understand the risks involved in relation to those particular investment services or transactions, or types of transaction or product, for which the client is classified as a professional client. In contrast, for a retail client, a firm would be required to assess the appropriateness of any given investment service or transaction for that retail clients, to check whether the retail clients has the requisite knowledge and experience to understand the associated risks, and to render warnings to the retail client, should the firm be unable to determine the appropriateness of the service or transaction in question.
Reporting information to clients
When reporting information to retail clients in a periodic statement, the content of that statement is prescribed; however, the content is not prescribed for professional clients. Moreover, timeframes for reporting information to retail clients are more rigorous than those for professional clients.
Dealing and execution
Categorisation as a professional client may affect the way in which a firm deals and executes orders on behalf of that client. Specifically, retail clients must be informed of any material difficulty related to the proper execution of orders as soon as possible; this obligation does not exist for professional clients. Additionally, requirements pertaining to the trading of shares in particular circumstances in certain venues apply for retail clients, but may not apply for professional clients.
Dan studied Investment & Financial Risk Management at Cass Business School in London, and then immediately joined Gold Grain Capital. As one of the initial members of the team, he has played a crucial role in the growth of the company by developing internal software solutions. He currently works in Structuring & Investing Solutions, where he focuses on the ideation and creation of structured products.
Dan is fluent in English, Italian, and Romanian, and also has proficiency in Russian and Spanish.
Alina worked for four years in Mediobanca and Credem Banca trading departments in Italy, as well as Teaching Assistant for Societa’ Italiana di Analisi Tecnica (SIAT).
Alina holds a MSc in Quantitative Finance from Universita’ degli Studi di Milano, a MSc in Technical Analysis from SIAT and a BSc in Economics from Universita’ di Parma.
Alina is also an active member of 100 Women in Finance.
Simon is Chief Operating Officer at Gold Grain Capital.
Simon has over seven years of experience in structured products and covers the UK market.
Along with his native English, Simon also speaks fluent French.
Marco is an expert in structuring and sales of securities who began his career in Sales and Trading in 2010.
In more than a decade of experience he worked for UBS Bank, Commerzbank AG and a Tier-1 Family
Office, refining his capabilities in performing Derivative Pricing Models and building an extensive network
of relations in the industry.
Marco manages and supervises all the front-office activities at Gold Grain Capital, leading the team on a
daily basis.
Marco holds a MSc in Investment Management at Cass Business School.
Alberto is a serial entrepreneur who began his career working for AIG in New York in 1984.
In over three decades, he founded several successful businesses which helped him gain a strong and deep
knowledge of business practices and unique vision that he applies in the financial services industry.
As a former CEO and CFO, he is well known for his strong management skills and deep knowledge of the
markets.
He helps the Gold Grain Capital team solving complex business decisions to provide the best tailored
services for clients.
Alberto holds a joint MBA from Tel-Aviv University and N.Y.U. University.