Executive Officers

Shawn Matthews, 56
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Matthews is a financial services excerpt and entrepreneur with more than 30 years of management experience in public and private corporations. Since January 2019, Mr. Matthews founded and has served as the Chief Investment Officer of Hondius Capital Management, an alternative investment firm. In such capacity, he is responsible for the overall success of Hondius Capital Management with a particular focus on managing all firm investments. From March 2009 until December 2018, Mr. Matthews served as Chief Executive Officer of Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., a leading financial services firm, where he was responsible for Cantor Fitzgerald’s risk taking businesses and strategic growth. Mr. Matthews also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. from March 2009 until December 2018. During his tenure at Cantor Fitzgerald, Mr. Matthews played a significant role of the growth of the company, with significant revenue and earnings growth during his tenure. In addition, while serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Cantor Fitzgerald, Mr. Matthews founded and oversaw their sizeable SPAC business. Mr. Matthews also served on the Board of Directors of Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) from January, 2011 through December, 2013. On January 20, 2022, HCM Acquisition Corp (Nasdaq: HCMA), raised $287 million in its initial public offering, led by Mr. Matthews as Chairman and CEO. On March 20, 2024, HCM closed its $690 million business combination with Murano Global Investments, Ltd., a Mexican development company with extensive experience in the structuring, development and assessment of industrial, residential, corporate office, and hotel projects in Mexico with a vision to create competitive and leading investment vehicles for the acquisition, consolidation, operation, and development of real estate assets. Mr. Matthews received his Bachelor of Science in Finance and Economics from the Fairfield University Dolan School of Business and MBA from Hofstra University.

Steven Bischoff, 66
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Bischoff is an Executive Vice President with Atlantic Home Loans, where he is responsible for the company’s strategic planning and operations. From 2010 through 2020, Mr. Bischoff was a Partner at NatAlliance Securities LLC., a broker dealer where he oversaw investment banking and asset management. He also served on the board of directors, which was responsible for oversight and the strategic direction of the business. Prior to these roles, his career included several senior management positions across trading, risk management, and operations. From 2003 through 2007, Mr. Bischoff was employed with Cantor Fitzgerald, where he was hired as the Head of Fixed Income Trading and subsequently promoted to co-COO of Capital Markets. From 1999 through 2003, Mr. Bischoff was employed with GMAC RFC, where he ran all capital markets trading and risk management. From 1992 through 1999, Mr. Bischoff was employed with Amherst Securities, where he was co-Founder and Head of Trading and Risk Management. Mr. Bischoff served as a director of HCM Acquisition Corp from the date of its initial public offering on January 20, 2022 until its successful business combination with Murano Global Investments, Ltd. on March 20, 2024. We believe that Mr. Bischoff’s extensive experience in the financial services industry and his leadership skillset will be extremely additive as a member of our board of directors.

Board of Directors

Andrew Brenner , 68
Director

From 2012, Mr. Brenner has served as Director and Head of International Fixed Income at Natalliance Securities, a boutique investment firm established in 1997. During his time at Natalliance Securities, Mr. Brenner has concurrently held positions of Chairman for the Childrens Cancer Fund from 2004 to 2015 and Patriot Capital from 2008-2018; Director for Maine Children’s Cancer Fund from 1998 to 2003 and Penn Basketball Board from 2014 to present day; as well as Treasurer for the Maine Jewish Museum since 2018. Prior to these positions, Mr. Brenner received a Bachelor of Arts in International Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School. Mr. Brenner is CPA certified.

Michael J. Connor, 63
Director

In 2016, Mr. Connor founded ThayerMahan, Inc. and has since served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Connor has also held the role of Advisor to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution since 2015. Prior to these roles, Mr. Connor served in the United States Navy for over 35 years, rising to the rank of Vice Admiral. During his time with the United States Navy, Mr. Connor served as the Director of the Navy Budget Office’s Ops Division from 2006 to 2008, Director of the Submarine Warfare Division from 2010 to 2011, and Director of the Warfare Integration’s Navy Staff from 2011 to 2012. Mr. Connor also served as the Commander of: Submarine Squadron 8 from 2003 to 2004, Submarine Squadron 7 from 2008 to 2010, and the Submarine Forces from 2012 to 2015. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College in 1980, and his Master of Arts in 2001 from the United States Naval War College.

Jacob Loveless, 43
Director

Mr. Loveless is Chief Executive Officer of Edgemesh Corporation, a privately held technology firm he co-founded in 2016. Additionally, from 2016 to 2019, Mr. Loveless served as a board director for Perseus Telecom Ltd., a financial services-focused telecommunications company. As a board member, Mr. Loveless had an active role in the company’s restructuring, growth, and eventual acquisition of the parent company by GTT Communications (NYSE: GTT) in 2017. From 2013 to 2016, Mr. Loveless was the Chief Executive Officer of Lucera Financial Services LLC., a financial services technology firm providing exchange technology and private global network services to some of Wall Streets’ largest firms. While at Lucera, Mr. Loveless led the initial design, development, and launch of an innovative distributed matching engine (U.S. Patent 2,0140,172,644). The global financial services firm BGC Partners (NASDAQ: BGCP) acquired Lucera in 2017. From 2003 to 2013, Mr. Loveless served in various technology-focused roles at the financial services firm, Cantor Fitzgerald L.P., where he was a Partner. From 2002 to 2003, Mr. Loveless was the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Data Scientific Corporation, whose customers included the U.S. Department of Defense. Data Scientific was acquired by Serena Software (NYSE: MFGP) in 2006. From 2001 to 2002, Mr. Loveless served as the Director of Technology at Appian Corporation (NASDAQ: APPN), where he worked on large-scale projects for the Department of Defense, including the Army Knowledge Online. Mr. Loveless served as a director of HCM Acquisition Corp from the date of its initial public offering on January 20, 2022 until its successful business combination with Murano Global Investments, Ltd. On March 20, 2024. Given his extensive experience in the financial services and financial services technology industries combined with a long history of developing and managing large-scale and cutting-edge technology ventures, we believe Mr. Loveless serves as a valuable addition to the board of directors.