Michael was appointed CEO of Credit Benchmark in June 2023 after serving in several key executive roles including most recently as Chief Operating Officer and Head of Risk. He is also a member of the Executive Committee.

Prior to joining Credit Benchmark in 2016, Michael worked at Goldman Sachs in the Credit Risk Management & Advisory group covering a diverse portfolio of entities across the natural resources and public finance sectors. Before Goldman, Michael spent over 10 years in other credit risk and banking roles at Barclays, Dexia and Moody’s Investors Service focused primarily on energy, infrastructure and U.S. public finance.

Michael holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of English Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Prior to co-founding Credit Benchmark, Donal was CEO of Data Explorers (acquired by IHS Markit in 2012 and subsequently S&P Global in 2022). Previously he held roles at Thomson Reuters including CEO of Thomson Financial in Europe and Asia. He was CEO of FT.com and Director of Electronic Publishing for the Financial Times Group, and held non-executive roles at Financial News, BISAM S.A., Reach plc and Selerity Inc. He is currently Chairman of Rimes Technologies, and DeHavilland/Forefront Group, and is a non-executive director of Pirum. Donal holds a BA in the History of Art and English Literature from University College Dublin.

Mark has an established track record in bringing transparency to rapidly-developing areas of financial services. Alongside his business partner Donal Smith, he co-founded Credit Benchmark in 2013, introducing the world’s most comprehensive source of consensus credit risk data. In 1994, Mark spotted an opportunity to provide customers in the securities financing industry with independent specialist advice and services. The company he founded, Data Explorers, became the leading provider of securities lending data across all global market sectors, and was acquired by IHS Markit in 2012. Mark graduated from the London School of Economics and held management roles at LM Moneybrokers, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers.

Dean was appointed as CTO of Credit Benchmark in April 2026.

Prior to Credit Benchmark Dean spent ten years working as Chief Architect and CTO for various parts of RELX PLC, across a wide range of vertical industries including FinTech, Chemicals, Aviation and Agriculture.

He was responsible for multiple turn arounds of troubled departments during that time and the roll our of a significant internal data platform that drove commercial results.

Prior to that Dean ran his own consultancy business specialising in supporting tech companies with their infrastructure projects. Clients include The Guardian, Pottermore (The Harry Potter website), Specific Media and RELX PLC.

Dean holds a bachelor\’s degree in computer systems engineering from the University of Warwick.

Josh oversees business and data operations across the company. Prior to Credit Benchmark, Josh spent 5 years at J.P. Morgan managing credit risk and providing corporate finance for activities such as M&A, across EMEA and APAC regions, before moving to the tech sector working primarily with startups in Fintech and Data Analytics segments.

Josh holds a First Class degree from Durham, MPhil in Finance from Cambridge and an MBA from INSEAD as a Louis Franck Scholar.

Mats Ellefsen is Global Head of Sales at Credit Benchmark, responsible for leading the company’s global commercial strategy and driving growth across its core client segments.

Mats brings more than a decade of experience building and scaling sales organisations within high-growth and established financial data firms. Prior to joining Credit Benchmark in April 2025, he held senior commercial leadership roles at AlphaSense and S&P Global, with a strong focus on data and technology-enabled solutions.

A relationship-driven and collaborative leader, Mats is passionate about delivering commercial results through trusted partnerships with clients. Originally from Norway, he works globally with teams and clients across Europe, North America, and Asia and is based in London. He holds a Business degree from Lancaster University Management School.

Christa leads Credit Benchmark’s global marketing and communications strategy, with responsibility for driving brand awareness and overseeing the development and execution of strategies that enhance Credit Benchmark’s position as the only provider of consensus ratings in the credit risk sector. Christa brings over two decades of expertise in marketing, product innovation, partnerships, and strategy, having held senior roles at prominent organizations including Everbridge, Dun & Bradstreet, American Express, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Most recently, she served as Vice President of Marketing at Everbridge, where she was instrumental in shaping global partner marketing, industry analyst relations, and content strategy. Christa has an MBA in Finance from the NYU Stern School of Business and a BA in Economics from Connecticut College.

As Global Head of Partnerships,  Piers is responsible for expanding our partner ecosystem and driving revenue growth through new direct and indirect distribution channels.

Piers brings more than two decades of experience building partnerships and monetizing data sets. Prior to joining Credit Benchmark, Piers spent 15 years at Bloomberg initially establishing the Partners and Alliances function for the Data License product and then going on to build out their Content Licensing & Redistribution business. Before Bloomberg, Piers spent over 10 years at SBC, Reuters and then ICE, working in different financial centres globally, in business development and sales leadership roles.

Originally from the UK, Piers is based in New York. He holds a Master of Arts in History from The University of Edinburgh.

Joe brings 25 years of experience in risk management to his role as Head of Banking, EMEA & APAC at Credit Benchmark. He has held prominent positions, including Managing Director of Wholesale Credit Risk at HSBC and Chief Credit Officer of Goldman Sachs International Bank, and well as Credit Ratings Advisor for Goldman Sachs across Europe, Middle East, and Africa. An expert in wholesale credit approvals, credit portfolio management, and risk governance, Joe is committed to identifying emerging risks and leveraging the power of data and analytics to strengthen credit portfolios for sustainable growth. He holds an AB with honours in International Relations from Brown University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

As Head of Banking, Americas, Marco leads Credit Benchmark’s engagement with banks across the region. He brings extensive experience in loan origination, credit risk management, and portfolio management, working closely with institutions to strengthen decision making throughout the credit life cycle via our consensus-based intelligence.

Prior to joining Credit Benchmark, Marco held roles at leading financial institutions including Moody’s, FIS and S&P, where he built deep expertise in loan origination, credit risk analysis and balance sheet management via client engagement across global markets. He has spent much of his career working with banks across the Americas and Asia, supporting the adoption of PD and LGD models and bringing a practical, global perspective on how credit risk is assessed and managed.

Marco holds a degree in Finance and Marketing from Baruch College.

As Head of Product & GTM, John Michael is responsible for aligning our commercial objectives and client requirements with our product and content prioritization process, including the proactive development of rules governing Credit Benchmark’s content. Prior to joining Credit Benchmark, John Michael worked in business development efforts for various start-ups and covered the insurance sector within credit risk at J.P. Morgan.

John Michael holds a Bachelor’s degree in finance from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

As Head of Corporate Development & Strategy, Arjun is responsible for developing and executing strategies for growth and operational efficiency and managing relationships with key stakeholders of the company. Prior to Credit Benchmark, Arjun worked at Amazon, managing a P&L and leading a cross-functional team across EU. Previously he worked in product management, credit investing and leveraged finance, at Grab Holdings Inc, Rothschild & Co, and NatWest Markets/Royal Bank of Scotland Plc. Arjun holds an MBA from INSEAD, an MSc in Finance & Economics from The London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

As Head of Application Development and Infrastructure, Jason Rose is responsible for all Technology Operations, ensuring Credit Benchmark’s IT Development, Infrastructure and Security are robust and able to meet and exceed current and future business requirements. Jason has over ten years’ experience working in IT across the Banking/Financial and London insurance sector having previously held roles at Lansdowne Partners and Munich Re before joining Credit Benchmark.

Richard joined Credit Benchmark in November 2019 as a Credit Research Specialist. Prior to this he worked at Barclays, most recently as Head of Wholesale Credit Risk Modelling for the Corporate and Investment Bank and as a Quantitative Developer for the Credit Trading desk. Previously to his role at Barclays he worked at BNP Paribas as a Credit Trading Desk Quantitative Developer. Richard holds a PhD in Computational Statistics and a Degree in Mathematics & Statistics from Bath University.

As Finance Director, Eoin is responsible for the financial strategy of the company, working closely across all internal functions to ensure our financial objectives are aligned with the company’s mission.

Eoin has over 13 years of experience in finance roles. He started his career at PwC in assurance with a focus on investment management clients, before holding various roles with UK tech scale ups. He comes to Credit Benchmark following his role as Finance Director at UK based fintech firm Stream.

Eoin holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Birmingham.

As HR Director at Credit Benchmark, Nikki leads and evolves the organisation’s global people function. She partners closely with the executive leadership team to shape and deliver the firm’s people strategy, enabling sustainable growth by building, scaling, and strengthening organisational capability. Nikki oversees the development and execution of HR strategy across talent acquisition, employee relations, learning and development, and people policies, ensuring alignment with business objectives and regulatory compliance.

Nikki holds a CIPD Level 5 Diploma in Human Resource Management and a Bachelor’s degree from Swinburne University in Australia.