Board of Directors
Howard Knight
Non-Executive Chairman
Howard is the Managing Director of Redgate Capital, a private investment advisory business that provides investment advice to family offices and assists private companies with equity capital raising and debt financing solutions.
Howard’s skills include: determining the optimal strategic direction of organisations, developing new and innovative products, building client relationships and managing business development teams. He holds a Bachelor of Economics, a Graduate Diploma in Finance has been awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, is a Fellow of FINSIA, and is a graduate of the AICD Company Directors Course.
Karsten Guster
Non-Executive Director
Karsten is the Managing Director of Crystalise, a company that provides asset management solutions to the energy and resources sector. He has worked for leading global services providers, where he held senior roles in project delivery, corporate strategy and mergers and acquisitions.
With over 20 years of experience in the energy and resources sector, Karsten has built a reputation as a passionate leader and entrepreneur with strong commercial acumen. In addition to Vista Energy, Karsten is a Director of Coex Group – a registered training organisation.
He holds a Bachelor of Engineering, a Graduate Diploma in Project Management, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Energy and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Jim Poignand
Executive Director
Jim is Executive Director and co-founder of Vista Energy.
For the last two decades, Jim has been involved in the establishment and growth of several start-up companies, focusing on real estate, finance and the Internet.
Jim was also co-founder of the internet-based investment property technology firm Landlord Central and an early-stage investor and advisory board member of fintech startup Pelikin.
He holds a Bachelor of Business in Marketing, and a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies and has cultivated strong project management and team leadership skills.
Mark Warren
Non-Executive Director
Mark is a mechanical engineer with a Master of Business Administration.
Mark worked for 25 years as part of the management team that developed WorleyParsons from a small engineering company into a global project delivery and consulting services company.
He has worked on major projects with ExxonMobil in the Bass Strait, as well as large operations and maintenance contracts across the oil and gas, mining and infrastructure industries.
Mark has consulted for many large corporations and government departments on strategic planning, team alignment, enterprise and project risk management, value improvement and change management.
Phil Holman
Chief Executive Officer
Phil Holman is a professional with extensive executive experience in management positions, board and advisory board appointments across several sectors including Recruitment, Training (RTO), Community & Transport for Disability and Aged Services.
Before joining Vista Energy, Phil held directorship positions across various ASX Top 100 companies such as Chandler MacLeod where he was responsible for workforces of more than 700 full-time professionals within a network of 50 branches in Australia. His clients comprised of more than 60% of the ASX top 100 companies including Alcoa, BHP, Rio Tinto, Qantas, Holcim and many others.
As a London Business School graduate, Phil applies learning-in-action with forward thinking leadership principles to his management style while welcoming innovation & disruption.