04.04.2025SGF Conference 2025

Chaired by Prof. Alexander Wagner and organized by the Department of Finance at the University of Zurich

The 2025 Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society for Financial Market Research (SGF Conference) was newly chaired by Alexander Wagner, Professor of Finance, Vice Dean for Continuing Education and Alumni, and organized by our department.

The conference took place on Friday, 4 April 2025, at SIX ConventionPoint in Zurich, Switzerland, with a pre-conference dinner by invitation on Thursday at the UniTurm Restaurant of the University of Zürich.

We are proud to have hosted this year’s SGF Conference. This annual event serves as a platform for researchers in finance to collaborate and share the latest insights across various areas of the field.

At the pre-conference dinner, Alexander Wagner warmly welcomed our guests, followed by a captivating keynote speech by Itzhak Ben-David. His talk, titled "EyesWide Shut: What Investors, Analysts, and Managers Say (but we won’t listen)" (co-author: Alex Chinco), was both entertaining and insightful.

Throughout the conference day, 50 out of approximately 350 submitted papers were presented, with discussants offering valuable feedback. The program also featured eight PhD Poster Sessions during the lunch break, offering attendees further opportunities to engage and exchange ideas.

“The SGF conference is competitive to get in, but offers a very friendly atmosphere. And the participation of not only academics but also some interested practitioners makes the exchange particularly valuable.” - Alexander Wagner

Conference Program: https://www.conftool.net/sgf2025/sessions.php

Best Paper Awards

ZKB Best Paper Award 2024
Awarded for the best professional paper published in Financial Markets and Portfolio Management (FMPM)
Winning Paper:
"The Credit Suisse Bailout in Hindsight: Not a Bitter Pill to Swallow, but a Case to Follow" by Pascal Böni (Tilburg University) and Heinz Zimmermann (University of Basel)

FMPM Best Paper Award 2024
Awarded for the best academic paper published in Financial Markets and Portfolio Management (FMPM)
Winning Paper:
"Hidden Neighbours: Extracting Industry Momentum from Stock Networks"by Joon Chul James Ahn (University of Oxford), Dragos Gorduza (University of Oxford) and Seonho Park (Georgia Institute of Technology)

SIX Best Paper Award 2025
Awarded for the best paper discussed at the SGF Conference of the Swiss Society for Financial Market Research
Winning Paper:
"The Impact of Active Managers on the Pricing of Underlying Assets in ETFs" by Charles Trzcinka (Indiana University) and Ziwei Zhao (University of Lausanne and Swiss Finance Institute)