Matthias Knab, director, heads Opalesque. He studied computer science and psychology in Freiburg i.Br.and graduated in economy in Munich. He was working as a licensed FSA (Financial Services Authority, UK) Securities Representative, FSA Futures and Options Representative and XETRA trader. Mr. Knab is a member of the German Association of Technical Analysts (VTAD).

Since 1989 he has been working as a consultant for major German institutions, most notably Allianz and Vereinte Versicherungen. 1998 he created and served as CEO Boersenakademie AG - the first German institution directed at offering educational services on investing themes. Matthias Knab also served as Managing Director at TradeStream Global AG, a technology firm developing trading solutions for institutions and hedge funds.

Mr. Knab established the first contacts to the alternative investment world back in his trading days. Mr. Knab speaks English, German, Spanish and French and is currently working on Italian.

Sona Blessing, Editor, A SQUARE and Director Research.

In her role at Opalesque, Sona blends her experience in hedge funds, investment banking, business management and journalism.

Until recently she held the position of Strategist "Hedge Fund Research" at Bank Sarasin, Switzerland. She created and authored "hEdge"- a monthly summary on hedge fund developments and forecasts. Whilst at UBS Warburg she worked within Economic Research and Investment Strategy as a global market strategist and was also responsible for creating and authoring Business Buzz.

She has extensive experience in journalism worldwide having published in The China Post (Taipei, Taiwan), The Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia), The Economic Times and Business India Magazine (Bombay, India).

Gregory J. Troccoli, Director of Technical Research.

Greg currently holds the position of Managing Director for Bear Stearns Asset Management. For many years, Greg was serving as First Vice-President - Chief Technical Analyst at Prudential Securities. During his tenure at Prudential, Greg was solely responsible for publishing in-dept analysis of all global markets (in excess of 60). This research was utilized by 3500 institutions worldwide, including eight central banks, proprietary trading desks, major oil companies, and a large contingent of retail investors. In addition, the author enjoyed an extensive media presence including bi-monthly appearances on CNBC and defined monthly time slot with Bloomberg network.

Benedicte Gravrand, News Editor

Benedicte focuses on exclusive Opalesque stories and special reports. Benedicte is perfectly bilingual (French/English) having lived in both Paris and London, where she obtained a BA (Honours) Philosophy, before relocating to Geneva.

In London, she worked in publishing for seven years before moving to the hedge fund industry, in the roles of client relations at Fortune Asset Management, and production manager (publishing in depth hedge fund analysis reports) at Global Fund Analysis. In Geneva, she was part of the qualitative analyst's team at Caliburn Capital Partners.