VP Bank presents the Best Paper Award for Sustainable Finance

On 22 September 2022, the Institute for Finance at the University of Liechtenstein held a workshop on the topic of "Sustainable Finance", during which international researchers were able to submit their papers on the subject of sustainable finance. Together with representatives of VP Bank, the findings of the best ten submitted papers were presented and discussed. 

For the fifth time, the best paper was awarded the "VP Bank Best Paper Award" and a prize money of CHF 2,000. The winning paper was written by Marco Ceccarelli, Dr Stefano Ramelli and Prof. Alexander F. Wagner from Maastricht University and the University of Zurich and is entitled "Low-carbon mutual funds". 

The three authors use an event study to examine the effects of introducing CO2 data that measure the footprint of companies. Their insightful findings are directed at various stakeholders such as investors, fund managers and politicians. 

For example, the authors shed light on the dilemma between the reduction of climate risks and the lower diversification effects. Despite the exclusion of CO2-intensive industries, such a portfolio does not necessarily fluctuate more than traditional funds.

VP Bank is convinced that taking sustainability into account offers added value for investors. "We therefore consistently take sustainability factors into account in our investment decisions in order to better assess opportunities and risks," says Bernd Hartmann, Head of CIO Office and Chief Strategy Officer at VP Bank. New scientific findings, such as those presented at the University of Liechtenstein's Workshop of Sustainable Finance, are also taken into account. The VP Bank team congratulates the authors on this award.