Mr. Sam Sheng, Vice President of Financial Planning & Analysis: Sam Sheng is our Vice President of Financial Planning & Analysis, and also has deep experience in casino analytics and loyalty and rewards programs. Sam is an expert in CRM, Revenue Management and Business solutions professional with strong leadership and communication skills. Additionally, Sam’s expertise includes systems development, business process reengineering, and business development in the gaming, hospitality and cruise ship industries. He is fluent in both English and Chinese. In the last 5 years, Sam has been working in Macau and Vietnam, having opened the Grand Ho Tram Strip Resort and recently joined IRI in his current capacity. Sam possesses the combination of strong analytical/technical skills with distinctive business acumen and disciplines assimilated from over 15 years international working experience in the US, Europe and Asia. Now, his experience in Vietnam provides Integrated Resorts International Ltd. with a seasoned development executive that has local market expertise.
OUR TEAM
H.E. Ambassador Ton Lam: Partner & Senior Advisor for Government Affairs: Mr. Lam is a United Nations Ambassador whose mandate is given under the United Nations World Human Facility Community (UNHWF). The UNHWF mission is focused on the improvement of human rights globally. In his local Vietnamese life, Ambassador Lam is also the Owner and President of Golden Star Trading Company in Hanoi, through which he provides consulting services guiding foreign companies wishing to open and operate enterprises in Vietnam, explaining the processes for investment and assisting with the inter-action between clients and applicable government offices..Throughout his career, Mr. Lam has consulted with foreign governments, among them being the United States and Vietnam, participating in various negotiations which led to the elimination of the trade embargo between the two countries. He receives requests from the Vietnamese government to consult on a myriad of issues related to the current conflicts which arise from time to time across Asia and is considered an expert in the area of negotiations and conflict resolution.
Nicholas Naples, Partner & CEO: Nick Naples is a hospitality and gaming industry veteran of more than 25 years. Nick has held executive positions for some of the world’s most well respected companies including Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, Caesar’s (Harrah’s) Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands and Melco-Crown Entertainment. Nick has held senior corporate executive roles focusing on the development and/or operations of four integrated resorts on the Cotai Strip in Macau (including The Venetian, Sands Cotai Central, City of Dreams and Studio City) and also has deep experience in the Vietnamese gaming market through his affiliation with Asian Coast Development at The Grand Ho Tram Strip resort, specializing in International Marketing and Business Development. Nick’s management responsibilities have included integrated resort operations, project development, design, construction, asset management, hotel operations, F&B operations, marketing, retail and corporate centralized services plus ancillary entertainment related businesses within integrated resorts. .
Martin Charles Tacon, Director IRI; Partner & Co-Founder, Sniper Capital (HK) Martin Tacon is an experienced real estate professional with more than 25 years’ experience in transaction-driven property investment. Martin has successfully identified and capitalised on Asian real estate opportunities within the investment banking, structured finance and asset management businesses. Sniper Capital was established in 2004 to capture the growth opportunities from Macau’s undervalued real estate sector following the liberalisation of the territory’s gaming industry. Sniper’s inaugural fund, South China Sniper Fund, was launched in 2005.
Since its, its assets under management have grown to US$500 million across three funds – the London Stock Exchange listed Macau Property Opportunities Fund and two private closed-end funds, Macau Sniper Fund and Macau Leisure Income Fund. In 2010, Sniper began leveraging its sourcing and acquisition expertise and extensive investor network to build an investment advisory business.
Before Mr. Tacon co-founded Sniper Capital, he worked in the real estate investment banking divisions of HSBC, Credit Suisse First Boston and, more recently, Zurich Re, where he built a US$1 billion pipeline of structured finance transactions. He is a Professional Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Mr.Tacon and Sniper Capital are planning to raise a development fund for the build out the non-gaming resort elements of Marina City including retail, restaurants, entertainment and residential. Further, Mr. Tacon will advise the Company on capital structuring, fund raising and related development strategies.
Dr. Eugene Ference, PhD, IRI: Senior Advisor - Organizational Development & Strategy, President, Ference Leadership and Strategy: Dr. Gene Ference is President of Ference Leadership and Strategy (FLS) & Center for Survey Research (CSR). He is a management and organizational development specialist with over 35 years of experience in developing teams, building performance cultures and creating brand engagement strategies. While FLS develops programs themed on building deliberate cultures, (organizational infrastructures, human motivations and team dynamics), CSR designs organizational surveys and personal assessments that generate satisfaction and engagement performance metrics for luxury hospitality, gaming and related service industries. A partial list of renowned companies include: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Caesar Entertainment's Hotels & Casinos, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Disney Resort Hotels & Parks, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, The Dorchester Collection, Fairmont, Raffles & Swissotels & Resorts, as well as up-scale country clubs, luxury spas, theme parks, retail stores and signature restaurants to include: Alain Ducasse, Jean-George Vongerichten and Wolfgang Puck.
With graduate degrees from Cornell University, Magna Cum Laude and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society memberships, Dr. Ference also completed a two-year, post-doctoral certification program in Change Management Leadership from the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Sciences. Prior to founding FLS in 1980, Gene served as: Global Director of Training and Development for Hilton International and HI’s Career Development Institute (CDI) as well as Director of Management Development for InterContinental Hotels Worldwide. With this background and faculty teaching positions at Cornell, Gene has traditionally focused on blending operational experience with best practices and peak-performance mindsets in creating sustainable deliberate cultures. Dr. Ference conducts leadership retreats, management workshops and corporate meetings. As an executive coach, he develops managerial talent through one-on-one and small-group programs that focus on refining interpersonal skills; as an organizational development facilitator, he enhances team dynamics and optimizes potential. Programs are based on the company’s credo: Deliberate cultures create powerful brands. Gene is an active member of the Cornell Hotel Society (CHS), founding member of the International Luxury Hotel Association (ILHA) and member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) - a professional society of the leading 200 hospitality industry consultants in the world with membership by invitation only. Dr. Ference will advise and support Integrated Resorts Ltd. in the design, implementation and ongoing development of the Company’s organizational effectiveness, executive development and related human resources.
Ms. Anne Salt: Senior Advisor – Commercial, Legal and Human Resources; Former General Counsel Sands China Ltd.; Group Head Legal and HR at Rochdale Spears. Ms. Salt is a Senior Corporate/Commercial Lawyer with significant experience providing advice to Fortune 500 companies (Sands China Ltd., URS Corporation & Telstra Corporation) across a range of matters and in a variety of industries. As Group Head of Legal and Human Resources for Rochdale Spears, Ms. Salt handles a variety of corporate matters across the company’s business including three of its state-of-the-art factories in South Vietnam. Previously, Anne was Vice Corporate Counsel for Venetian Macau and Interim General Counsel for Sands China Ltd. Her exposure to the gaming environment is extensive. She also served as Director of Commercial Projects for the Company and played a significant role in bringing the Venetian Hotel & Casino and Cotai Water Jet ferry services between Hong Kong and Macau online. Additionally, her multi-disciplined qualifications in Law (at Masters and Honours level), Accounting (CPA) and Project Management (at Masters Level) provide a strong oversight throughout the supply chain. Additionally, Anne has experience in several specialty areas including Compliance (FCPA, SFC & SEC Investigations) Contract drafting and negotiation, due diligence, commercial law, employment law, risk management, commercial disputes and property development. She was admitted to Practice in High Court of Hong Kong (2010), Supreme Ct of NSW (2003), Supreme Court of Victoria and any Federal Court of Australia (1995). Certified Practising Accountant (1999).
Jef Forrer, Partner, President of Project Development: Johannes Eksteen Forrer, Jef, BSc Eng, MBA, serves as the President of Project Development at IRI Corporation. Previously, Jef served as President of Project Development at Asian Coast Development Ltd. since October 2008, and build and opened The Grand Ho Tram Strip resort. He was a founding member of Global Resorts (PTY) Ltd. that became Peermont Global (PTY) Ltd. He was responsible for the development of the first Caesars casino project outside the United States, Caesars Gauteng. The latter became “Emperors Palace” the flagship of Peermont global. Other projects he completed during his14 years at Peermont was The Grand Palm, Graceland and Frontier. He was also responsible for the refurbishment and upgrading of existing facilities of the Peermont Group, from design to commissioning. Earlier, he served as Development Manager at Sun International from October 1989 to November 1994. He was directly involved in the development and construction of The Lost City Project at Sun City in South Africa, created by Sol Kerzner, that accommodates the World renowned Palace Hotel.