About Us

Growing Knowledge Capital for the Swiss Financial Marketplace

Switzerland's financial industry is not only a cornerstone of the national economy, it also delivers essential services that underpin the success of other industries and the broader Swiss economy. To maintain its global competitiveness and uphold the highest professional standards, the industry relies on continuous innovation and top-tier expertise.

With support from its founders—the Swiss banking industry, the Swiss Confederation, and leading Swiss universities—SFI fosters world-class research and teaching in banking and finance in Switzerland. As a result, SFI has become one of the world's top 10 research institutions in banking and finance. By combining this academic excellence with practical experience SFI contributes to the strengthening of the Swiss financial center.

Swiss universities are publicly funded and are subject to constraints that make it hard for them to compete in the international academic market for world-class researchers in banking and finance. SFI helps them overcome this structural disadvantage. The criteria for this support are aligned with internationally recognized standards for evaluating academic excellence, similar to those applied by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the European Research Council. SFI's governance framework upholds the highest ethical standards, safeguarding the independence of the research and teaching conducted at its partner universities and by its faculty members. Strict adherence to these principles is essential for maintaining SFI's position as a global leader in academia, and is a core priority of the Institute.

In addition to advancing research and education in banking and finance, SFI is dedicated to facilitating active knowledge exchange between its faculty and the Swiss financial industry. Through initiatives such as continuing education activities, contributions to public discussion, and the organization of conferences, SFI enables its researchers to share their expertise with experienced professionals, while practitioners can offer valuable insights that shape future research.

SFI's activities are dedicated solely to enhancing Switzerland's competitiveness as a hub for banking and finance research and education that fosters the exchange of knowledge between SFI faculty members and the Swiss financial industry. In doing so, SFI generates a vital resource: knowledge capital that helps the Swiss financial sector to position itself as a leading competence center in the global financial industry.
 

Explore our brochure or video to find out more about our activities. 

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Knowledge Capital

View our video to find out more about our growing knowledge capital activities to guarantee the long-term prosperity of Switzerland’s financial marketplace.

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Organization

Foundation Board
The Foundation Board is the main governing body of the Institute. It includes representatives of its founding members and of its academic partner universities.

Chairman

Stefan Seiler

Group Head Human Resources & Corporate Services, UBS AG
 

 

Vice Chairman

Stephanino Isele

Member of the Executive Board and Head Institutionals & Multinationals, Zürcher Kantonalbank
 

 

Members of the Foundation Board

Jochen Dürr

Chief Risk Officer and Member of the Executive Board of SIX Group AG

Olivier Ginguené

CIO, Multi Asset und Quantitative Investment, Pictet Asset Management—as Representative of the Association Banques Privées

Alfonso Gómez

CEO, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)—as Representative of the Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland

Frédéric Herman

Rector, University of Lausanne

Pascal Kiener

CEO, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Luisa Lambertini

Rector, Università della Svizzera italiana

Klaus Möller

Vice President Faculty & Research, University of St.Gallen

Olivier Roussy

Member of the Board of Directors, Raiffeisen Schweiz

Christian Schwarzenegger

Vice President Faculty Affairs & Scientific Information, University of Zurich

Luca Soncini

Member of the Board of Directors, Banca dello Stato del Cantone Ticino—as Representative of the Associazione Bancaria Ticinese

Roman Studer

CEO, Swiss Bankers Association

Stephan A. Zwahlen

CEO, Maerki Baumann & Co AG—as Representative of the Association of Swiss Asset and Wealth Management Banks


 

 

Advisory Boards
The Foundation Board is advised by the Scientific Council on matters of scientific content and by the Sounding Board on matters of knowledge exchange with the industry.

Scientific Council

The scientific council is an independent committee of internationally-renowned professors of banking and finance from around the world. It advises the Foundation Board on all matters where scientific criteria should predominate and as such plays a crucial role in the pursuit of the objectives of our Institute.

 

Chairman

Marco Pagano

University of Naples Federico II
 

 

Members

Franklin Allen

Brevan Howard Centre, Imperial College London

Andrew Lo

Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Martin Oehmke

London School of Economics

Anna Pavlova

London Business School

Ingrid Werner

Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University

 

Sounding Board

The Swiss Finance Institute Sounding Board―set up as an advisory board―consists of max. 12 members all representing the various bank groups within Switzerland. The members are either L&D / HR experts or line managers in senior positions. Tasks of the sounding board members are: 

  • Giving critical input about the topics of the SFI Knowledge Exchange activities

  • Showing the trends in the banking industry

  • Recommendations for practitioners in SFI activities

  • Feedback on the SFI Knowledge Exchange activities conducted

 

Members

Franziska Amstutz

Head Human Resource Development, Valiant Bank

Thomas Conel

Head of Human Resources Switzerland, BNP Paribas (Suisse) SA

Dirk Effenberger

Head Investment Risk Chief Investment Office GWM, UBS

Martin Hess

Head Digitization & Economic Policy, Swiss Bankers

Helene Lischer

Head of Distribution-Training and -Coaching, Bank Cler

Daniel Morf

Leiter Enabling RB, Raiffeisen Schweiz Genossenschaft

Simone Liechti

Leiterin Employee Lifecycle, VPE, Zürcher Kantonalbank

David Schlumpf

Global Head Learning & Leadership Development, Bank Julius Baer & Co.

Pietro Soldini

Head of Human Resources, Banca dello Stato del Cantone Ticino

Markus Tanner

Global Head of Business Academy, UBS

Maria Vassalou

Head of Pictet Investment Research Institute, Banque Pictet & Cie
Management
Get to know the Institute's Management Team.

Prof. François Degeorge

Managing Director and Senior Chair, Member of the Management Board

Dr. Markus P.H. Bürgi

Chief Financial and Operating Officer, Member of the Management Board

Dr. Alain Krapl

Head Knowledge Exchange and Education, Member of the Management Board

Prof. Erwan Morellec

Head of PhD Program

Team
Get to know the Institute's Team.

Désirée Buntschu

Director Communication and Projects

Cliona Debisschop

Senior Director Research Operations

Rebecca Frank Spring

Senior Director Finance & Administration, Board Secretary

Sarah Frigg

Program Manager Knowledge Exchange and Education

Catherine Lehmann

Program Manager Communication and Projects

Dr. Alfred Mettler

Director Swiss BET Program in Vietnam and SFI Adjunct Professor

Ridima Mittal

Program Manager Research Operations

Dr. Cyril Pasche

Senior Director Publications and Topic Development

Rasikha Pavalakanthan

Junior Program Manager Knowledge Exchange & Education

Nathalie Perret-Kostadinov

Director Communication and Projects

Christine Preisig

Project Manager Corporate Services

Claudia Reumann

SFI Master Class Administration Assistant

Verónica Reumann

Director Knowledge Exchange and Education

Rachel Roth-Huber

Director Knowledge Exchange and Education

Damian Schurtenberger

Director Communication and Projects

Sonja Schütt

Program Manager Communication and Projects

Founding Members

Partner Universities

Swiss Finance Institute
Walchestrasse 9, 8006 Zurich

Phone E-Mail Swiss Finance Institute
+41 44 254 30 80 info@sfi.ch View Full Website

 

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