About Us

Wayne Penello is the Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of NextGem EMP, Inc. He has more than 40 years of experience trading, managing risk, and investing. Wayne developed the Performance Risk Management System (US Patent 7,822,670 B2) to give his corporate clients a disciplined framework to hedge their commodity price risk. The clients of the consultancy he founded, Risked Revenue Energy Associates, were paid more than $13 billion for their hedge activities. Wayne explains how they achieved these results in the book he co-authored, Risk is an Asset, published by ForbesBooks. Wayne has a Master’s degree in Marine Environmental Sciences from the State University of New York at Stonybrook. He withdrew from their Ph. D. program with only a language requirement to complete, to become a floor trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). During his almost 10 years as an independent trader, Wayne served the NYMEX as the Ring Chairman for Options Trading and headed both the Settlement and Floor Committees. Wayne left the NYMEX to advise, trade and manage commodity price risk for major firms in the United States and Europe. Wayne actively supports several community charities, including ARTS for Rural Texas, The Boys and Girls Club of Champion Valley, the Fayette County Community Foundation, MD Andersen Cancer Research, the Round Top Festival Institute, and the Turtle Wing Foundation. In his free time, he enjoys golfing with his wife, Leslie, hunting, fishing, and managing cattle on his ranch in Texas. Wayne holds a Series 65 License.

John Diplacido is the Chief Marketing Officer of NextGen EMP, Inc. He owned and managed one of the largest Independent Energy Brokerage Companies on the New York Mercantile Exchange for 25 years. During that time his trading and investment skills were used largely to benefit his clients in commodities. Admired for his market knowledge, he has been interviewed and quoted in various publications, including the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Houston Chronicle, Bloomberg, Fox Business News, CNBC, and CNBC Asia, amongst others. He was selected as the Best Small Business Owner in New York by the Republican National Congressional Committee in 2001. That same year, he received a special award from the above-said committee in Washington, D.C. John is very active in his community. He volunteers to teach and mentor children and teenagers in sports and finances as his hobby. John holds a Series 65 License.

Bob Coakley is the Chief Operations Officer of NextGen EMP, Inc. He brings more than 35 years of experience in commodity and stock trading to ANOVA Management. He served as Chairman and CEO of COED Media Group, where he was the original angel investor and later took over day-to-day operations. Bob was a member of the New York Mercantile Exchange for over 20 years, where he owned and operated Win Futures Inc., a commodity-trading firm with 100 employees. He was elected to the Board of Directors twice for a total of 6 years and played a leading role in reopening the Exchange after the 9/11 attack. He held various leadership positions, including Chairman of the Floor and Settlement committees, and served on dozens of other committees. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Fordham University, was a four-year letterman, and was an All-American in swimming and water polo. He served on the national board of Swim Across America for 35 years, where he founded the Hudson River and Florida Keys events and served as Treasurer for 32 years. He has contributed significantly to SAA’s success, helping to raise over $100 million for cancer research. He and his wife, Lisa, reside in Florida. Bob has his 100-ton Master Captain’s License and PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer Instructors rating. He enjoys fishing, diving, and underwater photography in his free time. Bob holds a Series 65 License.