"Best Paper Award": Raising the profile of research and bridging the gap between academia and practice

The 2026 Best Paper Award, worth CHF 2,000, goes to Marco Ceccarelli (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Marie-Therèse Radetzky (Philipps University of Marburg) and Dominik Scheld (Goethe University Frankfurt) for their research paper ‘How Financial Advisors Shape Sustainable Investing Preferences’. The award ceremony took place on 1 October 2026 as part of the Liechtenstein Workshop on Sustainable Finance at the University of Liechtenstein.

How advisory services help to define sustainability preferences

Creating client preferences, including the assessment of sustainability preferences, is a complex and interactive process. Clients often only clarify their ideas during the advisory meeting. Drawing on several thousand real-life advisory meetings, the research team investigated how sustainability preferences are assessed and what influence financial advisers’ personal attitudes have on this process.

The results show that advisory services play an important role in helping clients to understand sustainability issues and to clarify their individual preferences. The study thus highlights the central role of client advisory services in sustainable investment decisions and provides valuable insights for professional practice.

Jury commends data foundation and practical relevance

The VP Bank jury particularly commended the work’s unique data foundation and high level of practical relevance. The analysis of the advisory meetings highlights the central role that client advice plays in sustainable investment decisions. The findings thus provide important impetus for the further development of high-quality wealth management advice.

“Allocation to responsible investment solutions only takes place if sustainability-related impacts, risks and opportunities are discussed during client meetings and communicated in a way that is easy to understand. This is precisely where our client advisors make a decisive contribution,” says Dr Lars Kaiser, Head of Sustainability at VP Bank.

About the Best Paper Award

VP Bank has been presenting the ‘Best Paper Award’ since 2017 in collaboration with the University of Liechtenstein as part of the Liechtenstein Workshop on Sustainable Finance. In doing so, it raises the profile of innovative research and its relevance to the financial sector.