Who we are
Our global SwissThink team is dedicated to providing independent expertise in credit markets to organisations and institutions around the world.
Through our learning solutions and consultancy services, we offer banks, asset managers, pension funds, treasury departments of corporates and governments, ratings agencies and other financial market participants the opportunity to tap into our group of leading experts.
Whether you’re looking for learning solutions or consultancy, our expert team has over 250 years of combined experience and works with leading organisations and institutions.
300 years of combined professional experience
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Meet our experts
Blaise Ganguin
President and Chief Learning Officer
bganguin@swissthink.com / +336 1226 0727
Blaise is President and Founder of SwissThink and has over 30 years of experience in credit risk. He managed large analytical teams while at S&P Global in EMEA, has advised rating agencies and financial institutions on credit risk calibration, acted as Expert Witness on arm’s length commercial disputes, and taught extensively in academia and the private sector on topics related to credit risk. He is co-author of ‘Fundamentals of Corporate Credit Analysis’ with John J. Bilardello, published at McGraw Hill.
Previous roles/achievements include:
22 years at S&P in North America and EMEA.
Chief Credit Officer, EMEA Standard & Poor’s.
Started S&P Leverage Finance team in Europe.
Nicole Martin
Senior Consultant, Infrastructure and ESG
A professional engineer by training, Nicole is bringing 16 years of experience as a Senior Analyst at S&P’s global Corporate and Infrastructure practice, in addition to 20 years as an engineer and strategic planner for Ontario Hydro and then Hydro One. Over the past 2 years, Nicole was Head of Steering / Sustainable Finance at S&P Global, pioneering Green and ESG evaluations. Nicole has also provided consultative services to utilities in Canada, Hungary, Thailand, and Korea.
Previous roles/achievements include:
16 years as Senior Director/Director/Associate Director for S&P Global’s Corporate and Infrastructure Ratings group, based in Toronto, Canada.
20 years as a design Manager/Strategic Planner/Senior Design Engineer at Ontario Hydro/Hydro One, a large regulated utility.
A Master of Engineering from McMaster University, 36 years as a licensed Professional Engineer of Ontario and a Bachelor of Applied Science from University of Toronto.
Lotfi Elbarhdadi, Actuary
Senior Consultant, Insurance
Lotfi was Senior Director and Analytical Manager for Insurance Ratings at S&P Global (2006-2018). He covered insurers in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and has been involved in global projects, such as developing the insurance rating methodology. Lotfi has also been a frequent keynote speaker and panelist in conferences and held a position as an insurance lecturer at the Paris Dauphine University (2009-2014).
Previous roles/achievements include:
Senior manager, actuarial practice of Ernst & Young in Paris (2001-2006).
Life actuary and actuarial team manager, Azur-GMF (1997-2001).
Member of the French Institute of Actuaries.
Lidia Polakovic
Senior Consultant, Project Finance and Infrastructure
A Project Finance and Infrastructure expert, Lidia brings 25 years of international experience in a variety of senior roles with the Interamerican Development Bank in Washington, D.C and with S&P Ratings in Europe and Latin America. During her time with the IDB, Lidia chaired the Credit and Investment Committee of IDB Invest, the private sector affiliate of the Interamerican Development Bank and developed best practices for wind and solar power projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Previous roles and achievements include:
Lidia initiated the first Forum of Heads of Credit Risks of Multilateral Development Financial Institutions (including the IFC, EIB, ADB, etc.)
S&P Global Ratings Spokesperson key industry conferences in Latin America and Europe on Infrastructure, PPPs, Transport and credit risk related subjects.
Lidia is a CPA and holds a master’s degree in Professional Accounting from UTSA.
Lidia speaks Spanish, English, and Italian.
John J. Bilardello
Senior Consultant, Corporates and Management
One of the most respected executives in the credit industry with 33 years at Standard & Poor’s Ratings, John J. Bilardello was Global Head of Corporate Credit Ratings, S&P’s largest group with 600+ analysts and over 4,000 ratings. He is co-author of ‘Fundamentals of Corporate Credit Analysis’ with Blaise Ganguin.
Previous roles/achievements include:
COO of Global Analytics for S&P.
Deep knowledge of credit analytics, credit analyst management and business strategy.
Developed S&P analytical education programs.
Laura Feinland Katz
Senior Consultant, Sovereigns and Corporates
Laura Feinland Katz brings a wealth of experience in corporate and country risk credit analysis and related credit ratings methodologies. In her 20 year career at S&P Global Ratings, she was in charge of ratings methodology development and credit risk analysis of various asset classes, including government ratings, corporate ratings and emerging markets. Laura tailors her credit training delivery to her varied audiences which have included junior and senior credit analysts, bank and insurance regulators, and development banks.
Previous roles/achievements include:
Chief Credit Officer, Latin America, Standard &Poor’s.
World Bank Consultant, credit analysis and evaluation of project effectiveness versus development objectives
An MBA from New York University, Stern School, and Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Monica Klingberg Insoll
Senior Consultant, Corporates and ESG/Sustainable Finance
Monica was Managing Director for Corporate Industrial Ratings, EMEA and subsequently lead the global cross-sector Credit Market Research team at Fitch Ratings until 2018. She spearheaded the integration of ESG risk into the agency’s methodologies across all sectors and lead-authored its inaugural Green Bond research. Monica liaised closely with investors and was a frequent speaker and moderator at major public credit events.
More recently Monica has lectured in Financial & ESG Risk and Sustainable Finance at Surrey Business School.
Previous roles/achievements include:
21 years in leading analytical and management roles at Fitch Ratings, covering EMEA and global issues - including ESG risk and Green Bonds
8 years in banking focused on corporate credit analysis and acquisition finance, based in London and covering the Nordic markets
Senior Teaching Fellow in Corporate Finance at Surrey Business School
William Spöhr, Actuary
Senior Consultant, Credit Risk Modelling
William was Head of Market and Credit Risk Modelling and a credit risk specialist at Legal & General UK for 10 years prior to joining SwissThink in 2021. Specialising in Solvency II, he developed key components of L&G’s credit risk capital model for approval by the UK’s Prudential Regulatory Authority and provided expertise for managing the group’s exposure to market risk.
Previous roles/achievements include:
Development of a bespoke credit capital model for Infrastructure Project Finance, combining credit rating and actuarial methodologies
Working with and advising UK and African-based insurers on developing life insurance and pension fund products
Fellow of the UK Institute and Faculty of Actuaries
Cynthia Werneth, CFA
Senior Consultant, Corporates
Cynthia Werneth was Senior Director at Standard & Poor’s in New York following large corporates for 18 years until 2015, chairing committees and spearheading investor outreach. In addition to her current work as course designer and Faculty at SwissThink, Cindy is engaged in reviewing the appropriateness of credit risk ratings and loan loss reserves of commercial loans at US and international financial institutions.
Previous roles/achievements include:
Developed analytical competency exams required by regulators for S&P analysts globally.
Engagement in corporate lending, credit analysis and internal audit for banks in the US, Germany, France and Austria.
CFA Charterholder and MBA from Columbia Business School.
Amrit Judge
Senior Academic Consultant
Amrit Judge’s research interests centre on risk management for non-financial corporations, the use of derivatives by firms, the impact of derivatives on firms’ value and risk, hedging methods, corporate risk taking incentives, measuring and managing exchange rate risk, capital structure, credit ratings, access to finance, corporate bond markets and credit market conditions.
Previous roles/achievements include:
Associate Professor and Director of the MBA Programs at Nottingham University Business School.
Taught postgraduate courses on risk management, derivatives, corporate finance, fixed income securities, portfolio management and international finance at Middlesex University Business School, Cass Business School (City University, London), Nottingham University Business School, PSB Academy in Singapore and University de Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Taught practitioner courses in London, Dubai, Frankfurt and at the Institute of Continuing Education based at the University of Cambridge.
Liz Sweeney
Senior Consultant, US Public Finance
For 26 years at S&P Global Ratings, Liz Sweeney specialized in credit analysis of issuers across the US public finance spectrum. In addition to her work as an analyst, Liz served in a senior credit policy and risk management role as S&P’s Managing Director and criteria officer for US Public Finance, where she was responsible for a portfolio of credit rating methodologies utilized to assign ratings to over 22,000 public finance obligors. As criteria officer, she led the revision of S&P’s analytic approach to many public finance asset classes, including tax-backed, infrastructure, health care, charter schools, and others.
Other achievements:
Board Member, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board since 2021
Board Member, University of Maryland Medical System 2019 - 2023
MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business, a Bachelor Science from Georgetown University, and a Certificate in Healthcare Management from NYU’s School of Professional Studies.
Jean-Michel Six
Chief Economist
Jean-Michel Six was S&P Chief EMEA Economist, based in London and subsequently in Paris from 2005 through 2018, leading a team of economists covering key macro and financial developments in Europe and Africa. Jean-Michel’s team was also responsible for producing detailed macro forecasts that were used by S&P’ analysts in the rating process.
Previous roles/achievements include:
12 years as Chief Operating Officer at DRI, a data and forecast firm headquartered in Boston, MA.
In 2000, Jean-Michel joined Global Partners, Inc. a consulting firm in Boston, as Managing Director.
He has a PhD in economics from the Paris University and an MA in English literature.
Florian Grandcolas
Senior Consultant, Sustainable finance (ESG)
Florian Grandcolas has 25 years of Credit / Fixed Income experience, working in different roles for large Asset Managers or banks in Paris and London. In the past 6 years, he was managing the global Product Specialist team at AXA Investment Managers, bringing investment solutions to institutional clients. Prior to that, Florian was heading the AXA IM Credit Research team, supporting investment quality and performance. In these roles, he was extensively involved in the implementation of the ESG policies.
Previous roles/achievements include:
Fixed Income Director and member of the ESG steering committee at AXA Investment Managers
Founder of Sensible Finance, consulting firm in the Social & Responsible Investment field
25 years Credit experience with international exposure
Jesus Martinez
Senior Consultant, Banks
Jesus is a bank expert and advisor, regular speaker at conferences and universities, and a keen trainer. In his 25 years at S&P Global and as Managing Director, Jesus worked in Latin America, managed several divisions of the Western Europe Bank team and co-headed the Madrid office.
Current and previous roles/achievements include:
Currently World Bank Consultant.
Professor of Finance & Banking in the Syracuse University Center in Spain 1999 - 2005.
An MBA from the University of Houston.
Nikola G. Swann (CFA, FRM)
Senior Consultant, Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), Banks, Sovereigns
During 19 years at S&P Global Ratings, Nikola led a team of FI Rating analysts; served as Director, Sovereign Ratings; and contributed to the Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA) Global Industry Focus Team (GIFT), the Government-Related Entities GIFT, and the North America Credit Conditions Committee. He had primary responsibility for ratings on, most notably: The World Bank Group; Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac; Citigroup, TD & the Bank of Nova Scotia; and also for sovereign ratings on Bermuda, Canada & the US (including 2011 rating actions).
Previous roles/achievements include:
Responsibilities in Canada’s Department of Finance related to sovereign debt management, official reserves investment, and risk management.
Research at the Bank of Canada.
MSc. Economics from the LSE and a BA, Honours (First Class) in Economics & History from Queen’s University (Kingston, Canada).
Tony Stringer
Senior Consultant, Sovereigns & MDBs
Over a 20-year period, Tony worked in a variety of leadership roles at Fitch Ratings. Tony spent 10 years as the Chief Operating Officer of Fitch’s global Sovereign & MDBs ratings business. Tony’s responsibilities in this role were extremely broad, shaping both the team’s analytical approach and focus, as well as managing all aspects of its operations. Previously at Fitch, Tony led teams in the Leveraged Finance and Corporate Finance ratings businesses in London, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
More recently, Tony has launched his own career coaching business focused exclusively on finance sector professionals.
Previous roles/achievements include:
COO of Fitch Ratings’ Global Sovereign & Supranationals team (2011-2021).
Head of Fitch’s Asia-Pacific Corporate Finance ratings team (2005-2010).
Head of Fitch’s European Leveraged Finance team (2001-2004).
15 years in banking with Barclays/Barclays Capital in a wide range of roles.
Tom Connell
Senior Consultant, Banks, Infrastructure, and Public Policy
Tom’s 27-year career at S&P Global Ratings (in London and Toronto) involved primary analytical coverage focused on sectors with significant public policy orientation, such as utilities, infrastructure, and financial institutions.
As ratings practice country manager for Canada, Tom was concerned with cross-sector ratings consistency, and how ratings were used by market participants, such as in policy instruments or private investment guidelines.
As a senior criteria officer, Tom contributed to methodologies across all sectors, with particular focus on financial institutions and innovative capital instruments.
Other achievements:
Canadian Accounting Standards Oversight Council (2001 - 2007)
Served on S&P Global Financial Institutions Criteria Committee, New Instruments Criteria Committee, Risk-Adjusted Capital Framework Governance Committee, and Global FI Analytical Oversight and Consistency Council
MSc. Public Management and Policy from Carnegie-Mellon University and BA from University of Toronto
Steven Hess
Senior Consultant, MDBs and Sovereigns
Steven Hess was Senior Vice-President at Moody’s Investors Service (New York) from 1996-2016, and primary analyst for ratings on several multilateral development banks, including the EIB, IBRD and IFC.
He was also coordinator for Moody’s ratings of MDBs (globally) and contributed to Moody’s MDB rating methodology. In addition, he was primary analyst for several sovereign ratings, including on the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, but also emerging markets including Indonesia, Malaysia, Fiji, and others in Europe and Latin America.
Previous roles/achievements include:
Economic and political analysis of ME, African, and Lat-Am countries at US commercial banks, and
setting country lending limits
Economic Planning Board, Republic of Korea
BSc in Foreign Service cum laude from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service; MA in economics and further graduate study at Claremont Graduate University