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Our team of industrial professors bring real-word experience to the teaching on our programmes
Dr Brian Healy
Dr Brian Healy is an Industrial Professor at IFT. He has more than 25 years experience in financial markets as a trader and quantitative analyst and has acted as a consultant for clients in the hedge fund industry, structured finance, private equity, venture capital and asset backed finance. He is a founder and or C-level executive of a number of startups focusing on financial technology, artificial intelligence, anomaly detection and predictive modelling and acts as an advisor to a variety of tech incubators.
Email: b.healy@ucl.ac.uk
Budha Bhattacharya
Budha is an Industrial Professor at the Institute of Finance and Technology (IFT) at University College London (UCL), where he teaches modules in Banking and Digital Finance and Responsible Finance master's programs. With over twenty years in Capital Markets, he has held significant roles at leading tier-one investment banks, including UBS, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Bank of America, and a stint at a Big Four consultancy firm.
Before Lombard Odier, he was pivotal in developing ESG IQ, KPMG's flagship ESG Big Data analytics platform, in collaboration with data scientists, engineers, and Google.
Email: budha.bhattacharya.18@ucl.ac.uk
Luca Cocconcelli
Dr Luca Cocconcelli is an Industrial Professor at IFT, where he teaches Big Data in Quantitative Finance. Luca holds a PhD in Applied Finance from University College London and an MSc in Statistics from University of Bologna. He is Data Analytics Manager at the London Clearing House (Part of London Stock Exchange Group) where he covers Equity and Fixed Income in the Risk & Innovation team.
Before joining LCH, Luca worked in M&G Investments in Risk Modelling and Analytics for Equity in the Portfolio Construction and Risk division and as a quant risk analyst in a boutique Investment Management (Massena Investment Management). Luca spent 7 years in academia and developed a number of collaboration with international institutions such as the European Investment Bank, World Bank and European Commission.
Email: l.cocconcelli@ucl.ac.uk
Piero Mazzarisi
Piero Mazzarisi is Industrial Professor at IFT. He is also Assistant Professor in Applied Mathematics at Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS) in Pisa, Italy. He is involved in many research projects in financial mathematics, including collaborations with industry and the Italian regulator of financial markets (CONSOB).
Piero's research interests fall mainly in the intersection of discrete mathematics with other fields, including statistics, probability, and statistical physics. His specific focus is the modelling of time series of networks and, more broadly, time series analysis.
Recently, he has investigated new applications of machine learning techniques and neural networks to solve problems of statistical inference with approximate methods. He has an MSc in Theoretical Physics and a PhD in Financial Mathematics, with a thesis on dynamic network models, with applications to finance and a focus on the study of the dynamics of interbank networks.
Email: piero.mazzarisi@sns.it
Francesco Cuccovillo
Francesco Cuccovillo is an Industrial Professor at the UCL - Institute of Finance and Technology, where he teaches 'Principles of Corporate Finance and Asset Valuation' on the MSc in Banking and Digital Finance. He has over 20 years of experience in Markets, holding multiple leadership positions with a strong track record managing European and global businesses and a focus on cross-asset derivatives and solutions, structured and asset backed finance, secured funding. Francesco is currently a Managing Director at Wells Fargo, Corporate and Investment Banking where he is responsible for the Financing & Solutions business in International Markets as well as serving as Global Co-Head of Secured Credit Trading. Prior to Wells Fargo, Francesco was a Partner and Head of Financing and Alternatives at Channel Capital Advisors. Before joining Channel, he was Global Co-Head of Investment, Financing and Solutions at Natwest Markets and he led Structuring as well as Structured Finance & Special Situations Trading in the Global Markets division at Nomura for EMEA. Previously, Francesco was Co-Head of Credit Structuring at Lehman Brothers for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Francesco also held a variety of structuring and trading roles for HSBC and RBC Capital Markets.
Francesco has taken part as speaker or panelist at frequent industry conferences and seminars. He has lectured in various undergraduate, post-graduate and executive courses subjects related to fixed income and credit markets, asset management, risk and derivatives. Francesco received a Degree in Economics cum laude from LUISS (Rome) and he is a CFA charterholder.
Email: f.cuccovillo@ucl.ac.uk
Matteo Benedetto
Matteo Benedetto is an Industrial Professor at the UCL Institute of Finance and Technology, where he teaches Valuation in Private Equity and Venture Capital. Matteo is a Managing Director and currently serves as European Head of Fixed Income Capital Markets Syndicate for Financial Issuers and International Corporates at Morgan Stanley, where he also oversees the distribution of private debt and structured financing solutions.
Previously, he was advising corporate clients on debt financing throughout the corporate cycle and supporting sponsors on project finance and securitisation. He joined Morgan Stanley full-time in 2007 after gaining pre-work experience in M&A Real Estate and Equity & Debt Capital Markets. Matteo is a CFA charterholder and holds both a BSc and an MSc in Economics and Finance from Bocconi University, with international study experiences at UPenn Wharton School and Beijing University. In 2024, he was honored with the Global Capital Bond Awards for Most Impressive FIG Syndicate Banker.
Email: Matteo.Benedetto@morganstanley.com
Cagatay Bircan
Dr Cagatay Bircan is an Industrial Professor at IFT and teaching Valuation in Private Equity and Venture Capital. He is also Lead Research Economist at the Office of the Chief Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). At the EBRD, he conducts academic research and various types of policy work in the areas of banking, entrepreneurial finance, organisational economics, development, and trade.
His current research is on knowledge work in teams and multinationals, value creation in private equity, and entrepreneurship in emerging markets. Prior to joining the EBRD, Cagatay was a Fixed Income Strategist and Economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, covering EMEA markets. He holds a BA in Economics, German, and Mathematics from Williams College, and MA and PhD degrees in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Email: cagatay.bircan.18@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Drago Indjic
Dr Drago Indjic is an Industrial Professor at IFT, where he teaches courses on the MSc Venture Capital and Private Equity with Financial Technology. He is Managing Director of Oxquant and Dozent at the Computing Faculty RAF Belgrade. He was awarded a PhD in 1995 from Imperial College London and held senior roles at hedge funds before co-founding tech start-ups across Europe.
Drago is EU expert for machine learning and co-editor of the 'Legaltech' book for Wiley (2020). He taught at several leading business schools before his appointment at UCL IFT.
Email: d.indjic@ucl.ac.uk
Khalid Naji
Khalid also managed high-tech projects in Advanced Biofuels, Sustainable Marine Fisheries, Solar Testing, Carbon Capture & Robotic Surgery Training (later successfully spun-off & integrated into the Qatari national hospital system with thousands of medical doctors trained). Khalid holds a BEng in Civil Engineering from University College London (UCL), an MS in Civil & Environmental Engineering – Sustainable Design & Construction from Stanford University and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in California.
Email: k.naji@ucl.ac.uk
Max Vermorken
Max is an Industrial Professor at IFT. He co-founded SigmaRoc plc in August 2016 as a SPAC and has since served as its CEO. In this capacity he developed and implemented the Invest Improve Integrate Strategy and platform-based business model of the SigmaRoc Group. The group has grown both organically and through acquisition across 12 countries in Northern Europe, building up a strong asset base and a strong financial performance.
Prior to SigmaRoc, Max was strategic advisor to the CEO of Holcim Northern Europe, the world’s largest construction materials group. His role included responsibility for the merger of Lafarge SA and Holcim Ltd in the region involving the only Day 1 integration of the two major businesses following the hive-down and integration of two large asset portfolios – a mix which included cement plants and down-stream assets. Prior to working for LafargeHolcim, Max worked in private equity and venture capital at Luxembourg-headquartered Genii Group, working directly to its founding principals Gerard Lopez, co-founder of Mangrove VC and Eric Lux a major real estate developer and industrial investor.
Max holds a PhD in Financial Economics from University College London and Bachelor and Master degrees in both Civil Engineering and Financial Economics from University College London and the University of Brussels, respectively.
Email: maxvermorken@gmail.com
Amin Amal-Lee
Email: amal-lee.amin@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Hakan Lucius
Dr Hakan Lucius is Chief Sustainability Officer at the EIB, the European Union’s bank and the largest Multilateral Financial Institution of the World. He possesses more than 25 years of sustainability experience in finance, in particular through the structuring of multiple billions of euros of investments, through both, loans and equity throughout his career.
Academically, Dr Lucius specializes in sustainable finance and has published articles in multiple languages. He received his Ph.D. with distinctions in industrial economics, his MBA from INSEAD in Finance, France, and his MSc in Engineering from Vienna Technical University. He is an internationally acclaimed speaker, quoted by the Financial Times and Reuters, and has lectured in over 20 countries across Europe, Asia, and in the US.
Prof. Dr. Lucius is also Board Member of the Luxembourg Fund Labelling Agency, Luxflag; member of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, EFRAG on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, ESRS; member of the ISSB Technical Reference Group; the European Commission’s Ecolabel expert group for sustainable finance; and former President and current member of the European Investment Bank’s Pension Board
Email: h.lucius@ucl.ac.uk
Rebecca Macdonald
Rebecca MacDonald is an Industrial Professor at IFT, where she teaches social enterprise and impact investing. She is Head of Investment Management at UK impact investor Big Society Capital focusing on how it manages its portfolio, a Non-Executive Director of Charity Bank, and a member of Trust for London’s endowment Investment Committee.
Rebecca also has experience working in and with social enterprises receiving impact capital, designing UK Government policy to enable impact-led financing to tackle climate change, and supporting asset manager M&G with its impact investment strategy and the launch of a £5 billion broad impact mandate. She is committed to advancing education in impact investing, including as Chair of the CFA UK’s Impact Investment Certificate and as a member of the Impact Investing Institute’s Learning Panel.
Rebecca is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) and holds the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing and an MSc in International Development from SOAS, specialising in how social enterprises support development outcomes.
Email: rmacdonald@bigsocietycapital.com
Jeremy Rogers
Email: JRogers@bigsocietycapital.com
Dr Thomas Schröder
Dr Thomas Schröder is an Industrial Professor at IFT. He has worked with the European Investment Bank (EIB) for more than twenty years, starting as an economist in the Chief Economist’s Department, thereafter in front-office functions in the Capital Markets Department and more recently as a Managerial Adviser in the Strategy, Policies & Business Support Department. He has been acquiring extensive experience in the primary bond markets, usage of derivatives for hedging purposes, counterparty credit risk and other financial markets and risk management issues.
Prior to joining the EIB, he worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, Frankfurt, where he gained insights in the iron and steel, postal services and insurance industries.
Dr. Schröder has been publishing in highly rated academic journals in the fields of finance, economics and physics. He has been teaching finance at various universities in Luxembourg, Germany and the UK for more than ten years. He studied at the universities of Cologne, Heidelberg and Keele and received PhD degrees in both physics and economics.
Email: t.schroeder@ucl.ac.uk
Ronald van Loon
Ronald is an Industrial Professor at the Institute of Finance and Technology (IFT) at University College London (UCL), where he teaches the course ‘Quantitative Environmental Economics and Finance’ in the M.Sc. program of Responsible Finance and Alternative Assets.
He has over 20 years of experience in a variety of roles in investing, all of which in the bond markets. Ronald is currently Managing Director at BlackRock, in the firm’s Fundamental Fixed Income Portfolio Management Group. Ronald focuses on managing Aggregate multi-sector portfolios, portfolios with specific ESG and Impact objectives, and Liability Driven Investment. Before joining BlackRock in 2011, he was the Deputy Head of Eurozone Fixed Income for BNP Paribas Asset Management. Prior to that, he was with Fortis Investments as Head of Client Portfolio Management and ABN AMRO Asset Management as Head of Portfolio Management for Fixed Income.
Ronald earned a M.Sc. degree in Financial Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and is a CFA charterholder. He has authored a number of academic articles on investment matters in the Journal of Portfolio Management and has published a series of practitioner papers on matters such as sustainability, risk management and behavioural finance.
Email: ronald.vanloon@blackrock.com
John Cummins
Industrial Director
Email: john.cummins2@aviva.com
Peyman Mestchian
Research Director
Peyman is a Research Director and Industrial Professor at IFT, where he teaches the "Foundations of Venture Capital and Private Equity" course in the MSc program. With over 25 years of experience in finance, risk, and technology, Peyman specializes in FinTech, AI, and Venture Capital. He currently serves as Head of Corporate Development at Quantexa, a data and analytics startup that achieved unicorn status in 2023. In this role, he focuses on strategy analysis and mergers & acquisitions. Throughout his career, Peyman has founded, raised capital for, scaled, and successfully exited multiple startups. He has also held senior leadership roles at Chartis Research, EY, and SAS Institute, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Risk Management.
Peyman has a BEng in Computer Engineering and MSc in Human Computer Interaction from University of London, and an MBA from London Business School. His research and views have been published by leading publications such as the Economist, the Financial Times and Risk Books.
Email: p.mestchian@ucl.ac.uk
Domenico Scopelliti
For over 15 years, he worked as a football agent in the main European markets, assisting several footballers both in transfers to clubs and as a legal consultant. He has also collaborated with various tennis players providing support in the field of sponsorships and legal contracts.
He is currently collaborating with Belluzzo International Partners in London as a sports lawyer. Through his connections and his extensive knowledge of the industry, he has organised various workshops on different sports-related topics.
Email: domenico.scopelliti@ymail.com
Giulia Rosato
Giulia Rosato is an Industrial Professor at the UCL Institute of Finance and Technology, where she teaches the short course of Social Entrepreneurship. CIMA qualified with a BSc and MSc in Economics from Bocconi University and an Executive MBA from Oxford, she operates at the intersection of finance, impact and innovation.
Her career spans various roles, including Finance Business Partner at large public corporations (CNH and Thomson Reuters), and private equity-owned companies (Refinitiv). She also has experience as a Change-Management Specialist during a global system implementation (CNH). With extensive international exposure, she has been based in Hong Kong, the United States, Italy, and the UK, collaborating with product development, manufacturing, and technology operations teams.
Giulia is currently CFO at Endelea, an ethical fashion B Corp based in Italy and Tanzania. This ambitious project puts the Theory of Change into practice. She also founded Impact2Bee, an initiative focused on promoting social impact and governance themes. Additionally, she serves as a Mentor for Urban Synergy and is a Board Trustee and Finance Committee member of the Parallel Learning Trust.
Email: g.rosato@ucl.ac.uk.
Philippe Dufournier
At Lehman, he founded the Structured Solutions Group, a sales team facing financial institutions clients. The group actively marketed structured investment and capital management solutions to banks and insurance companies, such as synthetic CDOS, capital guaranteed Hedge Fund Notes or CMS Caps.
Philippe now boasts over 30 years in leadership positions across a number of globally important investment banks, primarily in London. His career has been focused on the structuring, sales and origination of innovative derivatives and capital markets transactions for European large cap corporates, financial institutions, governments and investment funds.