Zacharias Sautner
Zacharias Sautner
Professor of Sustainable Finance, University of Zurich
Professor of Sustainable Finance, University of Zurich
Senior Chair, Swiss Finance Institute
Senior Chair, Swiss Finance Institute
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Short Bio
Short Bio
Zacharias is Professor of Sustainable Finance at University of Zurich and Senior Chair at the Swiss Finance Institute. He works on sustainable finance, ESG, climate finance, and biodiversity finance. Through his research, he provides insights on how finance can contribute to a more sustainable future. His research was downloaded more than 120,000 times on SSRN and cited more than 10,000 times according to Google Scholar.
His research was published in top journals, such as the Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, or Journal of Financial Economics. His paper "Firm-level Climate Change Exposure" is the most cited paper in the Journal of Finance in the past 5 years.
He is an Associate Editor at the Review of Financial Studies, Management Science, and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, a Regular Research Visitor at the ECB, and an advisor of asset management companies on sustainable finance issues. He serves as a Director of the European Finance Association. He was a visiting professor at The University of Hong Kong, UCSD, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, among others.
At University of Zurich, Zacharias co-heads the Initiative in Sustainable Finance, one of the world's leading clusters for research on sustainable finance (more information can be found in the interview below).
Zacharias is the proud father of three daughters (born 2017, 2019, 2021) with his partner Sita Maria Frey, making him intrinsically motivated to work hard for a sustainable future. Some more personal information can be found here and here.
Research Impact
Research Impact
Two of Zacharias' papers were ranked #3 and #4 in a global Financial Times ranking of “Business School Sustainability Research: What is Read Most?” (July 2023). His research has been cited 10,000+ times according to Google Scholar and downloaded more than 120,000 times on SSRN.
In February 2023, he was ranked #1 in Germany across all fields of business administration in the Author Ranking (2018-2022) by Forschungsmonitoring.org based on top publications (A+ and A journals).
He was ranked #23 globally across 12,000 business authors in a ranking based on SSRN research paper downloads over the past 12 months (January 2023).
Media & Policy
Media & Policy
Zacharias' expertise is cited in newspapers such as Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times or Die Zeit.
The climate finance research by Zacharias has been referenced in financial stability and policy reports by the SEC, IMF, ECB, European Commission, ESRB, and in speeches by central bankers.
He has won various awards for his research, refereeing, and teaching.
Keynotes
Keynotes
Zacharias provides keynotes at corporate and academic events on topics such as:
The Measurement and Pricing of Biodiversity Risks
The Role of Institutional Investors in the Fight against Climate Change
The Risks and Opportunities of ESG Ratings
Is there an ESG Bubble?
ESG Ratings: What We Do and Do Not Know
Is there Short-termism in Financial Markets?
The Value of ESG
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