Nobel Prize Laureate Robert J. Shiller in Lugano for the European Finance Association annual meeting
Institutional Communication Service
5 May 2014
Robert J. Shiller, Nobel Prize Laureate in Economic Sciences, Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University, and regarded as one of the most authoritative and independent observers of the contemporary financial scene, will be the keynote speaker at the 41st Annual Meeting of the European Finance Association (EFA), an organization founded in Cambridge in 1974 which brings together the best of the academic community working in the field of finance from all around the world. Thanks to the cooperation between the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) and the Swiss Finance Institute, 650 of the EFA’s members will be gathering in Lugano for the first time from August 27 to 30 for the association’s 41st Annual Meeting.
During the press conference held yesterday on the Lugano campus, USI President Piero Martinoli spoke with satisfaction of the importance of the event from an academic point of view, indicating that USI has also achieved a significant accomplishment in the field of finance: "The number of scientific papers submitted (a record 1,800) also reflects the international reputation of our Institute of Finance (IFIN), which now has more than 60 researchers working on Swiss and European projects funded on a competitive basis, and offers innovative training programmes at both Bachelor and Master levels.”
The Dean of the Faculty of Economic Sciences at USI, François Degeorge, holder of a Senior Chair from the Swiss Finance Institute, and who is responsible for organizing the conference, gave a detailed presentation of the agenda for the Annual Meeting: "A fascinating programme, in which top-level international experts will be discussing important topics of global impact. A programme which is not intended to be purely academic. In fact, with hopes of bridging the gap between research and the profession, the Swiss Finance Institute (SFI) has organized an event within the conference: the SFI Industry Forum, a special session open to all players in the sector, on the subject of "Challenges in Asset Management" (for information and to register: http://www.efa2014.org/sfi-industry-forum-registration-information).
Franco Citterio, director of the Ticino Banking Association (Associazione Bancaria Ticinese) and chairman of Ticino for Finance, says, "The conference is an indication of the ongoing changes in the character of Ticino as a financial centre, which in the last decade – alongside its traditional private banking business – has seen the development of a significant community of asset managers and organizations active in commodity trading. Lugano and Ticino already constitute the third largest financial centre of international standing in Switzerland, whose members are more than ready to debate with the opinion leaders who will be presenting their research during the EFA Annual Meeting.
The Director of the Economics Division of the Ticino cantonal government and vice-chairman of Ticino for Finance, Stefano Rizzi, concluded by saying that: "The conference is a good example of cooperation between the public sector, universities, private industry, and of a country and canton that has the capacity to create its own system, looking to further develop the areas of excellence it has cultivated over the years."
The conference is sponsored by UBS as a global partner, the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank for International Settlements, NASDAQ OMX, Pioneer Investments, Aberdeen, the Swiss Finance Institute, the Ticino Banking Association, Ticino for Finance, the BSI Gamma Foundation and the Municipality of Lugano.
For further information about the conference:
To register for the SFI Industry Forum:
www.efa2014.org/sfi-industry-forum-registration-information
For further information about the USI Institute of Finance:
www.istfin.eco.usi.ch/index.htm
For further information about Ticino for Finance:
http://www.ticinoforfinance.ch/
For further information about the Swiss Finance Institute:
