Dr Benno Guenther

Benno is a Visiting Fellow working at the intersection of behavioural science, financial risk management, and environmental markets. His research at the LSE focuses on risk-taking during periods of crisis and uncertainty as well as behavioural finance. He has published numerous articles in top tier journals on topics like the disposition effect and risk-taking in times of crisis.

Alongside his academic work, he is the Founder and Director of Blue Guardian Consulting, a specialised advisory firm supporting corporations, supranational organisations, and investment funds in carbon markets, environmental asset valuation, and risk management of large-scale energy transition and carbon offset projects as well as behavioural finance.

Benno previously spent over a decade in senior trading and structuring roles across global investment banks and energy trading firms, specialising in options, structured products, and cross-commodity risk management across power, gas, oil, FX, and emissions markets. Among others, he was a trading executive at top investment banks like BNP Paribas and J.P. Morgan, where he held the role of Vice President and Head of EMEA Power and Gas Structured Products and Options Trading.

He holds a PhD in Behavioural Science from LSE, an MSc in Behavioural Science from LSE, and a Master’s degree in Mathematical Finance from University of Konstanz, Germany. Benno is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the African Institute of Financial Markets and Risk Management (AIFMRM) at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa, where he teaches financial risk management and conducts research on mathematical climate finance. He is also an Invited Guest Lecturer at EGADE Business School del Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, where he teaches executive style courses.

Current appointment: November 2024 - November 2027

At LSE, Benno regularly teaches on risk-taking and financial decision-making for the MSc Behavioural Science and the Executive MSc Behavioural Science. At the University of Cape Town (UCT), Benno teaches Introduction to Finance and Banking as well as other selected topics on derivatives, climate finance and behavioural finance at the African Institute of Financial Markets and Risk Management (AIFMRM). His teaching at EGADE Business School del Tecnológico de Monterrey takes place in the form of CADi executive teaching on behavioural finance, derivatives and carbon markets.