The Swiss Finance Institute is the national center for fundamental research, doctoral training, knowledge exchange, and continuing education in the fields of banking and finance. SFI's mission is to grow knowledge capital for the Swiss financial marketplace. Created in 2006 as a public–private partnership, SFI is a common initiative of the Swiss finance industry, six leading Swiss universities, and the Swiss Confederation.
Organization
Under the auspices of the Swiss Bankers Association, the Institute was formed in 2005 as a foundation domiciled in Zurich with seed capital of 75 million Swiss francs. SFI began its activities at the beginning of 2006 to keep the Swiss banking and finance industry at the top of its field. SFI is the only national center uniting, under one roof, world-class researchers in six partner universities from across Switzerland. The institute's faculty comprises more than 50 top professors from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, the ETH Zurich, the Universities of Geneva, the University of Lausanne, the University of Lugano, and the University of Zurich. The foundation is mandated and supported by the Swiss banking industry, the Swiss stock exchange SIX Swiss Exchange, the Swiss Confederation, and its partner universities. Correspondingly, its Foundation Board consists of personalities from business and academia. In addition to top managers from the most important Swiss banks, members of the Board include Christian Schwarzenegger, Vice-President of the University of Zurich, Boas Erez, Rector of the University of Lugano, and Nouria Hernandez, Rector of the University of Lausanne. The Chairman of the SFI Foundation Board is Romeo Cerutti, General Counsel at Credit Suisse and Axel P. Lehmann, President UBS Switzerland and Member of the Group Executive Board, and Romeo Lacher, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SIX Group AG and Julius Baer Group Ltd. & Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd., act as Vice-Chairmen. Until he took office as member of the governing body of the Swiss National Bank at the beginning of 2010, the Institute was headed by Jean-Pierre Danthine. For nine years prior to this, he directed the «International Center FAME for Financial Asset Management and Engineering». Between February 2011 and October 2016 the Institute was under the direction of Prof. Claudio Loderer. As of November 2016 Swiss Finance Institute is headed by Prof. François Degeorge.
Activities
Fundamental research by SFI professors plants the seeds for new financial ideas and provides fertile ground for innovation. Since 2006, the more than 50 SFI professors have published more than 100 articles on banking and finance in top-level academic journals such as the American Economic Review, Econometrica, the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, and the Review of Financial Studies. They can also be found in the database of the Social Science Research Network in New York. Furthermore, the SFI professors have shared their research results and expertise with all sectors of the finance industry, through university classes, public events and conferences, workshops, and continuing education courses. By disseminating knowledge, SFI reveals the value of fundamental research and allows financial talent to grow. Our events, workshops, publications, and continuing education courses boost the competency of all members of the financial marketplace. SFI professors expose bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD students at SFI partner universities to the latest thinking in banking and finance. We foster knowledge exchange between practitioners and academics, enabling researchers to get early feedback on their projects, and practitioners to have timely access to the expertise of the SFI faculty. Along the way, SFI helps educate the Swiss public on the workings of the financial sector. SFI also runs one of the largest PhD programs in finance, with about 100 students enrolled from all over the world.
