On Monday 2nd December 2024, the School of Economics and Finance held its fourth Hot Topics Lecture aimed at School alumni, focusing on the topic of “Financial Literacy: How Important Is It for Financial Markets?”. This year, the lecture was also opened to current students, staff and prospective students of the School, and delivered mixed-mode both on campus and online via Zoom.
Professor George Skiadopoulos warmly welcomed attendees, followed with opening remarks from Professor Alp Atakan, Head of the School of Economics and Finance. Attendees then had the privilege of hearing from two distinguished speakers: Dr Vimal Balasubramaniam, Associate Professor at the School of Economics and Finance, and Dr Sofia Anyfantaki, Research Economist at the Economic Analysis and Research Department of the Bank of Greece. Following the talks, a robust, engaging and insightful Q&A session followed where attendees could draw on the expertise of the speakers.
Vimal’s presentation considered that the idea that financial literacy significantly changes individual behaviour is true, but is that sufficient for better functioning consumer financial markets? In the talk he argued that this may not necessarily be true, and concluded by suggesting that better consumer financial regulation is required for truly welfare improving outcomes.
We are nowadays experiencing unprecedented parallel challenges at a global scale, so how can we go from financial inclusion to financial health? In the presentation, Sofia argued that while regulation and institutions are indispensable for financial stability, it is also about empowering individuals. In this context, financial literacy emerges as a fundamental skill for all citizens.
Dr. Vimal Balasubramaniam
Vimal is an Associate Professor at the School of Economics and Finance, Queen Mary University of London, where he is also the Director of the MSc Investment & Finance Programme. He completed his PhD in Financial Economics from the University of Oxford. He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the National University of Singapore, and a BA in Economics from the University of Madras. His teaching expertise lay in asset pricing, behavioural finance, household finance, applied econometrics, and big data analytics and has taught several courses in these areas at Queen Mary, and before that, at the University of Warwick and the University of Oxford. His research interests span the same areas as those of his teaching, and a more extensive biography can be found on his website here: www.vimalb.com
Dr. Sofia Anyfantaki
Sofia is a Research Economist at the Economic Analysis and Research Department of the Bank of Greece. Previously, she worked as an Economist at the Hellenic Competition Commission, as a post-doctoral researcher at the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) and as a Visiting Professor in various positions. Sofia holds a PhD in Econometrics from AUEB. Her research interests are in econometric theory, financial econometrics and empirical finance and she has published in scientific journals in these areas. Sofia has published a number of policy articles on digital transformation, productivity, climate change and financial literacy while she is actively involved as a member in Eurosystem expert groups and international research networks shaping academic discourse and policy discussions. Her research on industrial policy in Greece was granted the Hellenic Observatory, LSE, 2020 Research Calls Programme. Sofia has also worked as a post-doc researcher at Cyprus University of Technology for EU-funded projects on digital financial literacy. Sofia is a (non-regular) member of the Scientific Advisory Commitment of the Cyprus Financial Literacy and Education Committee while she has also worked for the Ad Hoc Committee for the formulation of the National Strategy.