The business is led by a management team with a wealth of industry experience including financing, leasing, asset management and structured finance:
Jeremy spearheaded the management buy-in of BAE Asset Management in July 2011 which created Falko and has been instrumental in Falko’s growth to one of the world’s largest aircraft leasing and asset management companies solely focused on regional aircraft, overseeing the expansion of Falko’s fleet of aircraft. Starting out his career in investment banking with Citi in London, Jeremy’s industry experience spans over 40 years working across a number of areas within the aviation sector.
Jeremy joined BAE Systems Plc (BAE) in 1993 to lead the commercial aerospace financing initiatives and was responsible for all aspects of corporate finance within the commercial aerospace sector. He also sat on the Executive Board that oversaw the running of the Asset Management division which had a portfolio some 600 BAE manufactured regional jets and turboprop aircraft under management at that time. In this role, Jeremy completed a number of airline work outs in South Africa, US, Canada, Australia, UK and Colombia. In 1998, Jeremy and the team completed a Financial Risk Insurance Programme a synthetic securitization using insurance capital, which underpinned the performance of its existing portfolio of some 550 turboprop and jet aircraft from any future risk and volatility in the regional aircraft market. Jeremy left BAE in 1999 to join XL Capital and in 2001 founded Orbis Capital, a corporate and structured finance company specialising in aircraft and other asset backed transactions. Among a number of significant aviation and aerospace clients, BAE became a significant customer which ultimately led to the opportunity to acquire the Asset Management business in 2011.
Mark Hughes serves as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Falko and was part of the management buy-in team that created Falko in 2011 when it acquired BAE Asset Management, the regional aircraft leasing business of BAE Systems Plc. As CCO, Mark heads up the aircraft marketing function, covering airline and OEM relationships, and overseeing the origination and evaluation of aircraft acquisitions and lease placements for Falko, which has through its managed funds and affiliates, acquired over 500 regional jets and turboprops in recent years’ worth c.$4.7 billion, making Falko one of the world’s most active lessors in the small commercial aircraft space.
Mark has over 30 years of structured finance and leasing experience in the aerospace sector. Having started his career in shipping at RBS before moving to BAE Asset Management, Mark has been involved in all aspects of asset finance and leasing, including risk pricing and credit analysis. Alongside Jeremy Barnes, Falko’s CEO, Mark co-founded Orbis Capital, a corporate and structured finance company specialising in aircraft and other asset backed transactions. Here, Mark worked with blue chip aerospace clients including Export Development Canada, Raytheon & Saab and concluded over $3 billion of aircraft-backed transactions covering a broad range of aircraft types from used regional turboprops through to new Boeing 787s and holds strong relationships with all the commercial aircraft manufacturers.
Sarah is a senior member of the executive management team and is the Chief General Counsel overseeing all legal, compliance and regulatory matters for Falko and responsible for the delivery of Falko’s strategic initiatives. Sarah was a founder member of the Buy-in Team that acquired the asset management business from BAE Systems backed by Fortress Investment Group (FIG) and a key member of the management team responsible for the acquisition by Chorus Aviation Inc. of Falko.
Sarah has over 30 years of industry experience qualifying as a solicitor with DLA Piper and subsequently joined the legal department at BAE Systems. Sarah then became legal director of BAE Regional Aircraft where she was a founding member of BAE Asset Management where she had responsibility for the legal department and became its commercial director. Prior to Falko, Sarah was a cofounder of Orbis Capital, where she was responsible for contractual and legal aspects, as well as fulfilling the company secretarial and compliance functions.
Ray has over 20 years of aerospace and finance experience. He started his career with PwC’s Banking and Capital Markets group. His clients included banks, corporate treasuries, and aircraft lessors. Ray left PwC in 2009 joining AWAS as External Reporting Manager. During his nine years with them he worked on various large projects as well as overseeing all external reporting requirements for the group. In 2018, Ray joined the start-up regional lessor Chorus Aviation Capital as VP of Accounting and Finance where he was responsible for establishing the finance function in Dublin while supporting the significant expansion of the business. Chorus Aviation Capital merged with Falko in May 2022. Ray, who is based in Falko’s Dublin office, was appointed CFO of Falko in January 2023. As CFO he works closely with other senior management and external stakeholders to ensure the continued effectiveness and development of their financial control processes, accounting systems and reporting routines to support the growth of the business.
Richard joined the finance function of BAE Asset Management in 2002, performing a wide variety of roles during his time including financial reporting, risk insurance programme management, insurance mediation and litigation, transactional analysis and project management and management of the mergers and acquisitions process for the sale of the BAE Asset Management business which concluded in 2011 with the formation of Falko. Since then, Richard has supported and managed a broad range of transactions including debt financing and aircraft acquisitions. Richard heads up the Commercial, Legal and Portfolio Management functions responsible for the management, execution and legal matters relating to Falko’s transactions (sale, lease and acquisition), maintaining existing portfolio lessee relationships alongside the day-to-day portfolio/lease management.
As Head of Portfolio Strategy, Brian is responsible for Falko’s portfolio strategy with a particular focus on asset monetisation. Brian has over 30 years of global aviation experience, holding senior roles in the Capital Markets and Trading teams at a number of major aircraft lessors. Most recently Brian was at Avolon joining in 2011 as Managing Director of Capital Markets, and was part of the Senior Management team responsible for Avolon’s growth from a start-up aircraft lessor to the third largest lessor globally. Subsequently Brian moved into the role of Global Head of Aircraft Trading, creating and developing Avolon’s Aircraft Trading team. During his tenure, the Trading team successfully completed in excess of $10 Billion of transactions and was the preeminent team in the aircraft operating lease trading environment. Earlier in his career, Brian held various positions in the Finance and Capital Markets teams at both Guiness Peat Aviation Group (GPA) and GECAS, culminating in the role of Managing Director, Capital Markets.
Matt serves as Head of Asset Finance, responsible for all aspects of Falko’s debt financing activities as well as heading up the Asset Finance, Commercial Analysis and Risk Management teams. Matt has over 15 years of industry experience, and prior to joining Falko in 2019, was part of Citi’s Aviation Finance team where he was responsible for lessor and airline relationships across EMEA. Matt has a proven track record of sourcing and structuring debt financing solutions, whilst managing Falko’s strong relationships with some of the world’s leading financial institutions.