I.VW | Research

Institute of Insurance Economics

Chairs & Research Teams

With seven professors and around 30 employees, the Institute of Insurance Economics (I.VW) is one of the leading teaching and research institutions for risk management and insurance economics.

Chair for Risk Management

The research interests of the Chair of Risk Management and Insurance Economics include insurance pricing, life insurance, social security systems, capital allocation, performance measurement, reinsurance and actuarial issues. Other areas of specialisation are asset-liability management, incentive systems in insurance, regulation and transparency regulations.

Chair for Insurance Management

The Chair of Insurance Management works internationally, empirically and application-oriented. Current research interests include the following areas: Digitalization, Microinsurance and Social Security. Further interests are in the areas of regulation, risk management and asset management.

  • Hato Schmeiser K hsg scaled

    Prof. Dr. Hato Schmeiser

    Chairholder
  • Feig Felix22 e1693905958635

    M.Sc. Felix Feig

    Research Associate
  • FeyJan Christian scaled 1 e1693906479331

    M.Sc. Jan-Christian Fey

    Research Associate
  • M.Sc. Laurenz Hommel

    Research Associate
  • Mezger Manuel e1696241460205

    M.A. Manuel Mezger

    Research Associate
  • Martin Eling K hsg scaled

    Prof. Dr. Martin Eling

    Chairholder
  • Freyschmidt Marcel e1698140328536

    M.Sc. Marcel Freyschmidt

    Research Associate
  • yang liu scaled e1698140100436

    M.A. Yang Liu

    Research Associate
  • Ning Dingchen

    M.A. Dingchen Ning

    Research Associate
  • WalterJakob e1679318626755

    M.Sc. Jakob Walter

    Research Associate

Innovation in Risk and Insurance

The Innovation in Risk and Insurance competence team bundles key topics of the future in the insurance sector. With a holistic approach, theoretical and empirical methods are used to find adequate solutions in the areas of InsurTech, Alternative Risk Transfer and more.

Behavioral and Experimental Research in Risk and Insurance

The research group Behavioral and Experimental Research in Risk and Insurance works on better explaining human behavior under risk and uncertainty on the basis of economic and psychological findings. We do this on the basis of behavioral experiments and individual data sets and thus contribute to the development of solutions for welfare improvement.

  • Alexander Braun K hsg scaled

    Prof. Dr. Alexander Braun

    Associate Professor
  • Braun Julia

    M.A. Julia Braun

    Research Associate
  • Haeusle Niklas

    M.Sc. Niklas Matthias Häusle

    Research Associate
  • Pedretti Federico HSG Profile scaled

    Federico Pedretti

    Research Associate
  • K.Lamesic scaled

    M.Sc. Karla Lamesic

    Research Associate
  • Prof. Dr. Christian Biener

    Associate Professor
  • Walthes

    M.A. Felix M. Walthes

    Research Associate
  • Zou Lan e1693906297956

    Dr. Lan Zou

    Postdoctoral Researcher

Risk Management and Asset Pricing

Quantitative risk management, insurance, and asset pricing are areas of focus, exploring new methods for handling extreme event risk and studying the advantages of risk sharing in insurance, along with solvency regulation. Ongoing research involves topics such as risk pooling, insurance regulation, capital requirements, market tail risk, cross-sectional stock return tail risk pricing, and the use of option prices for forward-looking risk management.

Catastrophe Risk and Machine Learning in Insurance

Our research interests include machine learning in insurance and finance, analysis of pricing components in insurance-linked securitizations, and catastrophe risk management, both driven by human actions and natural events.

  • Markus Huggenberger K hsg scaled

    Prof. Dr. Markus Huggenberger

    Assistant Professor
  • Despina Makariou hsg scaled

    Prof. Dr. Despoina Makariou

    Assistant Professor

Actuarial Science

The research and teaching focus of the area lies on life and pension insurance, considering both policyholders’ and insurers’ perspectives. Our research aims to provide solutions to academic debates as well as practical issues. To deliver appropriate solutions to our research questions, we rely on an interdisciplinary approach, combining pure and applied mathematics, economics, finance and computer science.

  • Manuel Rach K hsg scaled

    Prof. Dr. Manuel Rach

    Assistant Professor

Forschung & Publikationen

Die Forschung im Bereich Risikomanagement und Versicherung stellt einen zentralen Baustein unserer Tätigkeit dar

Grundlagenforschung

Das I.VW betreibt intensive Grundlagenforschung, um die gesellschaftlichen, finanziellen, regulatorische und technologischen Entwicklungen für Versicherungsunternehmen besser analysieren zu können. Wissenschaftliche Lösungsansätze basieren dabei grundsätzlichen auf praktischen Problemstellungen.

Anwendungsorientierte Forschung

Das I.VW untersucht gemeinsam mit Partnern aus der Assekuranz aktuelle Forschungsthemen und stellt neueste wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse für die Praxis zur Verfügung.

Global Excellence

The Institute of Insurance Economics (I.VW) of the University of St.Gallen belongs to a small circle of university research institutions that have received a double award on the international stage for outstanding research and teaching in risk management and insurance.

1st place in the “Global Research Rankings of Actuarial Science and Risk Management & Insurance”.

According to the 2020 “Global Research Rankings of Actuarial Science and Risk Management & Insurance”, the I.VW is ranked 1st in the world in the field of Risk Management & Insurance, and 2nd in the world in the joint ranking of “Actuarial Science and Risk Management & Insurance”. The ranking was first compiled by the Actuarial Science program at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and published in the newsletter of the American Risk and Insurance Association.

International Insurance Society’s Top20 as “Global Centers of Excellence

Twenty universities from around the world were recognized in 2017 by the International Insurance Society as “Global Centers of Excellence” (GCIE) under a certification program for outstanding commitment to advancing insurance knowledge and research. The I.VW-HSG was the only Swiss university to receive the coveted GCIE designation for meeting the rigorous criteria and demonstrating that HSG students can learn first and foremost from a designated full-time faculty with appropriate academic qualifications and research expertise.