Who Are We?

His international experience has been built up over 35 years in London and Asia. This allows Ba to add value and sensitivity in complex and critical transactions.
He has coached management teams in some of the leading international transactions and has personally worked on the communication support of many leading CEO and pitch teams.
Prior to Swordpoint, Ba spent 7 years as Managing Director in another consultancy, managing their most important client relationships.
As Head of Transaction Advisory he also initiated and delivered coaching to management teams in the most important sell-side and capital markets transactions the firm supported. He also ran their business in Asia.
His career has also included Partnership of Korn/Ferry International, Shipping Finance with H. Clarkson & Company and Banking with Barclays Merchant Bank.
A consistent derelict on the ‘Tebbit Test’, he dreams of a Polo Estancia in Argentina.

Ed has been a communication consultant for 20 years. Before that he spent 4 years running the UK sales office of a German chemical company.
He’s spent 15 years based in Singapore, working across Asia Pacific. He has helped companies raise more than $20 billion, worked on numerous billion dollar transactions. In total, he has coached more than half the partners and MD’s at Singapore’s largest bank, law firm and accounting firm as well as coached at board level at more than half of Singapore’s top ten listed companies.
It could be argued that his communication skills started as a race horse commentator in Nairobi 30 years ago. He now splits his time between London and Asia. He is married with three children.

Described by clients as “a good mix of English sophistication with plenty of Italian passion”.
Edoardo has coached management teams worldwide on Equity Capital Markets and M&A for close to 20 years, including in Italian and French.
Clients have enjoyed Edoardo sharing the deal-winning expertise he has acquired over the years. This includes coaching and training assignments in sectors ranging from financial institutions to natural resources or even building the confidence of elite sports people.
His business and languages degrees have underpinned his professional career. He started as a broker on the Baltic Exchange, specialising on the dry bulk market, before moving to place the covers for top sports risks as a Lloyd’s Broker at Willis.
Edoardo attended the “Leading Professional Services Firm” executive programme at Harvard Business school.
His Italian passion is reflected in his love for his family and cars, taking any opportunity to organise tours of Italy and beyond!

o Evan Houtrides advises the leaders of top global corporations in using strategic communications to achieve superior business results. Specializing in investor and client focused communications, Evan advises his clients on defining strategic events. These include transformative transactions (M&A, IPO), investor events, marketing communications, competitive pitches, board meetings, conference speeches, and key internal meetings. In addition to coaching executives on specific events, he designs and implements training programs for organizations who aim to increase the communications performance of their executives and high-potential employees. His clients include Airbus Group, Alticor, Deerfield Management, Greentech Captial Advisors, Heineken International, Investcorp, KKR, Littlejohn & Co., Moelis & Co., NexPhase Capital, PineBridge Investments, Royal Dutch Shell, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Tishman Speyer, UBS, Warburg Pincus et al. Evan has an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and worked as a television journalist during which time he produced for various correspondents including Mike Wallace, Lester Holt, Chris Jansing, and Soledad O’Brien.

Guylaine is an expert in key message delivery and personal effectiveness. Multi-lingual and result oriented, an earlier career in the delux hotel industry preceded 14 years in wealth management where she thrived thanks to her standards of excellence and resilience combined with her outstanding planning & execution skills. As part of Guylaine’s role she also managed events for international ultra-high net worth clients including for the Monaco F1 Grand Prix and collaborated with experts in their respective fields like Joël Robuchon and Jean Nouvel. Her added value is her ability to pinpoint opportunities for improvement and supporting organisations and individuals in embracing the necessary lasting change. Guylaine is a trusted partner: driven, engaged, straight to the point with an unconditional positive mind-set and an infectious sense of humour. She has one daughter and a step-daughter. She loves house refurbishments, focusing on space optimisation to create peaceful areas to live in and innovative solutions to work with.

o Ilaria is an experienced Coaching Psychologist who applies behavioural and strategic insights to help individuals enhance their capabilities, resilience and performance. Thanks to a career in the City as a top-ranked equities analyst for a leading Investment Bank, Ilaria understands the relentless pressure of continuously performing at the highest levels, and now works with Chief Executives and Directors to maximise their talents, tailoring and supporting behavioural changes that are beneficial but may not be easy to implement. Ilaria's clients say that she brings clarity and structure for their thinking as well as energy and inspiration. Life and work experience in three European countries offers Ilaria first-hand experience of cultural diversity, and she speaks fluent Italian, English and French. Ilaria is passionate about empowering individuals to reach their full potential. She holds a Professional Certificate of Executive Coaching from Henley Business School and an MSc in Psychology. Ilaria is married with two teenage daughters and is a Trustee of Inner Wings, a charity working to inspire young children to find their inner strength and pursue their dreams.

James has acquired a deep expertise in speech and communication advisory over more than two decades. As an East Asia specialist, James has helped firms raise over $20Bn at IPO, particularly listings in Shanghai and Hong Kong. James has experience particularly within technology firms, investment banking, private equity, venture capital, recruitment and government. He has coached extensively at both C-Suite and operational team level in Japan, China, South Korea, India and Australia and advised senior members of government and a US presidential campaign team. James is also a technologist, with multiple awards for innovation in artificial intelligence from CognitionX and for research in education technology from the Institute of Education, UCL. James has been interviewed by BBC TV and Radio, his research is published by the Financial Times and Harvard Business Review. A former Royal Marines Commando, James is still an endurance fanatic, tempered by his role as a governor at a UK Secondary School. Educated in Europe and in China, James is both a Mandarin and a French speaker.

Jo's interests include running with her dog, yoga, spinning, gardening, chasing the sun, and running around after her children and husband.

Katrin joined in 2021 bringing a wealth of experience from the legal sector as well as a passion to support her clients to communicate effectively including in German and Italian. Her main assignments have focused on training individuals to have impact including in the context of key corporate transactions. She started her career as a Management assistant in office communication at Deutsche Telekom. She then attended Law School in Cologne before working for a number of law firms as a legal assistant. Her last role was in the capital markets team of a leading German commercial law firm. Given her hunger for learning she is currently studying for her International Management degree. Katrin loves exploring new cultures and countries.

What makes Matthew's courses and advice different is his focus on the importance of communication in negotiations. He has been coaching, training and mentoring for over 25 years both during a successful military career and subsequently as a civilian.
His Diplomatic and Business experience is worldwide, with particular expertise in the USA, Turkey and the Middle East.
No stranger to running businesses himself, he started his first company in 1979 and he is director of a mining company in South West Cornwall.
Married, he lives in rural East Sussex, restores and races classic cars, sails, supports numerous countryside initiatives and is restoring a 14th Century house.

Roly has been coaching since 1992, after a career in the communications world, including working for the advertising group Omnicom.
In addition to advising on specific events, such as new business pitches, conference speeches, product launches and financial roadshows, Roly has conducted coaching programmes all over the world. His articles have been published by Harvard and London Business Schools.
A hardened warrior over thirty years in the communications world, Roly started his working life as an Irish Guardsman, including as an Equerry to the Queen Mother.
Nothing pleases him more than casting a fly on the river near his Wiltshire home and pottering around his garden on some new development project.

William has coached and advised on high level communications around the world, especially in Benelux and the Nordic countries. He has a broad range of experience in other communication fields, such as running financial roadshows, and private equity investor days.
He spent 6 years in the British Army and was Equerry to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
William is married with two children, living on a farm in Gloucestershire. He is passionate about skiing, country sports, agriculture and house renovations.