Michael Mainelli
Encyclopedia
Michael Mainelli is Chairman of Z/Yen
, a commercial think-tank, which he co-founded in 1994. He is Emeritus Gresham Professor of Commerce
and Fellow at Gresham College
in London
, as well as a visiting professor at the London School of Economics
.
at Gresham College in the City of London
while serving as Mercers School Memorial Professor of Commerce from 2005 to 2009. The theme of his programme was “Society’s Commercial Choice - Risks and Rewards of Markets”. The lectures emphasised the proper functioning of markets in realising societal goals, and the obligation on society to try to use market forces wherever suitable, as opposed to unnecessary regulation, hidden subsidy or inappropriate taxation. During the public lectures he presented research on valuing sustainable certification and corporate social responsibility
using risk/reward options, applying measurement ranges to audit (Confidence Accounting), developing standards markets, liquidity estimation through supply-demand curve prediction, and discerning the role of 'feedforward' in creating leptokurtic market outcomes. During the series he made observations about sustainability, market solutions to social problems, risk, the role of government, the rising paradox of money as a positional good
, taxation, long term discount rates, intellectual property managed as an option, corruption, and lotteries as misery indicators. The lecture series concluded by outlining a more general theory of commerce. Professor Mainelli and the saxophonist John Harle
interwove a collage from the lecture series with Benjamin Britten
's music, "Metamorphoses: The Terrible Beauty of Change", for the City of London Festival
's June 2009 Sustain! programme.
Michael continues to lecture and host symposia widely, including continuing lectures at Gresham College, where he has been introducing new concepts of money and the role of government, e.g. index linked carbon bonds.
, the world's largest investment research cooperative into environmental, social and governance issues, publishing over 200 reports. In 2007 Michael, Gresham College, Z/Yen and a group of interested and motivated individuals launched the Long Finance initiative. The aim is to promote discussion, research and education about finance and starts with the question: "When would we know our financial system is working?" Long Finance holds numerous, mostly no cost, events for the public. Professor Mainelli delivered the AEA Technology Wolfson College Lecture at Oxford, "Financing Technology", in February 2010.
Professor Mainelli was a keynote speaker at Robert J. Rubinstein
's TBLI Conference Europe in November 2010.
, Trinity College Dublin and the London School of Economics
and Political Science, Professor Mainelli’s early scientific research in aerospace and computer graphics led to him starting Swiss companies in seismology, cartography and energy information from 1979 to 1984. After a post at Arthur Andersen from 1985 to 1987, Professor Mainelli spent seven years as a partner and board member of the accountancy firm BDO Binder Hamlyn from 1987 to 1994, now BDO International
, directing global consulting projects. While co-founding Z/Yen Professor Mainelli served as Corporate Development Director of Europe's largest R&D organization (then the UK Ministry of Defence's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
, DERA, now largely QinetiQ
and DSTL
, the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory) leading to two privatisations. At Z/Yen Professor Mainelli created the Global Financial Centres Index
, The London Accord
, Long Finance, the Global Intellectual Property Index, the Farsight Award and other financial services initiatives. He conceived and produced the first complete digital map of the world in 1983, Mundocart, the 'Google Earth' equivalent of the 1980s, as well as the $20 million Geodat
cartography project from 1980 to 1984.
Professor Mainelli won a 1996 Foresight Challenge award for visualising risk in the Financial Laboratory, a 2003 UK Smart Award for prediction software, and was 2004/2005 British Computer Society “Director of the Year”. He is a qualified accountant (FCCA), computer specialist (MBCS, CITP), investment researcher (FSI) and management consultant (FIMC, CMC). Professor Mainelli is a non-executive Director of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (the UK’s national body for standards and laboratories) where he is a proponent for competitive standards markets, and Sirius Minerals plc (AIM-listed mining company). He is a Fellow and Trustee of Gresham College, the founding home of the Royal Society
, which he terms "a Tudor Open University
", and a trustee of the International Fund for Animal Welfare and Ocean Alliance. Michael was designated a Gentiluomo ("Don") in the Associazione Cavalieri di San Silvestro, in Rome in 2011. He has also held numerous advisory posts, for example Hitachi UK and HM Treasury
.
, The Road To Long Finance, written with Bob Giffords and published by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation.
S B Lady Daphne. Aside from being the odd bagpiper at Burns Night dinners, current positions include:
Significant former positions include:
Z/Yen
Z/Yen is a commercial think-tank based in the City of London founded in 1994 with associates around the world. Z/Yen has developed collaborative projects such as The London Accord, the Global Financial Centres Index, the Global Intellectual Property Index for Taylor Wessing and Taskforce 2000...
, a commercial think-tank, which he co-founded in 1994. He is Emeritus Gresham Professor of Commerce
Gresham Professor of Commerce
The Professor of Commerce at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1596 / 7, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to eight and in addition the college now has visiting professors.The...
and Fellow at Gresham College
Gresham College
Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in central London, England. It was founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham and today it hosts over 140 free public lectures every year within the City of London.-History:Sir Thomas Gresham,...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, as well as a visiting professor at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
.
Gresham College Lecture Series
Professor Mainelli delivered and published a series of 28 free one-hour lectures on commerceCommerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
at Gresham College in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
while serving as Mercers School Memorial Professor of Commerce from 2005 to 2009. The theme of his programme was “Society’s Commercial Choice - Risks and Rewards of Markets”. The lectures emphasised the proper functioning of markets in realising societal goals, and the obligation on society to try to use market forces wherever suitable, as opposed to unnecessary regulation, hidden subsidy or inappropriate taxation. During the public lectures he presented research on valuing sustainable certification and corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model...
using risk/reward options, applying measurement ranges to audit (Confidence Accounting), developing standards markets, liquidity estimation through supply-demand curve prediction, and discerning the role of 'feedforward' in creating leptokurtic market outcomes. During the series he made observations about sustainability, market solutions to social problems, risk, the role of government, the rising paradox of money as a positional good
Positional good
In economics, positional goods are products and services whose value is mostly a function of their ranking in desirability by others, in comparison to substitutes. The extent to which a good's value depends on such a ranking is referred to as its positionality...
, taxation, long term discount rates, intellectual property managed as an option, corruption, and lotteries as misery indicators. The lecture series concluded by outlining a more general theory of commerce. Professor Mainelli and the saxophonist John Harle
John Harle
John Harle is an English saxophonist and composer.-Biography:John Harle - SaxophonistJohn Harle is one of the world’s leading saxophonists, and the most significant performer of the saxophone in the concert hall today...
interwove a collage from the lecture series with Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's music, "Metamorphoses: The Terrible Beauty of Change", for the City of London Festival
City of London Festival
The City of London Festival is an annual arts festival that takes place in the City of London, England, over two to three weeks in June and July. The Festival is strongly geared towards classical music, but also offers a programme that includes jazz, world music, opera, film screenings, lectures...
's June 2009 Sustain! programme.
Michael continues to lecture and host symposia widely, including continuing lectures at Gresham College, where he has been introducing new concepts of money and the role of government, e.g. index linked carbon bonds.
Wider Initiatives
In 2007 Michael, Z/Yen, Gresham College, the City of London Corporation and forty financial institutions launched the London AccordThe London Accord
The London Accord is a collaboration between investment banks, research houses, academics and NGOs to produce free research on climate change for financial investors.It is intended as a reference guide for investors in the climate change sector....
, the world's largest investment research cooperative into environmental, social and governance issues, publishing over 200 reports. In 2007 Michael, Gresham College, Z/Yen and a group of interested and motivated individuals launched the Long Finance initiative. The aim is to promote discussion, research and education about finance and starts with the question: "When would we know our financial system is working?" Long Finance holds numerous, mostly no cost, events for the public. Professor Mainelli delivered the AEA Technology Wolfson College Lecture at Oxford, "Financing Technology", in February 2010.
Professor Mainelli was a keynote speaker at Robert J. Rubinstein
Robert J. Rubinstein
Robert J. Rubinstein is a Social Entrepreneur and the founder and driving force behind TBLI Group, a group that specializes in Environmental, Social and Governance ESG and Impact Investing, using Triple Bottom Line principles.-Early career:From 1974 to 1975 he worked on a Kibbutz...
's TBLI Conference Europe in November 2010.
Career
Educated at Harvard CollegeHarvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
, Trinity College Dublin and the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
and Political Science, Professor Mainelli’s early scientific research in aerospace and computer graphics led to him starting Swiss companies in seismology, cartography and energy information from 1979 to 1984. After a post at Arthur Andersen from 1985 to 1987, Professor Mainelli spent seven years as a partner and board member of the accountancy firm BDO Binder Hamlyn from 1987 to 1994, now BDO International
BDO International
BDO International is a worldwide professional services network of public accountancy firms, serving national and international clients. Each BDO Member Firm is an independent legal entity in its own country. The network, originally formed in 1963 as Binder Seidman International Group, is...
, directing global consulting projects. While co-founding Z/Yen Professor Mainelli served as Corporate Development Director of Europe's largest R&D organization (then the UK Ministry of Defence's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency was a part of the UK Ministry of Defence until July 2, 2001. At the time it was the United Kingdom's largest science and technology organisation...
, DERA, now largely QinetiQ
QinetiQ
Qinetiq is a British global defence technology company, formed from the greater part of the former UK government agency, Defence Evaluation and Research Agency , when it was split up in June 2001...
and DSTL
Dstl
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory is a trading fund of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom. Responsibility for Dstl lies with the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, currently Peter Luff....
, the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory) leading to two privatisations. At Z/Yen Professor Mainelli created the Global Financial Centres Index
Global Financial Centres Index
The Global Financial Centres Index is a ranking of the competitiveness of financial centres based on 26,629 financial centre assessments from an online questionnaire together with over 60 indices...
, The London Accord
The London Accord
The London Accord is a collaboration between investment banks, research houses, academics and NGOs to produce free research on climate change for financial investors.It is intended as a reference guide for investors in the climate change sector....
, Long Finance, the Global Intellectual Property Index, the Farsight Award and other financial services initiatives. He conceived and produced the first complete digital map of the world in 1983, Mundocart, the 'Google Earth' equivalent of the 1980s, as well as the $20 million Geodat
Geodat
Geodat was a commercial project, begun in 1980 and completed by 1991, that provided digital geographic mapping data for commercial users at scales equal to or greater than 1:1,000,000. The term "Geodat" was derived from "GEOgraphic DATa". Geodat data was primarily "medium scale", a nominal...
cartography project from 1980 to 1984.
Professor Mainelli won a 1996 Foresight Challenge award for visualising risk in the Financial Laboratory, a 2003 UK Smart Award for prediction software, and was 2004/2005 British Computer Society “Director of the Year”. He is a qualified accountant (FCCA), computer specialist (MBCS, CITP), investment researcher (FSI) and management consultant (FIMC, CMC). Professor Mainelli is a non-executive Director of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (the UK’s national body for standards and laboratories) where he is a proponent for competitive standards markets, and Sirius Minerals plc (AIM-listed mining company). He is a Fellow and Trustee of Gresham College, the founding home of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, which he terms "a Tudor Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
", and a trustee of the International Fund for Animal Welfare and Ocean Alliance. Michael was designated a Gentiluomo ("Don") in the Associazione Cavalieri di San Silvestro, in Rome in 2011. He has also held numerous advisory posts, for example Hitachi UK and HM Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
.
Writing
Professor Mainelli has published over 35 journal articles, over 100 commercial articles and three books including the humorous risk/reward management novel, Clean Business Cuisine: Now and Z/Yen, written with Ian Harris; a Sunday Times Book of the Week in 2000; Accountancy Age described it as “surprisingly funny considering it is written by a couple of accountants”. Professor Mainelli's latest work has been a response to the credit crunchCredit crunch
A credit crunch is a reduction in the general availability of loans or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from the banks. A credit crunch generally involves a reduction in the availability of credit independent of a rise in official interest rates...
, The Road To Long Finance, written with Bob Giffords and published by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation.
Wider Interests and Public Service
Michael Mainelli and his wife Elisabeth are heavily involved in the restoration of the Thames Sailing BargeThames sailing barge
A Thames sailing barge was a type of commercial sailing boat common on the River Thames in London in the 19th century. The flat-bottomed barges were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and narrow rivers....
S B Lady Daphne. Aside from being the odd bagpiper at Burns Night dinners, current positions include:
- Editorial Board, Journal of Strategic Change, John Wiley & Sons – London, England; 1990–present.
- Trustee, Ocean Alliance/Whale Conservation Institute – Lincoln, Massachusetts; 1994–present.
- Trustee, Thames Match (traditional sailing race since 1863) – Gravesend, England; 1999–present.
- Editorial Board, Journal of Business Strategy, Emerald Group – Bradford, England; 2004–present.
- non-executive Director, United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UK’s sole accreditation body for certification, testing, inspection and calibration services) – Middlesex, England; 2005–present.
- Principal Advisor, The London AccordThe London AccordThe London Accord is a collaboration between investment banks, research houses, academics and NGOs to produce free research on climate change for financial investors.It is intended as a reference guide for investors in the climate change sector....
– London, England; 2005–present. - Commissioner, London Waterways Commission of the Greater London Authority – London, England; 2006–present.
- Trustee, IFAW – International Fund for Animal Welfare – Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts; 2007–present.
- Principal Advisor, Long Finance - London, England; 2007–present.
- Visiting Professor, London School of Economics – Department of Management Information Systems & Innovation Group – London, England; 2008–present.
- Trustee, Gresham Council – London, England; 2008–present.
- ACCA, Corporate Governance & Risk Management Committee – London, England; 2009–present.
- President’s Committee, Council for Assisting Refugee Academics – London, England; 2009–present.
- Almoner, Christ's HospitalChrist's HospitalChrist's Hospital is an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside just south of Horsham in Horsham District, West Sussex, England...
- London, England; 2010–present.
Significant former positions include:
- Member, Professional Services Global Competitiveness Group, HM Treasury – London, England, 2008-2009.
- Advisory Board, City University, School of Informatics – London, England; 1999-2003.
- Chief Scientist, The Financial £aboratory Club (LLP with Barclays, RoyalSunAlliance, London Stock Exchange, Silicon Graphics, City University, Ministry of Defence) – London, England; 1995-1998.
Novels
- Clean Business Cuisine: Now and Z/Yen (2000) (with Ian Harris, free online)
Non-Fiction
- The Price of Fish: A New Approach to Wicked Economics and Better Decisions (2011) (with Ian Harris)
- The Road To Long Finance: A Systems View Of The Credit Scrunch (2009) (with Bob Giffords, free online)
- Information Technology For The Not-For-Profit Sector (2001) (with Ian Harris)