Peter J. Firestein
Peter Firestein is President of Global Strategic Communications, Inc. He is known internationally as an expert advisor in the management of corporate relationships with financial and non-financial stakeholders. His advice is based in the conviction that corporate actions and communication must be informed by careful listening to all constituencies. This, he believes, must be the fundamental approach to risk management.

Peter has designed and implemented strategic communications programs for companies throughout the world in helping them negotiate U.S. markets. He specializes in complex situations. Peter served as communications advisor to Brazil’s Communications Ministry and Telebrás in that company’s historic privatization, which resulted in the listing of 12 companies on the NYSE in a single day. Among more than 100 mandates in the course of his career, he has served as investor relations counsel to Telefónica S.A. and its six listed global affiliates. He was head of global investor relations at Georgeson & Co., and, as Managing Director of Thomson Financial / Carson, he built the largest investor relations consulting practice in Latin America. He also founded that group’s global fixed-income consulting practice.

Peter’s additional specialties include crisis communications, disclosure standards, and regulatory issues. He has been active in privatizations, reputation management, mergers and acquisitions, and capital-raising activities, including IPO’s. His experience spans most major industry sectors, including telecommunications, energy, media, technology, banking and finance, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, mining, retail, and construction and infrastructure. He has published extensively on international economic issues.

Peter is a former advisory board member of the International Advisory Group. He has spoken before many large U.S. and international groups, including the Conference Board, on issues relating to the interplay between corporations and their constituencies.

He has also served as Director of Marketing for the Council of the Americas. Founded by David Rockefeller, the Council is a forum for communication between major U.S. corporations and senior officials, including chiefs of state, throughout the hemisphere.

Peter is founder, publisher and editor of Market Bias, a newsletter for investment professionals that analyzes the dynamics by which equities markets process news. Developed as a means of tracking investor sentiment, Market Bias has been cited in the major financial media, including Barron’s.

He also served as Vice President of Marketing at Drexel Burnham Lambert where he was instrumental in developing media and other marketing support for financial products such as high yield bond offerings and mutual funds in debt, equity, and commodities.

Peter received an A.B. in English Literature from Stanford University and an M.A. from San Francisco State University. He is a licensed pilot and aficionado of classical music.