Prof. Julian Kölbel tells us more about his interests, studies, and current research in the interview below

Where did you grow up?
Tübingen, Germany

What were your hobbies as a child? 
I was an acrobat and a clown in a circus.  

What languages do you speak?
German and English (French if I have to, and a bit of Arabic). 

Where did you go to University?
University of Oxford and ETH Zurich

Where did you do your PhD?  
ETH Zurich

Who was your PhD Advisor?
Prof. Volker Hoffmann

Any anecdote or memory from your time as PhD ?
I still remember my first conference, the Principles for Responsible Investing meeting in Sigtuna, Sweden in 2012. It's amazing how this small meeting has become a venue for very senior finance researchers today. When I started, this was the ultimate niche.

What is your main research focus?
I do sustainable finance, and the big question I seek to answer is whether and how preferences for sustainability have an impact on decisions in the real economy.  

What research are you working on right now that you are really excited about and why?
Right now, I am working on a working paper on sustainability-linked bonds. I think this is a very interesting and fast-growing asset class, that has great potential for impact but also raises a host of tricky questions. I will present it at the AFA in January, so we are trying to do a push now.

What is the next financial problem you plan to work on? 
I just won an SNF Starting Grant with the title: The Investor Impact Lab: From Pro-social Preferences to Real Economic Impact. So, my first problem to solve is building a great team to work with me on that. I plan to hire up to three PhD students, and I am really happy to be affiliated with SFI for this. 

Tell us something exciting that happened to you in the last five years (it doesn’t have to be related to research)? 
It's been really exciting to see how the downloads on my paper "Aggregate confusion: The Divergence of ESG ratings" keep going up and up, getting close to 50'000 now, and how widely it is read out there in the real world.   

What do you do in your spare time?
I sing in a choir, it's called JUCHZ, and we sing a great Bach Kantata on December 16 and 17.

What is your favorite holiday destination?
Engadin in snowy winter is the most magical place to me. The best thing is that I can travel there by train.

Who is your all-time hero or heroine?  
My partner Wafa.  

What is your favorite song? 
Anthem by Leonard Cohen (There's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in).