Prof. Dr. Julian Kölbel earned his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from ETH Zurich (2008) and his master’s degree in Water, Science, Policy, and Management (2010) from the University of Oxford. He then earned his Ph.D. in Management & Finance from ETH Zurich. As a postdoc, he worked at the MIT Sloan School of Management from 2016 to 2018 and at the University of Zurich from 2018 to 2022. Since August 2022, he has been an Assistant Professor on the tenure track in Sustainable Finance at the University of St.Gallen.

At HSG, he is affiliated with the Center for Financial Service Innovation (FSI), serves as director of the Swiss Institute for Banking and Finance (s/bf), and is a member of the board of the Competence Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth (CCSP-HSG). In addition to his work at HSG, he was appointed Junior Chair of the Swiss Finance Institute in July 2026.

Research in Sustainable Finance

Prof. Dr. Julian Kölbel conducts research in the field of sustainability and finance, focusing on decision-making behavior, the measurement of sustainability, and the impact of financial markets on the real economy. His research on these topics has been published in renowned international journals and has had a significant influence on academic and societal discourse.

His work has already been recognized with numerous awards. For the project “Aggregate Confusion: The Divergence of ESG Ratings,” which he developed together with Florian Berg and Roberto Rigobon, he received two prestigious awards: the Pagano and Zechner Prize from the *Review of Finance* in 2024 and, in early 2025, the Financial Times’ Responsible Business Education Award in the category “Research making a real difference.”

To share new insights with a broader audience, Julian Kölbel hosts the podcast “Innovations in Sustainable Finance.” In over 20 episodes to date, he discusses current ideas, research findings, and practical examples related to sustainable financial markets.

Prof. Dr. Julian Kölbel is currently supervising three doctoral students as part of the Investor Impact Lab, which is funded by a four-year research grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation. Starting in September 2026, he will also be involved in the Climplus collaborative project, in which he will work with 47 other researchers to study and strengthen Switzerland’s resilience to climate change.

Prof. Dr. Julian Kölbel teaches “Impact Investing” in the master’s program and, starting in fall 2026, will also teach “Experimenting with AI Tools—Business Applications and Critical Thinking” in the bachelor’s program. He is also active in continuing education, where he shares his knowledge with decision-makers.