Economic History Advisory Board

Dr Peter Cirenza

Peter Cirenza is Chief Investment Officer and Chairman of the UK, Private Equity and Tactical Strategies businesses for Tikehau Capital, an alternative asset management and investment firm. Peter also worked at Goldman Sachs in New York, London and Tokyo, where he helped to develop and lead the firm’s proprietary special situations financing and investment operations in North America, Europe and Asia. He has also taught and advised students in the Department of Economic History at LSE since 2009. He currently lectures on British economic and business history since 1945. 

Peter holds a BA degree in History from Brown University, an MBA degree in Finance from Columbia University Graduate School of Business, an MSc degree in Economic History (Research) and a PhD degree in Economic History from LSE. 

Christian Dinesen

Christian Dinesen is a director and founder of the independent management consultancy Dinesen Associates Ltd. He has over thirty years experience of insurance and capital markets and a wide network at the most senior level of European insurance. He is a non-executive director and chairs the board audit committee of Allianz UK. He is also a non-executive director of Legal & General Assurance Society Ltd, the main subsidiary of Legal & General Group Plc.

Previously roles include Managing Director, European insurance credit analyst and Head of International Credit Research for Bank of American Merrill Lynch for ten years. Before that he headed Standard & Poor’s European insurance practice. Christian has been a partner of a management consultancy and manager of Texaco’s European insurance company, having started as a Lloyd’s reinsurance broker.

Christian holds a MSc in Economic History from LSE and a BA in Modern History, Economic History and Politics from Royal Holloway College, University of London. He is married, Danish and lives in London when he is not fly fishing.

Breht Feigh 

Breht Feigh has served as an executive of several growth companies during his career.  He currently is President and CEO of TCC Software Solutions, a leader in the development and operation of childcare and early education management software to the government sector in the US.  Previously, he was CFO of Lumeon, Press Ganey Associates and American Dental Partners, as well as Chief Development Officer of American Dental Partners.  Prior to his roles with growth companies, Breht spent several years as an investment banker.  During his career, he has lived in New York, London, Sao Paulo, San Francisco, and Boston. 

Breht holds a B.S. (Highest Distinction) in Finance from Indiana University and an MSc (Distinction) in Economic History from LSE.  His master’s thesis earned a Highest Distinction and was published in the LSE’s Working Papers in Economic History.  Breht also studied at the National University of Singapore.

Alison Kennedy

Alison Kennedy is managing director for ASEAN within Accenture Strategy. Her role focuses on advising companies and governments on business strategy, operating models, digital strategies and innovation, cost management, customer strategies, human capital management, large-scale business transformation and organizational change. Previously, Ms. Kennedy was the head of strategy consulting for Accenture Greater China and was also the Accenture Financial Services lead for strategy across the Asia Pacific region. Her career has been spent in London, Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Ms. Kennedy has degrees in Economics, Economic History and Finance from LSE, University of London. She is based in Singapore.

Dr Joachim Liese

Joachim is an independent advisor on Strategy and Corporate Finance with a major focus on Financial Services. His current mandates include a sector-focussed Private Equity firm, a global family office’s investment arm, a major European Fintech as well as a leading international corporate finance house. 

Joachim has more than 30 years’ experience in European as well as international corporate finance and strategy, having advised senior managements of leading banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions as well as governments, supranational organisations and regulators. 

Prior to assuming his current role, Joachim has held senior management roles in international banks and investment banks, a global reinsurance company as well as a major management consulting firm. 

His interest in Economic History covers public finance, banking and capital markets development, including regulation and deregulation, as well as business cycles. Joachim was educated at the Universities of Munich and Vienna from where he received a Master’s Degree and a PhD in Economics (the latter on an Economic History topic). 

Steve Mobbs

Steve began his career as an economist in Corporate Planning in British Petroleum.  He then moved into investment banking at CSFB as Director of Bond Research and then Arbitrage Trading.  Next, he moved to Deutsche Bank as Managing Director where he set up and ran a global proprietary trading group. 

In 2001 he co-founded Oxford Asset Management, a systematic hedge fund, where he is currently Consultant Founder Partner.  

He has served on the Investment Committees for various charities. In addition, he currently acts as an advisor to two other hedge funds and is a member of the Economics Faculty Advisory Board at UEA.  

He holds a BA degree in Mathematics from Cambridge University and an M Phil in Economics from Oxford University.

Sydnie Reynolds

Ms. Reynolds is a managing consultant with IBM Consulting, where she focuses on strategizing and creating enhanced user experiences across digital channels for financial institutions. Previously she worked on airline mergers, preparing for point in time cutover system events. She has worked in the United States, London, and Dublin.

Ms. Reynolds holds BS degrees in International Business, as well as Global Supply Chain & Operations Management from the University of South Carolina. She recently completed her MSc in Political Economy of Late Development from the Department of Economic History at LSE. 

Professor Max Schulze

Max is a longstanding faculty member of the Department of Economic History, LSE. He first joined the department to do his PhD, which he completed in 1993. His research focuses on aspects of European economic history which include the economic development of the Habsburg Empire, goods and capital market integration, long-run economic growth and convergence, and historical economic geography.