A senior-led partnership with agency insider experience.

Douglas Rowlings

Douglas is the founder of ALPHA Ratings Advisory. As the primary client liaison and methodology expert, he leads the overall rating strategy, applying extensive experience of rating agency methodologies, analytical frameworks and committee processes to define the optimal approach.

He brings unique inside knowledge from a 12-year tenure at Moody’s Investors Service across Johannesburg, Dubai and London, where his experience spanned both analytical and commercial responsibilities for the Middle East and Africa. He rose to Senior Vice President. This background offers a rare vantage point into the inner workings of rating agencies, with a specialism in capital structures and the analysis of complex conglomerates. Before founding ALPHA he advised on credit ratings and capital structure in Africa, the Middle East and other emerging markets; earlier he worked at J.P. Morgan in Johannesburg and lectured in Finance at the University of Cape Town.

Select clients that Douglas has advised, and which are in the public domain, include Energy Development Oman, Sibanye-Stillwater, Valterra Platinum, Africa Specialty Risks and Unity Trust Bank.

Advanced Masters in Commerce (Financial Management), University of Cape Town.

Michael Boumendil

Michael joined ALPHA Ratings Advisory as a Partner in 2026 after eight years leading the SMBC Ratings Advisory team across EMEA, latterly as Head of Energy and Ratings Advisory EMEA. With more than twenty years in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, UBS, RBS and SMBC, he has advised clients across industries on capital structure, financing and credit ratings.

A market-leading specialist in first-time rating processes and complex event-driven financings, Michael has led first-time ratings for investment-grade issuers including Uniper, EPH, Redexis, MAG, Prologis, Bilfinger and EE, speculative-grade companies including Vermaat, Debenhams, Four Seasons, F1 and Premier Foods, and sub-sovereign entities such as EMH Group. He has also helped originate and execute ratings and financing advisory mandates for M&A clients including the French State, Kering, Vodafone, Diageo and MAG.

Michael provides the critical link between rating methodology and funding strategy, developing the optimal financial architecture by balancing leverage, liquidity, debt capacity and financial flexibility – ensuring our rating strategy lowers the weighted average cost of capital.

Master in Management (Finance), ESCP Europe; Master in General Engineering, ENSAM.

Stanislas de Bazelaire

Stanislas leads our Financial Institutions Group ratings advisory. He joined ALPHA Ratings Advisory in 2026 with over a decade of experience across the capital markets, rating agencies and strategic advisory, most recently as a Vice-President in Global Debt Advisory at Santander Corporate & Investment Banking in London, where he acted as a trusted adviser to European banks and non-bank financial institutions on capital structure, financial strategy and rating advisory.

His track record includes over five years as a primary analyst at S&P Global Ratings in Paris and, earlier, as an analyst at Fitch Ratings in London – direct insider knowledge that gives him a rigorous perspective on the nuances of agency methodologies. His expertise is also highly relevant for NBFIs, neobanks and stablecoin issuers, where proactive management of credit ratings can unlock significant funding flexibility.

Master’s degrees from ESCP Business School and ENSAE Paris, with further data science specialisation from The Johns Hopkins University.

Thomas Sherlock

Thomas drives rigorous quantitative analysis for our clients, translating complex financial datasets into actionable insights and applying specific rating agency methodologies to accurately dimension intricate credit profiles. He maps granular financial performance directly against the S&P, Moody’s and Fitch scorecards to ensure clients are optimally positioned to secure their target ratings.

He previously gained practical experience at Qatar National Bank, where he constructed models to assess EBITDA performance, evaluated corporate risk appetite and analysed private equity structures, and his academic research applied geometric Brownian motion models to stock market trends.

BSc Mathematics and Philosophy, University of Leeds.