Page 14 - Next Generation 2015 - Digtial Issue

Next Generation Europe

The Lemos family in the past has “We don’t currently see ourselves vessels of 14,328 teu capacity for long
not been averse to time-chartering as asset players, and, regardless, we term employment with Evergreeen.
their ships. However, in common see ourselves as service providers,”
with other classic Greek shipowner- Filippos says. The brothers say that they would
operators, the chief risk mitigation like to expand their presence in the
strategy had been ensuring that a The company seeks to develop containership sector with similar
strong balance sheet is maintained strategic partnerships with charterers projects, even if the returns offered
at all times, so as to be able to absorb and other counterparties that it by those first deals may not always be
even the worst market shocks, and believes will also be there in the long exactly replicated. However, not “at any
capitalise on the opportunities that term. price”.
arise from them.
The signature shipping move of At the time of writing, the company
Andonis and Filippos have the brothers’ tenure so far has been a also manages two very large crude
recently weighted that recipe towards carefully evaluated and dynamic entry carriers and two aframaxes and,
eliminating as far as possible into container shipping, with deals citing the tanker industry’s high entry
speculative transactions and in 2011 and 2012 for constructing four barriers, and the difficulty of re-entry,
concentrating heavily on time charters. 9,800 teu vessels for long term charter they say that they are dedicated to
to Hamburg Süd and a series of 10 staying in tankers.

YOUTH GETS A HEARING IN THE CAPITAL MARKETS

But markets may need ‘new stories’ more than new “What is a problem is that there is almost no interest in
faces, writes Nigel Lowry shipping at the moment. Huge funds are blocked in shipping
already and we have done all the different ship types, the different
IN MANAGEMENT and investment circles, there has always been financial vehicles such as blank cheques and MLPs, and more
a debate about the relative merits of experience and youth when it recently we have done the consolidation story, although I’m not
comes to the top echelon of executives. sure where that leads us.

Typically the debate ranges between the supposed ability “Right now it’s hard to see where the next new story is
of older hands to make tough decisions and deal with difficult coming from. As human beings, we are conditioned to want the
times versus the supposed vitality and new ideas of the younger new thing, and that is true of investors,” he says.
generation. The spotlight on the subject of chief executives’ age is
naturally at its brightest in the context of the public markets. Harry Vafias, chief executive of StealthGas, believes the record
of younger public shipping company chief executives over the past
Notwithstanding the wake of the electronic technology few years stacks up well against the older generation, although he
boom, studies have shown that even in the sphere of listed tech says there have been exceptions on both sides of the scales.
companies, the under-40-year-old founders are in the minority.
“There’s not a golden rule, but a younger internationally-
Shipping’s relationship with the capital markets, which has educated chief executive — especially in this business, which is
expanded greatly during the past decade, is similarly peopled by very intensive — has a big advantage over someone who is over
chief executives of a wide age-span, although the average age 60 and their English is so-so,” says Mr Vafias.
is rising as the number of new launches has tailed off against the
backdrop of lacklustre markets. Partly this is to do with the rigours of doing roadshows,
meeting investors in various different US cities, and the various
The new crop of initial public offerings began in 2004, when other requirements on the leader of a public company.
Evangelos Pistiolis, then 30, took Top Tankers public and proceeded
to build up the company in lightning-fast fashion. Clearly, youth was “If you want to be on top of things, and to run around
no impediment in his case, and the owner, now 41 and still in charge doing all those things simultaneously, being young is a big
of the company later re-branded Top Ships, says at least in the US, advantage,” he says.
investors are not concerned so much with age.
Mr Vafias launched his first tanker company as a 22-year-
“Europe is far more conservative than the US. But in the US, old and took StealthGas public at 27 — a ‘wunderkind’ CV that
young guys can definitely do things and this has been proven. compares with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
People will listen to you if you are a serious guy and you know
what you are talking about, and you believe in it yourself.” He also believes the younger generation of managers can
be “more flexible and more adaptable”, although the best of
However, while the market does not necessarily need new both worlds can be achieved if the young chief executive is
faces, it is badly in need of new stories, thinks Mr Pistiolis. lucky enough to have an older mentor offering free, genuine
advice.

14 | Lloyd’s List Next Generation 2015 | www.lloydslist.com