The Luxembourg School of Finance marked its 15th anniversary with a special event on 26 October, welcoming Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna as well as renowned Harvard economist Andrei Shleifer.
Founded a year before the University of Luxembourg, the LSF was the brainchild of Lucien Thiel of the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL) and government commissioner Germain Dondelinger, who also played a key role in the establishment of the University in 2003.
Prof. Jang Schiltz, Head of the LSF, joked on the evening that the LSF started at a time when smart phones and high-speed internet did not yet exist. Its research activities have developed with the times and now focus around three key pillars: asset management, institutions, and the future of finance, with traditional finance subjects complemented by leading-edge research published in the top peer-reviewed finance journals.
The LSF, however, is not only a research institution. Since its integration into the University of Luxembourg and the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance in 2005, the LSF has welcomed 1,353 students from 89 countries in its Masters programmes, the MSc in Banking and Finance and the Master in Wealth Management.
Its outreach activities to the financial centre have also grown, for example through an increasing number of conferences and events as well as recruitment fairs and internship matching. A lot has already been achieved, said Prof. Schiltz: “We are now working on bringing the LSF to the next level.”
“Alles Guddes” from the Finance Minister
Luxembourg Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna, too, pointed out the huge impact that technological change has had on the sector. The LSF has the opportunity to fill the gap and provide education and expertise, he added.
Mr Gramegna delivered his congratulations in Luxembourgish, wishing the LSF “Alles Guddes” for the future.
The anniversary event closed with a keynote speech by Prof. Andrei Shleifer, a world-renowned economist from Harvard University. Prof. Shleifer works in the areas of comparative corporate governance, law and finance, behavioural finance and institutional economics. According to the Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) database, he is the most-cited economist in the world.
