Leadership Team
John Klepec
Executive Chairman
B.Comm, MAICD
John possesses considerable expertise in commercial management, business development and finance across a wide range of industry groups including agriculture, logistics and commodities.
He has considerable public company experience, including, most recently, as a non-executive director and alternate director of Ten Network Holdings Limited for three years.
Mr Klepec manages his private agricultural developments and was previously the Chief Development Officer for Hancock Prospecting from 2010 to 2016, and prior to that held senior management positions with major Australian publicly listed companies BHP Billiton Limited, Mayne Group Limited and with the BGC Group.
During his time at Hancock Prospecting he was responsible for developing Hancock’s substantial agricultural portfolio, including acquisition of 50% of Bannister Downs Dairy, three major Kimberley Beef Pastoral Stations (Fossil Downs, Liveringa and Nerrima) and two premier Wagyu herds. He also led the sale of a 30% equity interest in Roy Hill to Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese interests for $3.5billion; the rationalisation of Hancock’s coal interests; and was integral to securing the $7 billion of project finance for Roy Hill.
Philip Clausius
Independent Non-Executive Director
BA (Hons) Business Administration
Mr Philip Clausius is the Founder & Managing Partner of Singapore based Transport Capital Pte. Ltd., an investment management and advisory firm focused on the global transport industry. Prior to this, he was Co-Founder and CEO of the FSL Group, a Singapore-based provider of leasing services to the international shipping industry where he oversaw the acquisition and financing of approximately US$1 billion in maritime assets as well as the IPO of FSL Trust in March 2007 which raised about US$330 million in equity proceeds in a globally marketed offering.
As well as a Non-Executive Director of Wellard, Philip currently serves as Director and CEO of Nasdaq OMX Copenhagen listed Nordic Shipholding. In addition to serving as a member on the Advisory Panel of the Singapore Maritime Foundation, he is also the Chairman of the Singapore War Risks Mutual and holds directorships in the Standard Club, Standard Asia and Bengal Tiger Line.
Philip graduated from the European Business School, Germany in 1992 with the “Diplom-Betriebswirt” degree.
Kanda Lu
Executive Director
B. Comm., M. International Relations
Kanda possesses considerable expertise in Chinese commerce, distribution and marketing.
Kanda’s former positions include Head of Sales of Morgan Stanley Huaxin, Vice President (Institutional Clients) of Ping An Securities, Senior Manager (Institutional Asset Management) of Dacheng Fund, and Business Development Associate (NSW Branch) of Australian Finance Group. He graduated from Macquarie University, where he obtained a Master’s degree in International Relations with the degree of Master of International Trade and Commerce Law, and a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce.
In addition to his appointment to the Wellard board, Kanda has been appointed as Head of China Initiatives. He will also be Managing Director of Wellao, Wellard’s 100 percent-owned Chinese subsidiary, and responsible for the development and growth of Wellard’s entry into the Chinese beef cattle market.
John Stevenson
Non-Executive Director
FCA, GAICD, BBus.
John possesses considerable experience in the agribusiness sector, notably as CFO and Director for Australia’s largest privately owned pastoral company, Consolidated Pastoral Company. He has also worked for one of Australia’s largest cattle producers, Heytesbury Beef Pty Ltd.
His experience working in Asia, particularly Indonesia, Singapore and China, is of considerable value to Wellard given the Company’s extensive operations in those markets, and he has worked for both listed and private companies. He has considerable expertise in debt and equity markets.
Michael Silbert
Company Secretary & General Counsel
B.Juris, B. LLB, B.A.
Michael was appointed as General Counsel and Company Secretary on 17 October 2016. Michael has extensive experience in equity capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance and general commercial matters.
Michael has strong legal and company secretarial experience, having been general counsel and company secretary for a significant Western Australian and ASX-listed engineering and mining services business, an iron ore miner, and a listed winery business.
Paolo Triglia
Chief Financial Officer, Wellard Group
Managing Director, Wellard Ships
ACCA, MSc Professional Accountancy, BSc (Hons) Applied Accounting
Paolo was appointed Managing Director of Wellard Ships in 2009. Paolo’s experience managing livestock vessels dates back to 1987. Since then, he has held numerous financial and operational management positions across the industry, extending his expertise to other shipping segments.
Paolo has a proven track record at board level in management and financial restructuring and a deep understanding of the shipping industry, with a specific focus on vessel management combined with strong strategic, commercial and analytical acumen.
Paolo graduated with distinction from the University of London, where he obtained a master’s degree in Professional Accountancy and a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University. Paolo is also a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).