Christopher Hennessy named Rising Star in Finance

Christopher Hennessy, Professor of Finance, has been recognised as one of the world’s top early-stage researchers in his field.

The “Rising Star” accolade, awarded to only four researchers every two years by Rensselaer and New York University’s Stern School of Business, recognises his body of work, as an academic who obtained his PhD within the last decade.

Professor Hennessy joined London Business School two years ago from University of California, Berkeley. His research interests fall within corporate finance, encompassing investment and financial structure, information asymmetries and securitisation.

The award’s judging committee, comprising a distinguished panel from business schools across the US, based their deliberations on methodological contributions – how researchers link theoretical models to empirical tests – and topicality and relevance.

Commenting on his award, Professor Hennessy said: “I hope this award helps to improve the visibility of academic research. If more people read our research as a consequence of this award, that would be great.”

Professor Hennessy researches securitisation and the factors determining the liquidity of markets for securitised products. He also looks at whether private sector incentives are aligned with public sector incentives, and researches the benefits of risk-sharing associated with structured products.

He hopes the award will help his research to inform policy-making, specifically in relation to incentives. 

This is the second time a London Business School academic has won this award. Professor Viral Acharya was previously recognised two years ago.