13th-14th June 2019

University of Sussex
Jubilee Building
Falmer, Brighton

The University of Sussex Business School is pleased to announce the 6th Young Finance Scholars’ (YFS) Conference. The main theme for this year’s event is Financial Technology (FinTech) with a keynote speech by Andrei Kirilenko and practitioner round tables emphasising this buoyant area of employment. We encourage submissions on FinTech applications to accounting, algorithmic trading, asset management, banking, corporate finance, insurance and risk management.

Conference submissions can be extended abstracts or papers, and they are encouraged in any area of Fintech or Finance, including but not limited to: AI, asset pricing, banking, behavioural finance, big data analysis, corporate finance, entrepreneurial finance, financial econometrics, insurance, machine learning, portfolio optimization, quantitative finance, risk management and trading.

Given the profile of the participants, we are very flexible on the submission you choose – it can be anything from an extended abstract to a completed paper – preferably not a paper that has already been accepted for publication, but if such a paper is accompanied with an extended abstract of the currently-planned follow-on research on which the scholar would like feedback – even that would be ok too. The more details that are included in your submission, the more likely (if accepted) we would ask for a presentation rather than a poster.

Who Should Attend?

YFS is Europe’s premier forum for PhD students, post-doctoral researchers and other early career researchers. It provides the opportunity for these young scholars to present their research, discuss and debate the models used and the methodologies that they employ, network with their peers and industry experts, and receive comments and advice from leading researchers including editors of some key journals in the field.

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Conference Details

Today’s young finance scholars will benefit from submitting their work to this conference, not only for the networking and feedback for which YFS is renowned, but also by gaining a deeper understanding of the incredible scope of FinTech. Participants will gain insight to its potential to revolutionise developments in all types of financial markets, and for all the institutions that operate within them.

Changes happen very quickly in this digital age. Recent technological developments are revolutionising research in finance not only with the introduction of a whole new ‘crypto asset’ class - made popular by bitcoin and other coins or tokens riding on public blockchains - but also other examples such as:

• Most large asset managers like Fidelity and Blackrock are offering portfolio solutions for clients using robotic advisers of risk appetite, with investments driven by automated trading algorithms, such as machine-learning strategies derived from big data analytics.
• Private blockchain consortia underpin a revolution in traditional banking where competition is emerging from start-ups offering peer-to-peer transfers and fast digital payment processing.  Central banks are planning digital currencies (CBDCs) and commercial banks are underwriting trade finance using digital ledger technologies.
• All forms of insurance, from default swaps to hazard-related contracts, are now being automatically executed within a fast and immutable ledger.
• Even the last bastion of corporate finance is changing now, with traditional forms of capital raising being replaced by security token offerings. Based on public blockchains like Ethereum, these smart contracts allow entrepreneurial firms easy access to crowdfunding.
• Since the innovation and almost-immediate trading of new financial products has evolved much faster than regulations, we need research into assessing and managing new types of risk and enforcing compliance with regulations, when imposed.

Papers/Posters Submission

Submissions may be in the form of:

• A full paper (that has not yet been accepted for publication)
• A draft paper or a detailed outline of research in progress (No more than 1 A4 page containing proposed title, author(s) and summary)
• An extended abstract (500-1,000 words)

Each paper submission should be accompanied by an abstract of no more than 150 words. Submissions that are not accepted for presentation in parallel streams may possibly be offered poster presentations instead.

At least one author, and the intended presenter, should be an early career researcher (i.e. a PhD student, post-doctoral researcher or a lecturer without a tenured position). Papers may be co-authored with senior academics, but presentations at the conference may only be from the early career researcher. 

Final submissions of accepted papers will be sent to the committee for comments in preparation for discussion on the day. Conference papers will not be published in any proceedings and are eligible for submission to an academic journal.

Please see the Call for papers page for information on how to submit.