Friday, June 12, 2020Future of the Global Transportation Industry
Our Presenters:
Jeffrey Ward, Partner at Kearney and Global Practice Leader Transportation, Travel and Infrastructure Group
Jeff Ward is a Partner at Kearney and the Global Practice Leader for Kearney’s Transportation, Travel and Infrastructure Group. He has over 25 years of management consulting experience in conducting and directing assignments. He is recognized globally as an expert in the Transportation Industry and is frequently sought out by Private Equity Firms and CXO level executives for strategic and operational advice. He has led large scale transformation programs across many Transportation Sectors, and has also served clients in Financial Services, Manufacturing and Telecommunications. He leveraged his transaction experience in 2006 as one of the leaders of A.T. Kearney’s MBO from EDS and served three years on the Kearney Board of Directors, including two as the Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Key accomplishments include:
- Led for 10 years the Kearney team supporting the privatization and turnaround of a North American railroad, including several acquisitions and integrations
- Led a series of business strategy engagements for a global express and road operator, including network optimization of both domestic and international businesses
- Led a number of diligence and M&A related engagements across the logistics value chain including rail, 3PLs, brokers, forwarders, intermodal, drayage and others
Mr. Ward’s areas of expertise include corporate restructuring, market strategy, cost transformation, merger and acquisition analysis/due diligence, and strategic operations effectiveness.
He has an M.B.A in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters in Transportation from The University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelors Degree from Columbia College, Columbia University.
Farrukh Bezar, SVP Marketing, CSX, Corp.
Farrukh Bezar is Senior Vice President of Marketing, with responsibility for leading the company’s merchandise marketing groups as well as overseeing corporate strategy. In this role, he helps to effectively identify, develop and execute initiatives that further expand the company’s business portfolio, capture market share and grow the franchise.
A transportation and logistics industry strategist and analyst for more than 25 years, Bezar joined CSX as Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of CSX in May 2019. Prior to joining CSX, he was managing partner at Lynwood Partners, a transportation and logistics advisory firm he founded in 2017.
Mr. Bezar’s previous executive experience includes senior leadership roles within the transportation and logistics functions at Clarendon, Booz Allen Hamilton, and A.T. Kearney. He also previously held sales and marketing positions at the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company and served as a financial analyst with Chase Manhattan Bank.
Mr. Bezar holds an MBA in management, marketing and transportation from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science, also from Northwestern.
Loli Wu, Managing Director of Investment Banking and Global Head of Transportation and Infrastructure, Bank of America Securities
Loli Wu is a Managing Director of Investment Banking and Global Head of Transportation & Infrastructure at Bank of America Securities. He is responsible for the firm's investment banking business in the airline, railroad, shipping, trucking & logistics, and transportation infrastructure sectors.
Mr. Wu started his investment banking career with Salomon Brothers in 1997, and joined Bank of America in 2009. Mr. Wu also spent three years as a management consultant at A.T. Kearney, focused on strategic and privatization advisory for the transportation industry.
Mr. Wu's transactions span all sectors of the transportation field.
Selected advisory transactions include: Genesee Wyoming Railroad’s sale to Brookfield Infrastructure and GIC; Blackstone Infrastructure Partners’ acquisition of a minority stake in Carrix Inc.; Alaska Air Group’s acquisition of Virgin America; Norfolk Southern Corp.’s successful defense from Canadian Pacific’s unsolicited offer; TAL International’s merger with Triton Ltd.; Genesee & Wyoming’s acquisition of Glencore Rail; Matson Inc.’s acquisition of Horizon Lines; Genesee & Wyoming’s acquisition of Railamerica; the sale of Seacube to Ontario Teachers Pension Plan; the sale of Triton Holdings by Pritzker Family interests to Warburg Pincus and Vestar; the sale of Dakota, Minnesota Eastern Railroad to CP Rail; the recap and sale of 49% of global port operator Carrix Inc. to Goldman Sachs; the acquisitions of RailAmerica and Florida East Coast Industries by Fortress Investment Group; CSX Corp.'s sale of CSX World Terminals; UPS's acquisition of Fritz Cos.; Canadian National Railway's acquisition of Wisconsin Central; US Airways proposed sale to United Airlines.
Selected lead managed capital raisings include: Southwest Airlines $6.6 billion common equity, convertible and bond transactions; Copa Airlines’ convertible bonds; the IPOs of Grupo Mexico Transportes; BW LPG Ltd; Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure; Hoegh LNG Partners; KNOT Offshore Partners; Golar LNG Partners; Dynagas LNG Partners; Teekay Tankers; Teekay Offshore Partners; Teekay LNG; Seaspan Corp; Danaos Corp; Costamare Inc.; Navios Midstream Partners; Quintana Maritime; and Eagle Bulk Shipping.
Loli received his B.A. in East Asian Studies from Yale University and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Wu lives in Manhattan with his wife and two children.
Noelle Marder, Moderator, VP Marketing, Communications and Membership, Wharton Club of New York
Noelle is currently the VP of Marketing, Communications and Membership at WCNY. She has approximately 15 years of experience in management consulting, strategy and acquisitions. Her management consulting expertise includes portfolio strategy, product entry strategy, business process re-engineering, supply chain strategy and operations. Her industry experience includes Consumer Products and Transportation. She is a former management consultant of A.T. Kearney and Bain. Upon transitioning from management consulting, Noelle was the Director of Strategy and then Director of Corporate Development at Pitney Bowes where she identified strategic acquisitions and coordinated due diligence and transaction agreements.
In addition to her primary role at WCNY, Noelle is a member of the Steering Committee and the Awards Committee for the WCNY Joseph Wharton Awards Dinner. For the past six years she has assisted first gen Hispanic students in all aspects of the college application process.
Noelle has an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and graduated cum laude with a BBA in Operations Management from The Isenberg School of Management at The University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
