Breakwave Advisors LLC offers asset management and advisory services to the shipping and commodities industries.

We aim at opening new, exciting, and difficult to access markets to all investors through our innovative products, but also provide the necessary education and research support to assist with the investment process.

We have more than 50 years of combined experience in sell side and buy side roles, spanning from corporate finance and equity research to portfolio management and company-side operations & risk management.

Breakwave Advisors LLC is the Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) for the Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF (NYSE: BDRY) and the Breakwave Tanker Shipping ETF (NYSE: BWET).

OUR TEAM

John Kartsonas

Founder and Managing Partner

John was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Carlyle Commodity Management from 2011 to 2017, a commodity-focused investment firm based in New York and part of the Carlyle Group. He was responsible for the firm’s shipping and freight investments. During his tenure, he managed one of the largest freight futures funds globally.

Prior to his role, John was a Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of the Sea Advisors Fund, an investment fund focused in shipping. From 2004 to 2009, John was the leading Transportation Analyst at Citi Investment Research covering the broader transportation space including shipping. Prior to that, John was an Equity Analyst focusing on shipping and energy for Standard & Poor’s Investment Research.

John sits on the Board of Seanergy Maritime, a publicly-traded dry bulk shipping company, listed in NASDAQ under the symbol “SHIP”.

John received his MBA from the Simon School of Business, University of Rochester.

Thanos Sofios

Managing Partner, Novisea

Thanos is the Founding Partner of Novisea, an independent, shipping oriented, boutique consulting firm, responsible for Breakwave Advisors investor base growth in Europe, Middle East and Asia. Thanos has an extensive experience of more than 20 years in Wealth and Asset Management holding senior management positions in both sectors.

Thanos worked for 11 years in Citibank as the Head of the Wealth Management Business in Greece and a member in the Investment Committee of the Asset Management Division. From 2006 to 2013, Thanos served as the Retail Bank Director of Marfin Bank and a BoD member of Marfin Asset Management. He also held senior management positions in Piraeus Bank Group and Alpha Bank.

Thanos graduated from the Athens University of Economics and Business and received his MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.

Steve Whelley

Portfolio Analyst

Steve was previously a portfolio analyst at HarbourVest Partners, a Boston-based fund of funds focused on venture, buyout, and real asset markets. Prior to HarbourVest, Steve was a trading associate at PC Opportunity Fund and a research analyst at Marine Money International.

Steve graduated from the University of Denver Daniels College of Business and attended SEA, an environmental and ocean studies program aboard a sailing research vessel.