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TrailStone
TrailStone launched in 2013 when John Redpath and Richard Goble applied their experience from Enron's bankrupt trading desk and EDF's European energy...
TrailStone
TrailStone launched in 2013 when John Redpath and Richard Goble applied their experience from Enron's bankrupt trading desk and EDF's European energy business to build an asset-backed commodity platform. The firm operates from London, with additional trading and origination hubs in Austin, Berlin, and Düsseldorf. Rather than manage outside capital, TrailStone deploys its own balance sheet to intermediate physical energy flows — buying, transporting, storing, and selling natural gas, power, and environmental products. The firm structures its activity around three linked capabilities: physical logistics (managing pipeline capacity, storage, and transport), proprietary trading (quantitative models running across European and North American gas and power markets), and structured origination (direct contracts with renewable project developers and industrial off-takers). TrailStone has been an active counterparty in European gas storage since 2014, regularly managing capacity at key hubs including the Bergermeer facility in the Netherlands. In North America, the firm moves physical gas across Texas intrastate pipelines and has held positions on major cross-border interconnectors. Its environmental desk trades EU Allowances and Guarantees of Origin. TrailStone's capital structure is private, with the founders maintaining control and no known external investors. September 2023: The firm expanded its Berlin trading team and deepened its German power dispatch capability alongside the phase-out of nuclear baseload (per the firm, September 2023). Headcount is estimated in the mid-double digits across all offices. The Düsseldorf desk focuses on cross-border power flows into the Benelux markets. A technology subsidiary, TrailStone Renewables, originates power-purchase agreements from wind and solar developers in Texas and Germany, offering fixed-price structures and managing basis risk through TrailStone's trading book. TrailStone's structural distinction lies in its merchant model — it is neither an asset-heavy utility nor a pure financial trader. By owning physical transport and storage rights while running quantitative pricing models, the firm captures the spread between structured energy contracts and spot markets. This hybrid posture, reminiscent of the pre-deregulation energy merchants of the 1990s, gives TrailStone a sourcing advantage that pure funds cannot easily replicate without building physical operations.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2013
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Europe
Country
United Kingdom
City
London
Corporate office
London, United Kingdom
Additional offices
Austin, TX, United States · Berlin, Germany · Düsseldorf, Germany
Principals
John Redpath
CEO & Co-Founder
Richard Goble
Co-Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at TrailStone?
Co-founders John Redpath and Richard Goble oversee all material risk-taking and capital allocation. Redpath, the CEO, ran Enron's European gas desk before co-founding TrailStone in 2013. The Austin and European trading desks operate with delegated risk limits but all large structured transactions require Redpath's or Goble's approval.
Does TrailStone manage outside capital or is it proprietary?
TrailStone operates as a merchant, deploying its own proprietary balance sheet rather than pooled investor funds. The firm has never raised a traditional fund vehicle. Its capital base is private and controlled by the founders. This structure allows TrailStone to hold physical energy positions longer than a typical fund's liquidity cycle would permit.
How does TrailStone source proprietary deal flow?
Through physical infrastructure rights — pipeline capacity, gas storage leases, and transport agreements — that pure financial traders do not hold. TrailStone buys transport on underutilized pipelines, then originates supply contracts with producers who need market access. The firm also signs power-purchase agreements directly with renewable developers, building a bilateral contract book that bypasses exchange-based auctions.
What is TrailStone's geographic footprint?
TrailStone operates actively across two continents. In Europe, the firm trades and transports gas and power across Germany, the Netherlands, and neighboring Benelux markets from desks in London, Berlin, and Düsseldorf. In North America, its Austin team focuses on Texas natural gas logistics, cross-border Mexican pipeline flows, and renewable power-purchase agreements.
Which energy products does TrailStone trade?
Natural gas and power are the primary markets, plus environmental products including EU Allowances and renewable Guarantees of Origin. TrailStone also structures offtake contracts for wind and solar generation. The firm does not publicly report positions in crude oil or refined products, distinguishing it from broader commodity traders like Vitol or Trafigura.
How is TrailStone related to TrailStone Renewables?
TrailStone Renewables operates as the structured origination arm of the TrailStone group, signing power-purchase agreements (PPAs) with wind and solar developers in Texas and Germany. It packages and hedges those contracts through the main TrailStone trading book. The brand is internal — it is not a separately capitalized entity.
What distinguishes TrailStone from a pure hedge fund?
Physical asset ownership. TrailStone leases gas storage, holds pipeline transport rights, and manages the logistics of moving molecules. A financial hedge fund trading the same commodities would need to lay off delivery obligations before expiry. TrailStone takes delivery — owning the infrastructure rights means it profits on the full logistics spread, not just the paper.
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