Appointment: Alexander Braun

1 February 2021. In 2007, he completed his degree course in Business Administration at the University of Mannheim. Having finished his degree, Professor Alexander Braun gained practical experience as a Senior Analyst in the capital markets business for American investment bank Lehman Brothers in London. In February 2009, he moved to the University of St.Gallen, where he completed his doctoral thesis entitled “Essays on Insurance-Linked Capital Market Instruments, Solvency Measurement and Insurance Pricing” and received the highest award for his HSG Doctor of Philosophy in Economics and Finance in 2011. After graduation, Professor Alexander Braun initially worked at the Institute of Insurance Economics (I.VW-HSG) as a post-doctorate researcher. From 2013, he then worked as an Assistant Professor of Risk Management at the University of St.Gallen, where he obtained his habilitation in 2016. Then in 2016, he also took on the responsibility of Deputy Director for the Institute of Insurance Economics (I.VW-HSG). In the autumn semester of 2019, Professor Alexander Braun worked at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (in the Risk Management and Decision Processes Center) and in the Risk Management, Insurance & Healthcare Department at Temple University as a visiting scholar. He has been a Senior Fellow for the Wharton Risk Center since 2019.

Research: Innovation in risk management and insurance economics

Professor Alexander Braun’s research concentrates on innovations in risk management and insurance economics. This includes research into new risk transfer instruments for extreme event risks (natural catastrophes, pandemics, cyberattacks, etc), especially those at the intersection between insurance and capital markets. His specialisms also include digital and technological innovations in the finance and insurance sectors (on-demand insurance models, decentralised insurance models based on a blockchain, etc), as well as climate risks and sustainability in insurance economics. His research is regularly linked to related fields like Finance, Economics, Marketing and Management. Professor Alexander Braun has published excellent articles in academic journals in the fields of Risk Management and Insurance Economics, Actuarial Science, Banking and Finance and Operations Research. Some of his key contributions include articles in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, Journal of Banking and Finance, European Journal of Operational Research and Insurance: Mathematics and Economics. Professor Alexander Braun’s research is characterised by its particularly practical relevance as well as its academic rigour. For this reason, he has received anumber of best paper and impact awards in recent years.

Many years of extensive teaching experience

Professor Alexander Braun has many years of extensive teaching experience in risk management and insurance economics. In 2014, he received the Lester B. Strickler Award from the American Risk and Insurance Association for his teaching. Alongside his work on university degree courses, Professor Alexander Braun is also heavily involved in executive education at HSG.