"Sustainable Finance" cooperation professorship at the House of Finance launches

As of 1 August 2024, the Swiss financial economist Florian Heeb takes up the position of Assistant Professor for Sustainable Finance at the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE in cooperation with the Goethe University Frankfurt. The position is supported by a Top-Up Fellowship from the UniCredit Foundation. Previously, Heeb was a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Heeb holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Zurich, a Master of Science in Environmental Sciences from the ETH Zurich, and a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Strategic Management from the University of St. Gallen. His research focuses on the real-world impact of sustainable investments and how investors factor impact into their decisions.

Financial economist with environmental expertise

"I am very happy to be part of SAFE’s team and to contribute to the ongoing development of financial research," says Florian Heeb. "The interdisciplinary approach of the institute provides an ideal environment to explore sustainable finance and its real world impact."

"Florian Heeb is a great fit for SAFE," says the institute's Scientific Director, Florian Heider. "With him, we will be able to advance the important topic of sustainable finance at SAFE. We are very pleased that we could win him for Frankfurt."

Heeb’s 2020 publication, "Can Sustainable Investing Save the World? Reviewing the Mechanisms of Investor Impact," is the most cited article in the journal Organization & Environment in the last three years. The research paper "Do Investors Care About Impact?" published in the renowned Review of Financial Studies concludes that the willingness of investors to invest in sustainable investments is more emotionally motivated and less oriented towards the actual impact of these investments.

In addition to his academic work, Heeb has also gained practical experience. For example, he worked in the management of South Pole, a market leader in emissions trading and sustainability consulting - most recently as Chief Operating Officer. Other positions include the myclimate foundation, the nature conservation organization ProNatura, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of ESG-AM, a Zurich-based asset manager specializing in sustainability.

Source: SAFE