Leading Global
Energy Trader

Kazunori Kasai is Chief Optimisation Officer at JERA Co., Inc. where he oversees procurement, sales and optimisation divisions across fuel and power. Kazunori sits on the Board of JERA Global Markets as Chairman, where he was formerly Chief Executive Officer from 2019 to 2023. 

A seasoned energy veteran, Kazunori has over 30 years’ experience in the energy trading and power industry. He started his career with Chubu Electric Power’s Fuels Department, where he was responsible for various energy products including coal and LNG. Kazunori has held several leadership roles at Chubu, including General Manager of Chubu Energy Trading and Managing Director of Chubu Energy Trading Singapore Pte. Ltd. In 2008, Kazunori played an integral role in the formation and operationalisation of Chubu’s coal trading joint venture with EDF Trading. The venture would later become JERA Global Markets. 

In 2015, Kazunori was appointed Vice President of Planning and Optimisation at JERA Co., Inc. He led the JERA negotiation team towards successful integration of the coal and LNG trading businesses of JERA and EDF Trading into JERA Global Markets. Kazunori has also served as Senior Vice President, Optimisation Group, Corporate Strategy Department and Senior Vice President, Optimisation Group, Energy Transactions and Projects Department at JERA Co., Inc. 

Kazunori holds a Bachelor of Law from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University. 

Philipp Büssenschütt is Chief Executive of EDF Trading and a Director of JERA Global Markets. Philipp brings almost 30 years of experience in the commodity space. Supported by the Executive Team, Philipp is responsible for the development and implementation of EDF Trading’s strategy in its role as the wholesale market interface; for the EDF Group and its third-party customers.

Philipp joined EDF Trading in 2002 and in 2009 moved to Houston, Texas, as Head of Origination and Business Development for EDF Trading in North America. He became Global Head of Origination in 2010, Chief Commercial Officer, Origination and Business Development in 2013 and later Chief Commercial Officer, EDF trading in 2019. He assumed his current role in 2026. Philipp led the EDF Trading negotiation team towards the creation of the LNG trading JV between JERA and EDF Trading. 

Prior to joining EDF Trading, Philipp spent two years at Enron in London and, prior to that, he worked in private equity, focusing on mining and metals.

Philipp has an MSc in mining engineering from the Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Justin Rowland is Chief Executive Officer of JERA Global Markets, where he oversees the organisation’s business strategy and operations across four locations: Singapore, London, Houston and Tokyo. He also sits on the Board of JERA Global Markets as a Director. Justin joined JERA Global Markets in 2020 as Managing Director, LNG where he oversaw the global LNG business and technology business function.

Prior to this, he was Chief Financial & Risk Officer at EDF Trading where he spent almost 20 years. While at EDF Trading, Justin had assumed various leadership positions and played a key role in the development of the business as a startup joint venture to its present-day position as a leading trader in global power and gas markets. In his combined role as CFO and CRO, Justin held global responsibility for finance and risk management strategies and decisions. He was instrumental in structuring the sale of EDF Trading’s LNG business to JERA Global Markets, which concluded in 2019. 

From 2008 to 2017, Justin was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer of Trading. He was responsible for overseeing EDF Trading’s European power and gas trading activities and was the lead negotiator for the sale of EDF Trading’s coal business to JERA in 2017 which was foundational to the formation of JERA Global Markets as a corporate joint venture. 

Justin started his career in Ernst & Young London where he spent nearly a decade at. His most recent position was Senior Manager in the Banking and Capital Markets Group where he was responsible for a portfolio of audit and consulting relationships. 

Justin graduated from the University of London’s Imperial College of Science and Technology with a Bachelor of Engineering (first class honours) in Aeronautics. He is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accounts in England & Wales (ICAEW).

In recent years, David has served as a non-executive director of JERA Global Markets and its principal shareholder JERA Co., Inc. in Tokyo.

For many years, he practised as an equity partner in a large international law firm (Lovells), specialising in international trade, energy and commodity business.  He built a significant practice, in particular, in the physical and related financial traded markets and served as an elected non-executive director of The Securities and Futures Authority in London.

He switched from the practice of the law to pursue a career in business and served as an executive director working in the commodity and financial services activities of the Man Group plc, and then as director of the UK holding company of the Louis Dreyfus Group. In 2000, he became a founder shareholder and first managing director in EDF Trading Ltd (a joint venture between Électricité de France S.A. and Louis Dreyfus SA).  During this time, he developed strong business relationships in Japan and was a driving force in devising the asset backed trading and optimisation platform, which is now the JERA Global Markets joint venture.

He is a dual national of the UK and Australia.      

Ian Potter is an INSEAD Distinguished Fellow with INSEAD's Global Private Equity Initiative (GPEI), a partner of Foundational Capital. Foundational Capital is a regulated private investment company in Singapore that makes investments across Technology and the Commodities sectors globally and Impact Investments regionally.

He sits on the Board of JERA Global Markets and is an independent non-executive director of the bulk shipping arm of the Swire Group. At INSEAD, Ian lectures MBA’s on risk management and teaches the Capstone course. He also leads the GPEI’s efforts in responsible investing and sits on the INSEAD Endowment Committee.

Until 2013, Ian was a Managing Director with Morgan Stanley which he joined and moved to Singapore in 1994 to establish the firm's commodity trading and risk management business in Asia. From 2009 until his retirement in 2013, he was responsible for the group's private investments in the commodity space. From 2000 to 2009 he was responsible for all aspects of Morgan Stanley's commodity business in the region. This included overall risk authority for Asia, serving on the firm's Executive Committee for the region and several internal and external boards. 

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Ian worked on assignment for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) where he established a micro-finance programme in Northern Pakistan, before which he held roles in New York and London in Finance and in Canada in mining.

Ian holds an MBA from INSEAD in France and a BA from Queen's University in Canada.

John Flynn is the Chief Risk Officer and an Executive Committee member at EDF Trading. He has almost 30 years of global markets experience, including 20 years in energy commodity markets and nine years in fixed income and credit markets.
At EDF Trading, John holds global responsibility for all areas of risk management, quantitative engineering, pricing and structuring, as well as oversight of EDFT’s Paris office.

John joined EDF Trading in 2006 and moved to the Houston office in 2010 as Head of Risk and Product Control. He returned to London in 2012 as a senior manager in the Front Office Risk Group and became Global Head of Front Office Risk in 2016. He assumed his current role in 2020.

Prior to EDF Trading, John spent nine years in valuations and controller roles within the global markets divisions of several investment banks, including Dresdner Kleinwort, UBS, and Deutsche Bank.
He holds a BA in Economics and a Master of Business Studies (Management and Finance) from University College Dublin. He is also an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (ACMA) and holds the Certificate in Quantitative Finance (CQF) professional qualification.
 

Ryosuke Tsugaru was appointed Senior Managing Executive Officer and Chief Low Carbon Fuel Officer (CLCFO) of JERA in April 2024. In this role, he oversees the LNG value chain and leads the development of hydrogen and ammonia value chains.

With a career spanning over three decades, Ryosuke has devoted himself to the global energy sector. He possesses deep expertise in LNG projects and a profound understanding of the LNG value chain.

Before his tenure at JERA, Ryosuke dedicated over 30 years to Mitsubishi Corporation, where he held key senior positions in the energy sector. His roles included Senior Vice President and Division COO of the Asia-Pacific Division and Division COO of New Ventures & Marketing Division, where he significantly contributed to regional LNG security, project development and marketing and trading.

Ryosuke holds a degree in Political Science and Economics from Waseda University.

Justin Rowland is Chief Executive Officer of JERA Global Markets, where he oversees the organisation’s business strategy and operations across five locations: Singapore, London, Tokyo, Houston and Brisbane. He also sits on the Board of JERA Global Markets as a Director. Justin joined JERA Global Markets in 2020 as Managing Director, LNG where he oversaw the global LNG business and technology business function.

Prior to this, he was Chief Financial & Risk Officer at EDF Trading where he spent almost 20 years. While at EDF Trading, Justin had assumed various leadership positions and played a key role in the development of the business as a startup joint venture to its present-day position as a leading trader in global power and gas markets. In his combined role as CFO and CRO, Justin held global responsibility for finance and risk management strategies and decisions. He was instrumental in structuring the sale of EDF Trading’s LNG business to JERA Global Markets, which concluded in 2019. 

From 2008 to 2017, Justin was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer of Trading. He was responsible for overseeing EDF Trading’s European power and gas trading activities and was the lead negotiator for the sale of EDF Trading’s coal business to JERA in 2017 which was foundational to the formation of JERA Global Markets as a corporate joint venture. 

Justin started his career in Ernst & Young London where he spent nearly a decade at. His most recent position was Senior Manager in the Banking and Capital Markets Group where he was responsible for a portfolio of audit and consulting relationships. 

Justin graduated from the University of London’s Imperial College of Science and Technology with a Bachelor of Engineering (first class honours) in Aeronautics. He is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accounts in England & Wales (ICAEW).

Ben Baglin is Chief Finance and Risk Officer at JERA Global Markets. He has over 25 years’ experience in the energy trading industry, where he held senior trading roles across the energy complex at Shell Trading and Tudor Investment Corp, and in asset and wealth management with an energy focus at Merrill Lynch. He is part of the Executive Committee at JERA Global Markets. 

Ben has specialised in energy risk management and corporate governance for over 10 years at EDF Trading where he was Head of Market Risk North America and Global Head of Market Risk, a position he held for six years. He was responsible for designing and implementing a comprehensive global risk governance framework for the business and building a positive culture of risk control and insight.

Since taking on his current position at JERA Global Markets, Ben has brought a strong control and risk oversight culture to the organisation. He leads the Finance, Treasury, Middle Office and Risk functions at JERA Global Markets and continues to promote operational excellence and supporting functions value creation. 

Ben holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics, is an ERP holder and served on the GARP Energy Oversight Committee from 2015-2021.

Hisaki Endo is Managing Director of Japanese power of JERA Global Markets. In his current role, he maintains oversight on the group’s Japanese power business. Hisaki is a member of the Executive Committee at JERA Global Markets.

He has over 35 years’ experience in the energy and commodities industry including 15 years at Morgan Stanley. While at Morgan Stanley, Hisaki was responsible for a commodities sales and business originator as well as a business head in Japan and a co-head of commodities sales in Asia. 

During his tenure with Morgan Stanley, he covered physical, derivatives and financial transactions in oil, gas, LNG, coal, freight and metals. Prior to that, he started his career with Sumitomo Corporation as a petroleum products trader, and then took several responsibilities in physical and financial crude oil trading, relationship management with NOCs and Head of Crude Oil Trading.

Hisaki graduated from the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan with a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts.

Alex Baileff is Senior Vice President of Coal at JERA Global Markets. He leads a global team across Singapore, London and the U.S. and is responsible for developing and managing the group’s global coal and freight activities. 

Prior to joining JERA Global Markets, Alex held senior roles in leading coal trading entities. He was most recently Head of Coal Trading at Vitol where he was responsible for running the coal book which entailed financial and physical trading as well as financing of start-up miners. Alex was also formerly Managing Director at Peabody Energy where he supported the start of the organisation’s international coal trading activities out of the U.S. 

Alex started his career as a Cost engineer at Bechtel, where he worked on multiple construction projects in Kazakhstan, Egypt and the UK. He also has experience in coal trading and procurement at EDF Energy (LE Group) and Essent Energy Trading. 

Alex holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry (first class honours) from the University of Leicester.

Jonathan Westby is Senior Vice President of LNG at JERA Global Markets. He is responsible for the organisation’s global LNG trading business across the Singapore and London offices.

Jonathan has close to 30 years of experience in the energy sector and was formerly at Centrica where he was Co-Managing Director of Energy Marketing & Trading. While at Centrica, Jonathan jointly led their business unit responsible for energy trading & origination based in Europe and Singapore and in addition to managing the front office, held oversight for the trading platform, overseeing the design and implementation of front to back process, policies and controls environment.

Jonathan joined BP as a graduate trainee and later assumed various leadership positions throughout his 20 years at BP. His most recent position at BP was Head of Global LNG Trading, where he was responsible for leading a team of traders and analysts based in London and Singapore with a focus on optimising BP’s LNG assets.

Jonathan has a Degree in Business Administration (Honours) from the University of Sheffield.