Our board and management

(°1951, Belgian)

Luc Bertrand earned a degree in Commercial Engineering from KU Leuven in 1974. He began his career as vice-president and regional sales manager for Northern Europe at Bankers Trust. He joined Ackermans & van Haaren (AvH) as financial director in 1986 and served as chairman of the executive committee from 1990 to 2016. His current positions include chairman of the board of directors of CFE, DEME Group, and JM Finn, and director of Delen Private Bank and Verdant Bioscience Ltd (VBS). Luc Bertrand is also chairman of the Duve Institute and Middelheim Promoters, member of a number of other boards of directors of non-profit associations and public institutions, such as Museum Mayer van den Bergh and Europalia, member of the board of trustees of Guberna and member of the general board of the Institute of Tropical Medicine.

He has been a director of SIPEF since 1996 and chairs its board of directors.

(°1973, NL)

Petra Meekers holds a qualification in Biomedical Sciences and a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry. From 2006 to 2008, she worked in the renewable energy sector as an independent consultant at BioX Sdn Bhd. She subsequently served as group sustainability manager at New Britain Palm Oil until 2015, when she was appointed director of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development at Musim Mas Holdings Ltd. From 2018 until March 2021, she served as vice-president sustainable sourcing at Unilever Asia Pte Ltd. From 2017 until 9 June 2021, she served as an independent director of SIPEF. On 10 June 2021, she left the board to join SIPEF’s executive committee, as chief operating officer Asia-Pacific (APAC).

In June 2024, she rejoined the board as an executive director, before succeeding François Van Hoydonck as SIPEF’s managing director and chair of its executive committee on 1 September.

(°1959, Belgian)

François Van Hoydonck holds a degree in Accounting and Taxation from Sint-Eligius Business School in Antwerp. He joined SIPEF in 1979, where he developed extensive expertise in the palm oil sector, as well as other agro-industrial activities and their financial management. He served as SIPEF’s chief financial officer from 1995 to 2007, managing director from 2007 to 2024, and chairman of the executive committee from 2014 to 2024.

He retired as managing director and chairman of the executive committee on 1 September 2024 and continues to serve as a director of SIPEF. He has been director of SIPEF since 2007.

(°1966, Belgian)

Tom Bamelis earned a degree in Commercial Engineering from KU Leuven and a master’s in Financial Management from Vlaamse Ekonomische Hogeschool (VLEKHO Business School). He began his career in 1988 as an auditor at Touche Ross (now Deloitte), and joined the finance department of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) in 1994. In 1999, he moved to Ackermans & van Haaren (AvH), where he is chief financial officer and a member of the executive committee. He has been a director of SIPEF since 2018 and chairs its audit committee.

(°1977, Belgian)

Priscilla Bracht holds a licentiate degree in Art History and Archaeology from the Université libre de Bruxelles, complemented by further studies in European relations and international politics. She also holds a diploma in Management from Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles and a diploma in Financial Management from Institut Catholique des Hautes Études Commerciales (ICHEC) – Brussels Management School. She is a Guberna-certified director, specialising in governance within family-owned companies and has extensive experience serving on boards.

She has been a director of SIPEF since 2004.

(°1977, Belgian)

Alexandre Delen began his career in 1999 in capital markets and information technology consultancy before joining Delen Private Bank in 2002. Following a traineeship at Swiss American Securities, he assumed responsibilities within the bank’s information technology function and became a key driver of its digital transformation, leading major initiatives in areas including cloud and hyper-converged computing. He was appointed to the company’s executive committee and board of directors of Delen Private Bank in 2014 and has served as managing director since 2017, with oversight of information technology, operations, and logistics. In addition, he acts as an information and communications technology adviser to several companies within the Ackermans & van Haaren (AvH) group.

He has been a director of SIPEF since 2022.

(°1958, Belgian)

Antoine Friling holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing and a Master of Business Administration in International Management. He has several years’ experience in the banking sector and has served for many years as a director of family, industrial, and financial companies in Europe and South America. He is chairman of PRAXIS Private Office, a family office with its registered office in Antwerp.

He has been a director of SIPEF since 2007, chairs its remuneration committee, and a is a member of its audit committee.

(°1964, Belgian)

Gaëtan Hannecart studied at KU Leuven to become a civil engineer in Mechanics and Production Policy. He began his career at Kone Lifts in London in 1988 and was awarded a European Commission Community Action Programme for Education and Training for Technology (COMETT) scholarship in 1989. He then joined IBM in Germany and later Belgium, where he worked as an industry specialist for manufacturing companies. In 1994, he obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School and joined Matexi, a Belgian real estate and residential development company, where he is executive chairman. He is also chairman of the board of directors of Financière de Tubize, the listed reference shareholder of Union Chimique Belge (UCB), and a director of N-Side and Groupe Louis Delhaize. Moreover, he is chairman of the board of trustees of Guberna, and co-founder and director of the Itinera Institute, as well as co-founder and chairman of YouthStart.

He has been a director of SIPEF since 2020.

(°1971, Malaysian)

Yu-Leng Khor holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University. She began her career in the financial sector in Malaysia and Singapore, before becoming an international economic consultant specialising in Southeast Asia. Since 2003, she has advised Fortune 500 companies, Asian corporates, government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and family offices, with expertise in agribusiness, commodity supply chains, sustainability, infrastructure, trade, and China–Asia economics. She combines her consulting work with roles as associate director and senior fellow (sustainability) at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, research associate at the University of Malaya, and council member of the Malaysian Oil Scientists and Technologists Association. She has held independent non-executive directorships, including at Rohas Tecnic Berhad (2018–2023), and is currently an independent director of Rimba Collective Pte Ltd. She is chair of the Malaysia Palm Oil Board’s Programme Advisory Committee sustainable development sub-committee for the term 2024–2026.

She has been an independent director of SIPEF since 2021 and is a member of its remuneration committee.

(°1981, Italian)

Giulia Stellari holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Biology from Harvard University. In 2004, she began working as a graduate research assistant at Cornell University, focusing on plant molecular biology and genetics, and completed her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 2009. In the same year, she co-founded AgSquared, a technology platform providing software solutions to improve farm productivity, profitability, and sustainability. From 2015 to 2022, she held senior roles at Unilever in sustainable sourcing, digital, and carbon solutions. In March 2022, she joined Fall Line Capital, a private equity firm investing in US farmland and agricultural, food, and bioeconomy technologies, where she leads environment, social, and governance (ESG) risk management and impact assessment. She has been appointed to the European Union (EU) expert group on carbon removals, is a member of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) technical advisory group, and is chair of the Cool Farm Alliance.

She has been an independent director of SIPEF since 2023 and is a member of its audit committee and remuneration committee.

(°1959, British)

Nicholas Thompson holds an honours degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Nottingham, a Master of Science (MSc) in Agriculture from the University of Reading, a certificate in rice production from the International Rice Research Institute (Philippines), and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Bath. He began his career in Papua New Guinea in 1984 at New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL), where he was appointed managing director in 1994. Under his leadership, NBPOL developed into one of Papua New Guinea’s largest employers and a leading sustainable palm oil company, prior to its acquisition by Sime Darby Plantations in 2015. In the same year, Nicolas was awarded the honour of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). He has held various board positions in Papua New Guinea, including at the National Development Bank in Papua New Guinea and West New Britain University Centre.

He has been an independent director of SIPEF since 2019 and is a member of its audit committee.

Petra Meekers holds a qualification in Biomedical Sciences and a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry. From 2006 to 2008, she worked in the renewable energy sector as an independent consultant at BioX Sdn Bhd. She subsequently served as group sustainability manager at New Britain Palm Oil until 2015, when she was appointed director of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development at Musim Mas Holdings Ltd. From 2018 until March 2021, she served as vice-president sustainable sourcing at Unilever Asia Pte Ltd. From 2017 until 9 June 2021, she served as an independent director of SIPEF. On 10 June 2021, she left the board to join SIPEF’s executive committee, as chief operating officer Asia-Pacific (APAC).

In June 2024, she rejoined the board as an executive director, before succeeding François Van Hoydonck as SIPEF’s managing director and chair of its executive committee on 1 September.

(°1984, Belgian)

Bart holds a master’s degree in Commercial Sciences, specialising in International Business, from Lessius University College in Antwerp. He began his career in 2008 as a financial auditor at Ernst & Young (now EY). He joined SIPEF in 2014 as financial controller and was promoted to group controller in 2018.

Since 1 January 2024, he has served as chief financial officer and a member of the executive committee of SIPEF.

(°1975, Dutch)

Robbert Kessels holds a master’s degree in International Business from Maastricht University. He began his career at Cargill as a commercial trainee on the trading desk and subsequently held various positions within Cargill’s tropical oil trading activities in Indonesia and Singapore over a seven-year period. In 2012, he joined SIPEF after more than twelve years with Cargill and was appointed marketing commodities manager in 2013.

He became chief commercial officer and a member of the executive committee in 2014.