Paul Leand, Jr.

Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer

Paul joined AMA in 1998 from First National Bank of Maryland. He was appointed CEO in 2004. He has led the development of AMA’s restructuring practice, helping AMA earn its position as the pre-eminent maritime restructuring advisor for both creditors and companies alike. He has been involved in the restructuring of numerous high yield issues including Golden Ocean, ACL, Global Ocean, Pegasus and Enterprises, and Horizon Lines. On the offshore side, Paul has led AMA’s efforts in the restructurings of, amongst others, PetroMENA ASA, Sevan Marine ASA, Remedial Offshore and Equinox Offshore.

Paul has also been involved in numerous M&A roles, including with Golden Ocean, SFL and TECO Transport and also spearheaded the firm’s private equity investments in Chembulk and PLM and Lloyds Fonds.

Paul serves as a Director of Golar LNG Partners LP (Nasdaq), Lloyd Fonds AG ( Frankfurt Stock Exchange), North Atlantic Drilling (Oslo Stock Exchange), SeaDrill Ltd. (NYSE), Ship Finance International Ltd. (NYSE) as well as privately held Helm International.

Paul holds a BS/BA from Boston University’s School of Management.

Jim Dolphin

Managing Director

Jim joined AMA in 2001. At AMA, he has been actively engaged in the firm’s principal investing activities as well as M&A and restructuring efforts.

Jim led AMA’s efforts in the restructurings of CMA CGM, TMT, Eitzen Chemical, Nexus Floating Production, ZIM, Master Marine and Marine Subsea. Jim was also heavily involved in the creation of the cruise line Oceania and was one of the original board members of that company. Jim has spearheaded much of the firm’s strategic advisory work for major shipowner clients. Within AMA’s fund activities, Jim led the investment in four 3500 TEU containerships, and was active in the oversight and financing of the portfolio company Chembulk and feeder containership investments.

Prior to joining AMA, Jim led the global maritime management consulting practice at Booz Allen Hamilton. He has served a wide range of clients including large independent owners, liner companies, oil majors and other global resource companies, railroads, ports and maritime service companies.

Jim previously worked as a commercial banker specializing in shipping and holds a BA from Rice University. He was a director of OSG America (NYSE) and served on the Board of Trustees of The Seaman’s Church Institute.

Peter Shaerf

Managing Director

Peter joined AMA in 2002. Peter started in the industry over 43 years ago and worked for many years as a shipbroker for container and dry cargo vessels through a company he founded, The Commonwealth Group. He also operated a small Caribbean liner service while working for a firm of British shipowners. He has extensive experience in vessel valuations and has performed such work for financial institutions and Government clients.

Immediately prior to joining AMA he was a co-founder of Poseidon Capital, a specialist maritime “boutique.” At AMA he has continued developing relationships in the capital markets where he has worked primarily advising hedge funds and investors on a variety of maritime investments in both equity and distressed debt and is actively involved in transaction origination.

Peter is a director of privately owned Interlink Maritime and has served on the boards of numerous publicly listed shipping companies , most recently having served as Deputy Chairman of Seaspan Corporation . He is Chairman Emeritus of The New York Maritime Association (“NYMAR”) an organization dedicated to the promotion of New York as a maritime business center. He is also a member of the American Bureau of Shipping and on the U.S. government MTSNAC shipbuilding and ship finance committee and a member of the editorial board of Lloyds List.

Peter holds a BA in international business law from London Metropolitan University.

Kevin O’Hara

Managing Director

Kevin rejoined AMA in 2012 and has since been involved in the restructurings of Toisa Ltd. (Ch 11), Harkand, CMA CGM, Eitzen Chemical and ZIM as well as M&A, valuation work and fairness opinions in both the Jones Act and international shipping markets. Prior to rejoining AMA, he spent seven years in the banking sector with BNP Paribas, Fortis (acquired by BNP Paribas) and DNB Bank. As a Director in the Shipping & Offshore team at BNP Paribas in New York, Kevin handled strategic clients in the Americas and also worked on several restructurings. Kevin joined Fortis in 2007, focusing on the shipping sector while also assisting on specific clients and projects in offshore oil services. From 2004 to 2007, Kevin was a Vice President and account manager in the Offshore team at DNB Bank. Prior to DNB, Kevin worked for four years as a Vice President at AMA. Kevin started his career in shipping finance in 1997 at The First National Bank of Maryland.

Kevin holds a BBA in Finance and International Business from Loyola University in Maryland and is a Series 79 registered representative for AMA Securities LLC, a broker-dealer affiliate of AMA Capital Partners. Kevin also is a member of the board of directors of Nor Offshore SPV, Ltd. and non-profit New York Maritime Inc. (NYMAR).

Chris Weyers

Managing Director

Chris joined AMA in 2023. He has over 20 years of capital markets, M&A advisory, and restructuring experience with Maritime, Energy Infrastructure and Transportation companies. During his career, he has worked on over 100 public or private debt and equity transactions totaling over $30 billion in value and advised on over 40 announced M&A and restructuring transactions with an aggregate value of over $20 billion. His clients have included companies such as Capital Product Partners, Diana Shipping, Eagle Bulk, GasLog, FTAI Aviation, International Seaways, Navigator Holdings, New Fortress Energy, Northern Shipping, Rand Logistics, Scorpio Tankers, SEACOR, SeaDrill, Star Bulk and Tidewater.

Prior to joining AMA, he was a Managing Director and Head of Maritime and Energy Infrastructure investment banking at Stifel Financial. Chris also ran the Maritime and Transportation investment banking practice for FBR Capital Markets and Fortis Securities and was a senior member of Bear Stearns’ Maritime and Transportation investment banking team.

Chris has an M.B.A., from Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, a B.S. from Indiana University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Rick Brock

Chief Financial Officer

Rick joined AMA in 2005 and became CFO in 2007. After joining AMA, he managed the disposition of the $250.0MM in transportation equipment owned by the four equipment leasing funds that AMA purchased in 2005. Rick was also the CFO of RGCX, a railcar leasing company previously managed by AMA.

Prior to joining AMA, Rick was the Chief Financial Officer of PLM International Inc., an equipment leasing company specializing in the transportation and related equipment. At PLM, he focused on debt raising activities for the company raising over $100.0MM. He also managed the public reporting for 17 entities. He was heavily involved in the development and sale of PLM’s trailer rental and commercial and industrial leasing operations as well as the sale of PLM to a group of private investors.

From 1988-1991, Rick was with Learning Tree International, a technical education company as a Division Controller. From 1986- 1988, he was with Pameco-Aire, a wholesale distributor of refrigeration equipment as the Assistant Controller. Prior to 1986, he was with the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen & Co.

Rick holds a BS in Accounting from Santa Clara University.

Peter Cherry

Director

Peter rejoined AMA in 2023 having previously worked at Ankura Consulting Group in their Turnaround & Restructuring practice.  During his first stretch at AMA from 2019 to 2022, Peter was involved in financial advisory work for Norwegian Cruise Lines and RGCX,  as well as fairness opinions in the international shipping markets.

Prior to AMA, Peter worked at Goldman Sachs, covering the Special Situations Group, Goldman’s middle market investing and lending group, in a finance, accounting and valuation role.  Prior to Goldman, Peter worked at Grant Thornton LLP in the transaction advisory group, performing transaction related business and financial instrument valuation work.

Peter has a MBA in Corporate Finance from Babson College and a BA in International Economics from Fordham University.

Peter is a Series 63 & 79 registered representative for AMA Securities LLC, a broker-dealer affiliate of AMA Capital Partners.

Myles McAlpine

Associate

Myles joined AMA in 2022. Myles previously worked as an Associate on the growth team at Pagaya Technologies, a financial technology company. In this role, he was responsible for leading organizational efficiency through data and analytics.

Before joining Pagaya Technologies, Myles worked as a financial and research Analyst at Scorpio Group. He supported the corporate finance team in the Tanker, Drybulk, and Offshore Wind sectors and assisted with the publication of the company’s first sustainability report. Prior to that, he worked as an Analyst for Skysail Advisors, where he supported research and publication of the first Maritime Technology Landscape. He also assisted with the due diligence for the acquisition of the maritime software company, Burmester & Vogel.

Myles holds a BS in International Maritime Business from Massachusetts Maritime Academy, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude.

Dennis Rutter

Associate

Dennis joined AMA in 2022.  Prior to joining AMA, Dennis was an AVP of the Maritime Finance team at CIT Bank where he worked within the underwriting and portfolio management unit for four years. At CIT, Dennis had extensive experience analyzing and structuring transactions backed by marine assets such as tankers, dry bulk carriers, containerships, gas carriers, and offshore support vessels for shipping companies and private equity firms. In addition to his deal experience, Dennis also has significant experience managing a portfolio of loans and building analytical tools to monitor portfolio health.

Prior to CIT, Dennis worked in a middle office/logistics role for a bunker fuel supplier, working closely with traders monitoring trading positions and profit-and-loss and coordinating deliveries of fuel to end users within the East Coast market.

Dennis graduated with honors from Villanova University in 2017 with a BBA in Finance and Economics.

James Dolphin

Associate

James joined AMA in 2021 from Deloitte LLP, where he worked in their Risk and Compliance department.

Prior to Deloitte, James was contracted by McKinsey & Company in their GCI Analytics division to assist in forecasting trends within the US banking industry.

James holds a BA in Economics and German Language from Franklin & Marshall College