Associate Professor Benjamin Loos

My Expertise

Behavioural Finance
Digital Finance
FinTech
Household Finance

Biography

I’m a finance professor and researcher specializing in the intersection of fintech, behavioural finance, and household finance. My work uniquely bridges these fields, investigating solutions to individual investors' common mistakes—whether through financial advice (unbiased, fee-only, or robo-advice), product innovations like ETFs, or digital tools such as mobile trading platforms. Collaborating with banks and fintechs, I leverage large proprietary datasets, as well as field and laboratory experiments, to generate impactful insights.
My research has been published in top-tier finance journals and presented at the best conferences. Beyond academic recognition, my work has influenced the financial services industry, reshaping consumer behaviour and product offerings. This synergy between academia and industry also enriches my teaching, which has been recognized with multiple awards, and strengthens my contributions to finance education—particularly in integrating technology and finance and fostering industry partnerships.
Since completing my Ph.D. at Goethe University Frankfurt in 2015, I have held faculty positions at leading institutions, including Technical University of Munich (as a tenured W3 Professor for Digital Finance), University of Technology Sydney (Associate Professor), and Mannheim Business School (Assistant Professor). Before academia, I worked in investment banking at Bank of America and HSBC.
With a strong research pipeline and a deep commitment to advancing finance education, I continue to explore the evolving landscape of digital finance, ensuring that my work remains at the forefront of industry and academic innovation.

University of New South Wales, School of Banking and Finance

Associate Professor
Program Director: Master of Financial Technology (UNSW online), Financial Technology Specialisations for UG and PG

Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Management (Triple Crown Accredited, QS Ranking No. 1 in Germany and No. 37 Worldwide)

Professor of Finance (W3 Tenured)
Chair of Digital Finance
Director Masters in Finance and Information Management (FIM)
- Best German Economics Program (CHE)
- Newly established elite program (20 Students) – Funded by major German corporations
TUM Venture Lab Software/AI: Finance Stream
CFO and Deputy Chairman TUM School of Management Alumni

University of Technology Sydney, UTS Business School

Associate Professor of Finance
Director Master of Financial Analysis

University of Mannheim, Mannheim Business School

Assistant Professor of Finance
Chair of Finance and Banking, Martin Weber

University of Sydney and University of Technology Sydney

Visiting Professor

Goethe University Frankfurt, Goethe Business School

Assistant Professor of Finance
Ph.D. in Finance: Graduation as Dr. rer. pol (”summa cum laude”)
- Title: Potential Solutions to Individual Investors’ Investment Mistakes
- Committee: Andreas Hackethal, Roman Inderst, and Holger Kraft
Endowed Chair of Personal Finance, Andreas Hackethal

Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Bloomington, IN, US

Visiting Scholar

Bank of America, Frankfurt, London, and NY

Analyst Global Investment Banking
Coverage of German Speaking Countries: Financial Institutions, Private Euqity, M&A, and Debt Capital Markets

HSBC, Treasury Research

My Qualifications

My Awards

2021 — Best Teaching Award TUM School of Management
2018 — Best Paper Award FIRN Conference 2018 (Trust and Delegated Investing)
2017 — PhD Thesis Award — Winner University Prize Deutsches Aktieninstitut EUR 25,000 (Umbrella organization of German exchange-listed firms

My Research Activities

PUBLICATIONS
How do taxes affect the trading behavior of private investors? Evidence from individual portfolio data, Accepted, Management Science (with F. Buhlmann, P. Doerrenberg, and J. Voget).
Trust and Delegated Investing: A Money Doctors Experiment, Accepted, the Review of Finance (with M. Germann, L. Mertes, and M. Weber).
The Trading Response of Individual Investors to Local Bankruptcies, 2021, Jour- nal of Financial Economics, 142, 928–53 (with C. Laudenbach, J. Pirschel, and J. Wohlfahrt).
Abusing ETFs, 2017, Review of Finance, 21: 1217–50 (with U. Bhattacharya, S. Meyer, and A. Hackethal).
Is Unbiased Financial Advice to Retail Investors Sufficient? Answers from a Large Field Study, 2012, Review of Financial Studies, (Lead article), 25: 975–1032 (with U. Bhattacharya, A. Hackethal, S. Kaesler, and S. Meyer).
Switching from commissions on mutual funds to flat-fees: How are advisory clients affected?, 2023, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 209, 423– 49 (with S. Meyer, C. Uhr, and A. Hackethal).
Do Individual Investors Learn from their Mistakes?, 2017, Journal of Business Economics, Special Issue on Financial Literacy/Digital Finance, 87: 669–703 (with M. Koestner, S. Meyer, and A. Hackethal).
WORKING PAPERS
Robo-Advisers and Investor Behavior (with A. Previtero, and A. Hackethal), solicited by the Review of Financial Studies and presented at Cavalcade AP 2018, FIRS 2018 and RBFC 2018.
Smart(phone) investing? (with A. Kalda, A. Previtero, and A. Hackethal) pre- sented at Boulder Summer Conference (Smartphone), Cavalcade 2022, EFA 2021, Financial Research Association Conference 2021, NBER 2021 (Dig- italization), and NBER 2022 (Ageing and Heatlh).
Consumption out of Fictitious Capital Gains and Selective Inattention (with S. Meyer and M. Pagel) presented at AFA 2024, AEA 2020, Cavalcade 2020, CEPR Sixth European Workshop on Household Finance, NBER Summer Institute 2022, and WFA 2022.
The Disposition Effect in Boom and Bust Markets (with S. Bernard and M. We- ber) presented at SFS Cavalcade 2021, EEA 2020, Boulder Summer Conference 2019, and DGF 2019.
Waiting for the gain to come: How variance and skewness shape investors’ selling behavior (with S. Bernard and M. Weber) presented at EEA 2022 and EWFC 2021.
Getting Burned by Frictionless Financial Markets (with A. Dhawan, M. Navone, and T. Putnins), presented at FIRN 2020.
Deposit Insurance Credibility: Revealed Polarized Perceptions (with U. Bhat- tacharya, T. Johann, and T. Rochow).
The Effects of Disclosing Information on Consumer Financial Behavior: Evidence from a Financial Well-Being Score (with C. Hildebrand, M. Nardini, E. Renkl, and P. Winder).
POLICY PAPERS
Tracking the Economic Recovery across Europe: A Glance on Germany, 2021, (with O. Falck, E. Renkl, F. Schmidt-Fischbach, S. Wichert).
Tracking the Economic Recovery across Europe: A Glance on Italy, 2021, (with O. Falck, E. Renkl, F. Schmidt-Fischbach, S. Wichert).
Tracking the Economic Recovery across Europe: A Glance on Spain, 2021, (with O. Falck, E. Renkl, F. Schmidt-Fischbach, S. Wichert).
Tracking the Economic Recovery across Europe: A Glance on France, 2021, (with O. Falck, E. Renkl, F. Schmidt-Fischbach, S. Wichert).
Tracking the Economic Recovery across Europe: A Glance on Austria, 2021, (with O. Falck, E. Renkl, F. Schmidt-Fischbach, S. Wichert).

My Engagement

UNSW

Program Director: Master of Financial Technology (UNSW online)

TUM

Introduction of new program: FIM (Master in Finance and Information Management)
Academic Program Director FIM
TUM Venture Lab Software/AI: Finance Stream
CFO and Deputy Chairman TUM School of Management Alumni

UTS

Director Master of Financial Analysis
Member of Faculty Board in Business
Member of Finance Discipline Group Research Committee

My Teaching

University of New South Wales
- ZZBU8507-Robo Advisory and Portfolio Optimisation
- FINS5513 Investments & Portfolio Selection
Technical University of Munich
- Master in Management and Technology
  - Behavioral Finance (Best Teaching Award TUM School of Management)
- Master in Finance and Information Management
  - Investment and Financing
- Bachelor in Management and Technology
  - Digital Finance Seminar
  - Investment and Financial Management
- Executive Education
  - Behavioral Finance (EMBA General Management)
  - Behavioral Finance (EMBA Management and Innovation)
  - Valuation and Financing for Entrepreneurs (EMBA Innovation and Business Creation)
  - Digital Finance (EMBA Innovation and Business Creation)
University of Technology Sydney
- 25741 Capital Markets Lecture (Master of Finance)
- 25624 Financial Metrics for Decision Making (Bachelor of Business)
- 25770 Behavioral Finance (Master in Financial Planning)
- 25784 Behavioral Finance (Honours program in Finance)
University of Mannheim
- Finance, Lecture 1,000 undergraduate and graduate non-business students
- Investments and Asset Pricing, Exercise
Goethe University Frankfurt
- Global Financial Management, Case Studies (Executive Education (MBA))
- Goethe University, Finance 2, Exercise

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Location

Business

Contact

b.loos@unsw.edu.au

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ORCID as entered in ROS

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4687-6708