The Swiss Life Study Award 2024 was presented at the Group's headquarters in Zurich on Tuesday evening. The award aims to foster innovative, practice-oriented research at Swiss universities of applied sciences on topics including financial investments, markets, services, instruments, and corporate finance.

The theses in the Bachelor's and Master's categories, which are judged to be the best by a jury of experts, are each awarded the Study Award and a recognition Award, thus providing a platform for recognizing and rewarding their achievements. The prize is awarded by Swiss Life Asset Managers in collaboration with the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and the media partner «Finanz und Wirtschaft».

Careful Definition of Risk Profiles

Yannis Pieren, a graduate of Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, was awarded the prize of 5,000 Swiss francs in the Bachelor's category for his thesis on risk profiling for robo-advisors–digital, automated platforms that offer algorithmic financial advice–in Switzerland. He examined twelve robo-advisors, mainly from start-ups, but also from established banks. According to the jury, «the careful definition of the risk profiles and their insightful comparison with the equity ratio gave the work additional value».

The recognition award of 2,500 francs was presented to Moritz Leon Schroeter, a graduate of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. In his bachelor's thesis, he focused on the valuation of lookback options, a type of exotic financial derivative. He used a Heston model for stochastic volatility and applied the finite difference method to develop corresponding valuation models in Python.

A Highly Relevant and Topical Subject

Sven Koch was awarded the Study Award in the Master's category and recieved 5,000 francs. The graduate of Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts analyzed how crypto assets influence the performance of diversified portfolios and the importance of rebalancing in this context. The jury acknowledged that the thesis dealt with «a highly relevanz and current topic, particularly in the area of asset allocation and rebalancing strategies with a special focus on crypto assets». 

The Recognition Award of 2,500 francs wet to Zef Gjergji, a graduate of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. In his thesis, he researched the replication of hedge funds using trend-following strategies. The jury's verdict: «Particularly noteworthy is the variety of ways in which the results were examined and the use of innovative methods such as lasso regression, which go beyond the basics of the literature used.»

Impressive Performance of the Graduates

The universities of applied sciences of the award winners also receive 1,500 and 1,000 francs respectively (study and recognition prize) as «motivational injection». This year, the universities of applied sciences submitted a total of 26 theses, which they themselves rated as good to very good.

Stefan Mächler, Chief Investment Officer of the Swiss Life Group and CEO of Swiss Life Asset Managers until the end of March 2025, praised the achievements of the university graduates «It is impressive how they manage to present academic research topics in a way that is both practical and clear.»