Our Team

Justin Fogarty - Chairman & Partner

Known for his creativity and a founder of Pivotas he has been one of the Globe’s top internationally legal counsel in corporate finance, banking, M & A, restructuring and corporate governance. He has been a senior advisor to major corporations, financial institutions and governments dealing with complex policy and business issues. He has been an investment banker in London and has founded two successful investment funds and is a Swiss FINMA registered Client Advisor. His global experience as a top lawyer, advisor, board member and entrepreneur provides Pivotas’ clients an experienced international perspective that brings creative value solutions to achieve winning outcomes.

Shawn Murphy - Managing Partner

A serial entrepreneur with successful careers in aerospace engineering and investment management. As a Chartered Financial Analyst, he served as chief investment officer for institutional asset managers in Liechtenstein and Bermuda. He also served as investment fund manager of funds in Luxembourg, Cayman and Bermuda. He is a Swiss FINMA registered Client Advisor. Shawn is also a cofounder of Pivotas AG.

Besides being an avid skier, Shawn likes to share his lifelong learnings through books, blogs and podcasts.

Donato Pinto - Managing Partner

A senior executive, entrepreneur and strategic advisor with a track record of profitably repositioning and developing financial service and industrial businesses in Europe and Asia. Divisional CEO of large international corporates with in depth expertise in strategy, operations, business development and M&A.

Leon Raubenheimer - Partner

Leon Raubenheimer has over 35 years of international experience as a corporate advisor and financier. He is the founder and Managing Partner with ZED Financial Partners, founded in 2002 and based in Toronto, Ontario and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. ZED is focused on large transactions globally across several sectors needing Private Equity, Debt or Strategic investments to fuel growth.

He was one of the founding partners of GMP Securities (“GMP”), one of the largest independent investment banks in Canada. During the mid-part of the 1990’s, he headed the Mining Group which raised in excess of $3.2 billion in equity financing for mining companies in Canada. Thereafter, he specialized in complex financial structuring and headed the Structured Finance Group at GMP. He led the structuring and sales efforts for over $700 million of structured products for a number of Canada’s leading companies in a variety of industries.

Prior to co-founding GMP, Leon was employed as a manager with a large merchant bank in South Africa. He has a Masters degree in Company Law from the University of South Africa. He is an avid powder skier, shooter, golfer and fly-fisherman.

John LaCour - Partner, Chair of the Pivotas Cybersecurity Advisory Board

John is a leading technology entrepreneur who has pioneered solutions in the cybersecurity arena. In 2008 he founded PhishLabs, a cyber threat intelligence and brand protection company.  PhishLabs was recognized as a “Best Places to Work” company for over 6 years, Inc. 5000 company for over 4 years, and Deloitte Technology Fast 500 ™ company for 2 years. Prior to founding PhishLabs, he led product management functions at several Silicon Valley cybersecurity companies.

As a recognized cybersecurity expert, John has been a speaker at prestigious events and conferences such as TEDX, RSA Security Conference, and Security BSides. In 2022, he was voted as Entrepreneur of the Year following the successful sale of PhishLabs to Minneapolis-based HelpSystems (now Fortra).

John serves as an advisory board member for multiple companies and non-profits where he provides guidance on cybersecurity trends, needs and opportunities. John is passionate about supporting emerging leaders and helping technology companies grow successfully, while also championing values for equity and the environment.

In addition to his passion for helping organizations staying ahead of cybersecurity threats, John also enjoys making wine as part of my boutique winery and traveling the world.

Richard Bissonnet - Managing Director

Richard has been a financial advisor since 2002, initially as a founder of independent partnerships based in Geneva and Zürich.

He has advised on corporate M&A, institutional real estate transactions and venture capital funding in Switzerland, the EU and in south-east Asia.

In the earlier part of his career he was a senior executive with Reuters Holdings plc in London, Geneva, Zürich, Paris and Milan.

Richard’s current focus is on cybersecurity, and he is Executive Chair of Authentico Technologies AB, a Swedish-based provider of unique data encryption solutions.

He holds an MBA from INSEAD and is a former President of the Swiss INSEAD Alumni Association.

Marc Tassé - Managing Director

World-renowned expert in the field of forensic accounting and in the fight against corruption and financial crime, Mr. Tassé has acted as an external consultant and advisor for senior executives of various departments and agencies of the federal, provincial and foreign governments, as well as for civil society organizations and Fortune 500 companies.

Mr. Tassé was selected as an independent expert by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to perform the mid-term evaluation of its “Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Thematic Trust Fund”, and testified before the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance on the “Statutory Review of the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act”.

Ken Chadder - Managing Director

Colonel (ret'd) Ken Chadder, OMM, MSM, CD served as an engineer officer for 36 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. He has commanded at all levels including leading the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) deployment to Turkey, Commandant of the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering, Director Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence, Commanding Officer of CFB Gagetown and Commanding Officer of the Canadian Forces Warfare Centre.

He has spent the past eight years as a consultant, leveraging his extensive experience to support clients in the areas of C4ISR, modelling & simulation, geospatial technology and infrastructure.

Rick Hillier - Senior Advisor

General (ret’d) Rick Hillier was born in Newfoundland and joined the Canadian Armed Forces as soon as he could. Throughout his career, he has had the privilege of commanding troops from Platoon to Multinational Formation in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia, in peace and in war. He assumed duties as Chief of Defence Staff in February 2005 and retired in July 2008. 

As noted by Globe and Mail, "[General] Rick Hillier's rise through the ranks of the Canadian Armed Forces can be linked to a gale force wind. Few individuals in our history have been as single-handedly accomplished at recrafting the nation's image".

Hillier's leadership was crucial to restoring servicemen and women to a place of pride in Canada and to re-equipping and rebuilding the Canadian Armed Forces with the largest and most rapid military procurement programs in our nation's history, including the C17, C130J, Chinook helicopters and Leopard II tanks among others.

Since retirement from the Military in 2008, General Hillier has written several books, including the bestseller "Leadership Matters", using his unprecedented experience to help leaders in all areas navigate through tough economic times and rethink their roles and impacts.

Fred Lewis - Managing Director

Fred Lewis retired from the Canadian Armed Forces at the rank of Brigadier-General, his final appointment as Commander of the 15,000-person 4th Canadian Division. His 36 years of service was marked by operational command, often on deployed missions.  Secondary themes included force development and the delivery of professional military education. He holds a master degree in Military Arts and Sciences and an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering.  Since retirement from the military, in addition to pursuing his many hobbies and enjoying family life, he has assisted civilian companies, the Canadian Armed Forces and NATO in their development, training and leadership.

John Loewen - Managing Director

John Loewen has a lengthy number of years of investment banking & international finance experience in South Africa, Canada, the UK and most recently Switzerland.  Born and raised in Canada, he studied at Upper Canada College and then the University of British Columbia, after which he moved to South Africa in 1987.  After much deliberation, he decided to forego becoming a professional hunter and joined the esteemed firm of Ivor Jones, Roy & Co (Deutsche Bank South Africa today) where he was a No.1 ranked research analyst, mining investment banker and head of Equity Sales & Trading.   John then worked in London with Accel-KKR and several junior mining houses including Anglo, Billiton, Rio Tinto & Glencore to establish Global HubCo B.V. to develop global e-marketplaces for trading of commodities.  After this, he crossed the pond once again and was CEO of Loewen & Partners Inc. in Toronto which provided investment banking and advisory services to private mid-market companies.  In 2018, John moved to Zurich after learning that Switzerland is the world’s largest gold exporter and yet doesn’t mine an ounce, so must be doing something interesting.

Apostolos Papastathopoulos - Managing Director

An Economist with extensive experience of strategy, management, financial corporate and commercial matters, particularly to both public and private companies, joint ventures, M&A, corporate reorganizations, change management. Apostolos has a Bachelor in Economics, MSc in IFRS, Bachelor in Military Studies and MSc in Military Science and Art. He started his career as a military officer in Special Forces and he was being awarded numerous national and international honours from NATO and US. He is an executive of international corporates and business advisor in multinational companies.

Apostolos says that his military experience was a better preparation for corporate competition than business school was. While business school focused on a peaceful world, the military prepared him for war and the day-today business crises he would come to face "every half hour". More specifically, he credited the military with teaching him goal-orientation and problem-solving skills.

Thomas McCarthy- Senior Advisor

Served in US Armour and Cavalry units in Germany, US, Korea, and Southwest Asia in both peace and war. Commanded from platoon through battalion level. Served as an operations, plans and training officer at battalion and brigade. Ran an armoured division tactical command post (DTAC) in combat. Composed and coordinated a new 180,000-soldier, multinational corps war plan including the validation exercise. Retired to join the business world as the business development vice president for a worldwide manufacturing company and helped restructure a subsidiary as board member. Concluded full-time business career as an area manager for a large, international defence corporation.

John Mischkulnig- Senior Vice President

John Mischkulnig, born in Verviers, Belgium, is a dynamic and experienced business leader. Fluent in five languages, he has excelled in various sectors, including food and beverage, print and media, packaging, fashion, and furniture industries.

John has a proven track record of achieving double-digit profit growth for food and beverage companies, leading production and quality departments to worldwide excellence certifications, and driving national and international business opportunities. With a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and extensive executive management training, he has successfully managed multiple business functions and inspired multicultural teams to achieve ambitious targets.

Notable positions in his career include CEO of HCAP AG, Business Development & Customer Manager at P3 Consulting, and International Sales Director at Barry Callebaut BCCU. John's entrepreneurial spirit and international expertise continue to support both domestic and international business ventures.

Pamela Leonce - Senior Advisor

Pamela has a career spanning over 30 years at executive and non-executive levels in the public and not for profit sector. She is an experienced Board Chair, a HR and Renumeration Committee Chair, and Chair of Audit & Risk committees.

As the CEO of Stowhill, Pamela provides HR services, executive coaching, diversity, equity and inclusion expertise, and conducts governance reviews. Her clients are based across the world, including Bank of England, Shell, Capita, and companies in the Caribbean. Pamela is also a partner of the international headhunting firm, Saxton Bampfylde.

Pamela has extensive knowledge of governance effectiveness and was recently selected to review and develop a new Code of Governance for the National Housing Federation, a membership organization with 800 members.

Her previous non-executive roles include Barclays Bank Foundation, Olympic Development Authority, the Westfield Group and Advisor to the Mayor of London.

Jeffrey Emmenis - Senior Advisor

Founder of the highly successful boutique charter business Vertis Aviation, Jeffrey brings a unique understanding of the transforming requirements of business aviation users as needs evolve from charter and jet card hours to ownership. With more than twenty years in corporate aviation, Jeffrey instinctively recognizes when user patterns change and is perfectly positioned to advise on the best way to access business aircraft.

Natalie WIllis - Project Manager

Natalie is a proficient professional with over a decade of experience in the retail and finance industries. She is highly organized and focused, and excels in providing project management and executive support to directors and founders. Her dedication to delivering successful projects has been a key factor in the success of many start-up businesses, as her natural problem-solving skills have contributed to improving procedures and elevating performance. Additionally, Natalie possesses strong communication skills and the ability to work at senior levels, making her a valuable asset to any team.