Profile

I have twenty years experience of the energy industry in corporate planning (with BP), management consulting (with Coopers & Lybrand, and Cambridge Economic Policy Associates), and as a sell-side analyst (with UBS, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Lehman, and Exane BNP Paribas).

As a management consultant I advised on strategic energy industry issues in the UK, Eastern and Western Europe, Asia and Latin America. I was an advisor to National Grid from 1990-95, including a 15 month secondment to the team which designed the transmission use of system charges and negotiated incentive arrangements associated with NGC’s interaction with electricity wholesale markets. More recently I directed teams advising the UK government on Russian ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, Ofgem and Ofwat on regulatory issues for reviews of price controls, and the Portuguese Competition Authority on the proposed merger of EDP and GDP.

As a sell side analyst I was lead analyst for numerous European privatisations, including the €7bn IPO of EDF in 2005, and the €6.9bn secondary offering of Endesa in 1998. I was the first analyst to identify the significant impact that competition would have on the German electricity companies in 1996, and the conflict between European and French law that implies a significant rise in French electricity prices and large potential upside for EDF. The team I led at Exane BNP Paribas achieved a No 2 ranking in the FT/Starmine awards for industry forecasts (March 2007).

In the Ideas Team at Exane BNP Paribas I was responsible for development of a new research product on longer term cross-sector investment themes. The role included coordinating the input from the 100 strong team of analysts in London and Paris, promoting the product with portfolio managers, and running a series of related conferences/seminars. The first publication was on the theme of the nuclear renaissance, with an associated seminar in London and a global marketing campaign. Other issues addressed included the long term scope for growth in infrastructure investment, and the impact of the financial crisis on corporate pensions.

I have a BA in Pure Maths from Sheffield University, and M.Phil. and D.Phil. degrees in economics from Oxford University. My thesis was on the implications for economics of assuming that people are not rational, a topic that I have found very relevant to my work in financial and other markets.

I am an independent consultant drawing on my full range of experience advising on economics, finance, and strategy with a focus on energy, infrastructure and environmental markets.