Dr. Kremena Bachmann is the Senior Research Associate for the Department for Banking and Finance at the prestigious University of Zürich in Switzerland. Her research focuses on personal and household Finance, as well as investors’ behavior, which lead her to take on additional endeavors as Investment Research Advisor at Moor & Bachmann AG, and being an associate at Behavioral Science Solutions GmbH. Dr. Bachmann has published several articles in various renowned journals and newspapers.

Dr. Jan van Bracht joined HSBC Germany in 2013 and looks back on a 15-year career in Finance/Banking. He and his team cover internationally acting large corporate clients, which they serve in all aspects related to interest rate, liquidity and FX management. Additionally, Jan acts as European Lead for HSBC’s digital change initiative in Markets with respect to corporate clients. Before joining HSBC, Jan worked for Deutsche Bank AG as well as LPA GmbH. Jan is passionate about technology and the potential for digital innovation within finance. He holds a Bachelor, Diploma as well as a Master degree and earned his doctoral degree in Great Britain.

Lutz Diederichs holds the position of Chairman of the Group Management Board Germany and acts as Group Head for the French international banking group BNP Paribas in Germany. The German market presents itself as key for the firm and Diederichs' aptitude and expertise have become invaluable for the firm’s growth ambitions. Previously, Diederichs was part of HypoVereinsbank, where he held different positions for more than 25 years and was a member of the board of the HypoVereinsbank UniCredit Munich since 2009.

Dr. Michael Drill is the CEO of Lincoln International in Germany, a multinational investment bank and provider of financial services to business owners and senior executives. Dr. Drill’s role includes strategic and operational leadership for the company’s activities in the DACH and the Benelux region. Previously, he was Head of M&A at Europe’s largest private bank, Sal. Oppenheim, director for the Investment Banking division of Citigroup Global Markets and part of the M&A group of Ernst & Young Switzerland. He has more than 25 years of experience in advising on corporate finance transactions in German speaking countries. Dr. Drill’s international outlook and professional success are essential to the unique insights and rigorous processes of Lincoln International.

Daniel Drummer is currently positioned as CFO of Fintech company auxmoney, an online peer-to-peer loan marketplace. He oversees IT, Law and Finance operations. His previous endeavors include being head of Global Data and Analytics at JP Morgan Chase & Co, along with co-managing the Digital Strategy and Fintech department. Before commencing his career at the US Bank, Drummer was with McKinsey & Company and the Royal Bank of Scotland. His experience with digital business models, Fintech and investment banking make him a valuable asset to auxmoney and their ambitions.

Professor Dr. Thierry Foucault is positioned as the Professor for Finance at the esteemed HEC Paris, where he also holds the chair of the HEC Foundation and is part of the Centre of Economic Policy as a researcher. Professor Foucault has taught at various institutions on an international level and his research focuses specifically on financial markets liquidity, the industrial organization of these markets and their effect on the economy. His work is published in leading scholarly journals and he has received several research awards throughout the years.

Markus Gunter joined N26 Bank in 2015. Within a year, he became one of the CEO’s of the German direct bank, whose aim is to redesign the banking experience to fit the environment of the 21st century. Since the initial launch in 2015, the bank has grown to include more than 4.5 million users. Gunter also pioneered the first internet platform of the German bank HYPO-Bank AG and built the company up to be one of the top five asset management companies in Germany. However, whilst working as CEO for DAB Bank AG he realized that mobile banking is the future of financial services.

Christian Hecker has been working for ING’s banking division since 2014. A defining aspect of Hecker’s life is his international experience that brought him from Singapore to Tianjin, Hangzhou and Mumbai. Throughout his years at ING-DiBa, Hecker was located in India and Germany, as Head of Retail Banking, Multinational Clients and Wholesale Banking. He spend the initial years of his career at Deutsche Volksbank, where he completed his bankers’ training, followed by a Bachelor in Business Administration at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. During this time he also undertook various positions at Commerzbank.

Heinz Hilger holds the position of CEO at Standard Chartered Bank AG, a British multinational banking and financial services company, for the German market. Hillinger has been part of Standard Chartered Bank since 2013, where he initially held the position of Managing Director and was responsible for global activities and corporate clients. He has also acted as Managing Director of Corporate Banking for Merrill Lynch, along with occupying many other top-management positions at the likes of JP Morgan Chase and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Dr. Stephan Leithner was appointed as a member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Börse Group at the beginning of July 2018. Due to his years of leadership experience, Dr. Leithner is now responsible for post trading business, data and index business along with the subsidiary Clearstream. Previously, he acted as a partner to the Swedish investment firm EQT from 2016 onward. He had also been a member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank AG from 2012 until 2015. McKinsey & Company, as well as the Swiss Institute for Banking and Finance in St. Gallen are part of the institutions Dr. Leithner shared many successful years with.

Matthias van de Loo has been a part of Andersch AG since the beginning of 2014. Prior to this, he worked at a leading Big Four company in Germany for five years in the areas of auditing and restructuring consulting. His professional focus lies in the preparation of restructuring concepts, option analyses, integrated corporate planning and the implementation of restructuring programs. His expertise lies with the automotive, trade, mechanical and plant engineering industries.The experienced banker studied Economics in Marburg, Witten/Herdecke, and Brisbane.

Jans Meckel has been at Goldman Sachs for over 17 years. He joined the Investment Bank as an Analyst in 2002 after graduating from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management as the top student in his class. During his time at WHU, he also founded our student-led initiative Campus for Finance in 1999. Meckel has worked in Corporate Risk Management, Corporate Finance and Debt Capital Markets since he became a Managing Director in 2011. He has also worked in the Securities Division in London and Frankfurt.

Sandra Navidi is CEO of the New York-based management consulting firm BeyondGlobal. She is admitted to the bar in Germany and the USA and is regarded as one of the best connected people in global high finance. Furthermore she is known in the international media as an economic expert. In addition, Navidi is the author of the award-winning bestseller "$uper-hubs: How the financial elite and their networks rule the world", co-author of the award-winning n-tv documentary series "Wie tickt Amerika", podcast host of her own RTL/n-tv business podcast "Wie tickt Amerika" and author of a regular business column in BILD. She is a member of The Center on Capitalism and Society, Columbia University, one of 500 LinkedIn Global Influencers, and a frequent speaker. She is currently writing her second book on optimal professional positioning in the digital economy.

Alexander Roos joined The Boston Consulting Group in 1998 and since then worked with clients ranging from global corporations and international private-equity investors to sovereign wealth funds covering a wide range of industries.

Alexander’s extensive expertise includes global portfolio and strategy reviews, acquisition strategies and divesture programs, as well as investor management and capital market studies. Prior Alexander held positions in consulting, financial advisory services, and corporate controlling.

Alongside his Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Stuttgart, Alexander Roos holds a MBA from the University of Connecticut.

Anthony Saunders is the John M. Schiff Professor of Finance at NYU Stern. Professor Saunders received his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and has taught both undergraduate and graduate level courses at NYU since 1978. Throughout his academic career, his teaching and research have specialized in financial institutions and international banking. He has served as a visiting professor all over the world, including INSEAD, the Stockholm School of Economics, and the University of Melbourne

Thomas Schnarr is head of Oliver Wyman´s financial services in Germany and Austria. He primarily oversees mandates on the topics of strategy definition and general bank management as well as the effects of regultory charges at the operational and strategic level. In addition to corporate customer and capital market business, he is also specialized in real estate and asset finance.

Philip Stein joined Raymond James in 2016, as managing Director in Munich. Stein holds almost 15 years of investment banking experience. Prior to joining Raymond James, he served as the co-head of the Mummert & Company technology advisory practice and head of financial sponsor coverage. Before Stein was a member of the M&A private equity team at PwC, focused on cross-border LBO transactions from 2006 to 2009. Mr. Stein earned his Master in Economics, with a focus on Accounting Finance, from the University of Passau and was recognized by The M&A Advisor as one of the European Emerging Leaders in 2015.

In his role as partner at Bain & Company´s Frankfurt office, Sebastian  is an expert in the firm´s Financial Services practice. Thoben´s expertise lies with supporting customers with extensive transformations, performance improvement programs and post-merger integrations. His knowledge on banking for corporate and commercial clients has been built over his many year sin the banking and insurance sectors across Germany, Switzerland and the UK. He holds his Bachelor in international management at the Hanzehogeschool Groningen in the Netherlands and the Ocean University of China in Qingdao. He graduated from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

Prof. Markus Rudolf is Dean of WHU and, since 1998, has been full Allianz Professor of Finance at the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. He earned his Ph.D. degree in fall 1994 and his habilitation degree in May 1999, both at the University St. Gallen, Switzerland. His recent publications focus on Banking and Private Banking, on the sovereign risk crises, on asset and risk management, and on derivatives pricing. He is Co-Editor of the journal "Financial Markets and Portfolio Management" and acts as Academic Director for the Campus for Finance – WHU New Year's Conference. He holds a supervisory board position at Boeker & Paul.

Since October 2018, Salsano is Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking of HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG. This area is comprised of Corporate Banking, parts of Transaction Banking, and Advisory for Corporations and Institutional Clients on Acquisition and Capital Market Financing. From 2013 to 2017, Salsano led Credit Suisse's IB department in Germany and Austria, being in charge of M&A, stock market placements, and corporate financing. Most recently, he was Executive Director and CIO EMEA at Anbang Group.

His career began at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank. For more than 17 years he consulted various companies for Credit Suisse. Further responsibilities brought him to London and Hong Kong as Managing Director of the Financial Institution Group Division of Credit Suisse, where he held leading positions in Capital Market Advisory of Financial Service Providers.

Frank Witt acts as Managing Director of the Munich office at PIMCO, a global investment management firm, where he oversees business in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux and the Nordics. His 24 years of investment experience and international involvement, including positions with Goldman Sachs in California and as a risk manager for Deutsche Bank in Germany, Australia, Hong Kong and the UK, have shaped his career and insights into the world of finance. Witt holds a master's degree in economics from the University of Bonn, Germany.

Mr. Wolff is responsible for all sales and customer care activities at Scalable Capital and has more than a decade of experience in the private customer business. While studying at the DHBW Mannheim, Wolff initially worked in various positions for Commerzbank. Subsequently, he worked for the Swiss asset manager VZ Group for over seven years. Before joining Scalable Capital, he led the Düsseldorf branch and consulted private clients with asset structuring. In addition to an MBA from the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, Thomas has the qualification as a Certified International Investment Analyst.

Klug heads the Institutional Clients Division at BlackRock in Germany and Austria. He joined BlackRock in 2016 as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the region of Germany, Austria, and Eastern Europe. Previously, he was a senior member of PIMCO's Executive Office in Newport Beach, where he was responsible for strategic, financial, and operational initiatives. Prior to that, Klug was responsible for institutional clients in Germany for PIMCO and worked as Assistant to the Executive Board in the Asset Management Division of the Allianz Group.

He began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London as a Consultant for Risk Management in the financial sector.

Klug holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BBA Degree from Lancaster University. He is CFA Charterholder.

Koch is the CEO and Founder of Inside Wirtschaft. Until early 2014, the journalist, presenter, and media trainer reported on the world-famous Wall Street in New York as US Chief Correspondent for the news channel N24 and Handelsblatt. He appeared in over 3,000 live broadcasts and 500 talk shows. He met business giants and celebrities from all over the world.

Koch was born in Berlin in 1982. He studied German studies and Literature, Political Science, and Public Law and graduated with a Magister Artium from the University of Mainz in 2006. In 2017, Koch founded his own company Inside Wirtschaft and now focuses on delivering the news online. He is strongly committed to financial education in Germany.

Dr. Markus Krall is Managing Director at goetzpartners in the Frankfurt office and heads the group of Financial Institutions and Risk Management.

During his career, he has successfully managed a global portfolio of projects in risk management and strategy for banks and insurance companies across the whole world.

Prior to joining goetzpartners, he was a Senior Partner at Roland Berger. Dr. Markus Krall has a PhD in Economics and wrote his thesis at the Imperial University in Nagoya as a recipient of the Japanese government’s Monbusho Scholarship.

Markus E. Krüger, partner at Latham & Watkins, specializes in complex M&A transactions (with a particular focus on financial industry and on FinTech transactions) and financial regulatory advice. Markus is a member of Latham’s Brexit Task Force. His clients include domestic and international banks, and FinTech companies, as well as private equity sponsors. He currently advises a number of clients on Brexit related structurings. Recent work highlights also include advice to Toscafund regarding an investment in Liqid Asset management and Deutsche Bank’s cooperation with, and investment in, award-winning FinTech Start-up Dwins. Mr. Krüger is a member of various industry groups, including an expert group on Brexit matters.

Sandner is Head of the Blockchain Center at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. The expertise of Sandner includes Blockchain Technology, Crypto Assets, ICOs, Digital Transformation, and Entrepreneurship.

Sandner is a member of the FinTechRat of the Ministry of Finance and founding member of the German Blockchain Association e.V. and the Multichain Asset Managers Association. Before joining Frankfurt School, he co-founded a consulting company specialized in Innovation Strategy, IP, and Technology Transfer. He has been research fellow at the TU Munich, the LMU Munich, and the Berkeley Centre for Law & Technology. Previously, he studied Business Administration at the University Mannheim. Prof. Sandner has been published in international peer-reviewed journals such as Research Policy, the Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Business Venturing.

Scheer was born in Darmstadt, Germany in 1957. He completed his commercial training at Deutsche Bank Hanover and studied Business Administration at the University of Munich. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kiel. In 1985 he joined Bayerische Vereinsbank in Munich and later Dresdner Bank in 1990 where he worked on the conceptual phase of a disruptive new strategic orientation in the Domestic Banking. Afterwards, he was responsible for the Germany-wide implementation process on the Retail Banking side. After working at HypoVereinsbank AG, he joined zeb in 2001 where he is currently holding the position of Partner and Member of the Management Board.

Joachim von Schorlemer is a Member of the Board of ING, responsible for ING Wholesale Banking in Germany and Austria and the ING Direktbank Austria.

He started his professional career in 1983 at J.P. Morgan and spent time in Treasury, Fixed Income, and M&A. After six more years with Deutsche Bank, he joined Credit Suisse as Co-Head Investment Banking Germany. In 2004, he joined BNP Paribas where he became Country Head, responsible for building up the market position of BNP Paribas in Germany.

From 2013 to 2015, he was responsible for Wholesale Banking in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland for The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

Teyssen studied Law and Economics in Freiburg, Göttingen, and Boston. After finishing his studies, he worked at the University of Göttingen for several years and received a Doctorate in law. He began his professional career at E.ON in 1989. In 2010, Teyssen was appointed to his current role as CEO of E.ON SE. He has also played a leading role in various other associations. He was President of Eurelectric, the European Umbrella Organization of the Electricity Sector (from 2013 to 2015) as well as the World Energy Council’s Vice Chair responsible for Europe (from 2006 to 2012); and since 2010, he has been a Member of the Presidential Board of the Federation of German Industries (BDI). Since June 2017, he is a Member of the Shareholders’ Committee of NordStream AG.

Vater is a Partner at Bain & Company in the Frankfurt office and joined the firm in 2004. Prior, Vater was a Partner with The Boston Consulting Group. He has more than 25 years consultancy experience working with Financial Services Institutions around the globe. He is the Global Head of Retail Banking and is heading the banking practice in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Vater has significant expertise in large transformation programs and strategy development in financial institutions and SME banking. Especially in the last ten years, Vater has focused his assignments around the globe on digitization projects.

He is a graduate of the University of Mannheim, where he received a Degree in Business Administration and earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Chemnitz.

Vorlaufer joined ACXIT in 2018. Amongst other, he is responsible for business development and research as well as for establishing ACXIT’s footprint in new business areas and regions. He worked for ABN AMRO in Amsterdam where he was responsible for developing and setting up their CFD trading platform “Marketindex” as one of the early products in this category. Later, he managed investment funds for Valartis Group in Switzerland and was responsible for the Financial Due Diligence of the Private Equity Department of the bank. As a Senior Portfolio Manager at DEKA Investment, Vorlaufer managed funds in global and emerging market equities as well as commodity markets, derivatives, and foreign currencies.

He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Economics in Vienna.

Wuensch joined Raymond James in 2016 in connection with the acquisition of Mummert & Company. Previously, Wuensch served as a Director for Mummert & Company where he was Head of the hosting and IT-infrastructure advisory practice. Prior to Mummert & Company, Wuensch worked for Berenberg, advising on M&A and capital market transactions across Europe. Wuensch started his career at Adidas, where he worked in Corporate Controlling and Investor Relations. Wuensch earned a Bachelor of Science Degree with first-class honors in Business Administration from Oxford Brookes University, UK, and an MBA from ESADE Business School, Spain, and the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland, where he received the Omega Award for graduating at the top of his class.

Zoeller has more than 25 years of experience in banking. He joined Société Générale in April 2010. Before that, he had worked at Merrill Lynch (later Bank of America Merrill Lynch) for four years as Managing Director of Investment Banking and Member of the German Executive Committee.

Between 1996 and 2006 he held various Investment Banking positions within Deutsche Bank (Bankers Trust before acquisition). In his last position as Senior Investment Banker, he was responsible for Strategic and Capital Markets Transactions with German large cap companies. During the period 1991 - 1996, he was appointed to various positions at Commerzbank and had held his last position for three years at Commerzbank London in Corporate Finance. He has significant expertise in process optimization, organizational restructuring, turnaround management as well as strategic development. Mr. Sinn studied at the University of Mannheim and at ESSEC Paris, where he obtained a Diploma in Business Administration. Afterwards, he started his career at Deutsche Bank.