The Council is conceived as a consultative body that will provide strategic, academic, and technical guidance to EFFAS, reinforcing its mission to advance the financial analyst profession and foster excellence in financial education, innovation, and sustainability across Europe and beyond.
The Advisory Council will play a key role in:
- Providing expert advice on developments in financial markets, sustainability, and digitalisation;
- Supporting the definition of standards and best practices for the financial analyst profession;
- Contributing to the continuous improvement of EFFAS educational programmes and certifications;
- Advising on research priorities and strategic initiatives;
- Promoting the integration of academic research with professional practice.
The founding members of the Council are:
Chair
Dr. Jesús López Zaballos
PhD in Management & Business Administration at San Pablo CEU University, Madrid (1999), summa cum laude, and Degree in Economics & Business Administration at Complutense Universtity, Madrid (1985). He also has a Diploma in General Management (PDG) from IESE (1997) and is a Certified Expert in Business Valuation and Certified Financial Advisor by the Spanish Institute of Financial Analysts, Madrid (2008).
Jesús is a member of the boards of ACIIA, ILPIP, EFFAS, and IATEC Spain. Since 1985 he has been a member of the Madrid College of Economists (actually Member of the Board) and since 2006 a member of the European University Association for Community Studies.
In 1984 he started his professional career as a broker in the Spanish Money Market. Later he worked as an expert in the Capital Market Industry for several important private and public financial institutions where he held a variety of responsibilities in different fields. He was Head of Domestic Treasury of the Banco de Crédito Industrial in 1991 and he was Head of Training of the Treasury and Capital Markets areas of Argentaria (1995-1998). In 1999, he created “Formación y Finanzas, SL”, a Business Consulting and Financial Advisory firm specialized in advisor and training activities for the Financial Industry. At present, he is the chair of the company.
In 2013 he was a founding partner of Aureo Wealth Advice EAFI, S.L, a wealth management company registered with the Spanish regulator. In 2014 he was appointed member of the Advisory Board of Docout, a company specialized in outsourcing services, business processes, records management and consulting, using high-tech tools. In 2023 he was appointed as Senior Advior of OESIA Group, Spanish multinational company specializing in dual-use digital and industrial engineering.
PhD in Management & Business Administration at San Pablo CEU University, Madrid (1999), summa cum laude, and Degree in Economics & Business Administration at Complutense Universtity, Madrid (1985). He also has a Diploma in General Management (PDG) from IESE (1997) and is a Certified Expert in Business Valuation by the Spanish Institute of Financial Analysts, Madrid (2008). Since 1990 he has been a usual Lecturer and Visiting Professor in Seminars and specialized courses in several Universities and Business Schools.
Members
Prof. Dr. Alexander Bassen
Sonia is the ESG Investment Integration Manager at Generali, where she plays a key role in driving sustainable strategy and investment innovation. As the central liaison between the Group Chief Sustainability Office, the Group Chief Investment Office, Asset Management, and Wealth Management area, she actively facilitates the adoption of sustainable investment practices. Sonia holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Torino. She is a certified CIIA, CESGA and CEFA.
She collaborates with standard setters and contributes to several influential sustainability committees and task forces, including the FinDatEx ESG Technical Working Group, the Insurance Europe Sustainability Working Group and the AIAF Education Commission for ESG Issues. Sonia’s commitment to sustainability also extends to academia, where she shares her knowledge as a lecturer at Cattolica University in Milan.
Among her latest publications are: Exploring the Effectiveness of Sustainability Measurement: Which ESG Metrics Will Survive COVID 19? published in the Journal of Business Ethics (Springer); How to improve Biodiversity information published in Extinction Governance edited by Atkins J. and Macpherson M. (Routledge) and Introduction to SRI: From Traditional to Sustainable Investing (McGraw-Hill).
Prof. Dr. Leef H. Dierks
Dr. Dierks (1977) was appointed Professor for Finance and International Capital Markets at Lübeck University of Applied Sciences in winter 2013/14. Guest professorships led him to universities in Almaty (Kazakhstan), Amman (Jordan), Chiang Mai (Thailand) and Hangzhou (China), amongst others. Between 2010 and 2013 Dr. Dierks served as Global Head of Covered Bond Strategy at US-investment bank Morgan Stanley in London. Previously, he worked as a Vice President analysing the European fixed income markets at Barclays Capital in Frankfurt.
In 2006, Dr. Dierks earned a doctoral degree (magna cum laude) for his research on “The impact of trust as a determinant of consumer behaviour under uncertainty – an empirical analysis of consumers’ reactions to a random external shock in Europe” at the Christian-Albrechts-University at Kiel. Following longer stays in Pretoria, South Africa and Mexico-City, Mexico, Dr. Dierks studied economics as well as business administration at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina and the Christian-Albrechts-University at Kiel from 1997 to 2003. Within the scope of his diploma thesis, he investigated the “Predictability of Currency Crises” at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW).
Dr. Dierks has been awarded the Faculty of Economics’ “Lecturer of the Year Award” in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 and is a liaison professor of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (SddV). Further, Dr. Dierks is former Deputy Chairman of EFFAS’ Capital Markets Commission (CMC) and Academic Director of the Certified European Financial Analyst Programme.
Prof. Dr. Emanuele Campiglio
Emanuele Campiglio is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Bologna and Scientist at the RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment (EIEE). He is also a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE), where he previously held academic positions. His research focuses on environmental macroeconomics, sustainable finance, and the political economy of sustainability transitions. He leads the ERC-funded SMOOTH project on sustainable finance and has contributed to several international research initiatives, including the Horizon 2020 CASCADES project. A recipient of prestigious grants and a recognized expert in his field, he has published extensively on climate-related financial risks, green macroeconomics, and low-carbon economic transitions.