Firat Bay

Firat is Managing Director of Oplu, leading strategy, finance, operations, and resourcing alongside Antonia. He joined in 2021, and in April 2025 the firm rebranded from Chace People to Oplu.

A graduate of Galatasaray High School and Bogazici University in Istanbul, Firat holds a Master's in Finance from the European Business School in Paris and is a CFA charterholder. He spent the decade before Oplu in front office roles across investment banking, credit research, and portfolio management, with positions at Rothschild, Santander, Citi, and four years at Moody's Investors Service covering financial institutions.

He then joined Legal & General Investment Management, initially as an analyst covering financial institutions, where he met directly with CEOs, CFOs, and Chairs at global banks to inform investment decisions, before moving into portfolio management as an active risk-taker in fixed income.

That background shapes how Oplu runs searches. Research and analysis are in the DNA. Investment mandates, carry structures, and governance conversations with CFOs, CIOs, and Family Office Directors are native ground rather than translated material. The same discipline applied to a credit report or a portfolio review becomes the discipline applied to referencing and validating a Principal's next senior hire.

Firat is based in London and works across the UK, US, and international markets.