PRESS RELEASE
New Success in Vienna for EFFAS Summer School, the Annual Meeting Point for
Financial Professionals
23, 24 June 2025 | Vienna, Austria
The European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (EFFAS) held its sixteenth edition of the EFFAS Summer School in Vienna, which has become the annual gathering of analysts and finance and investment professionals from around the world.
A European Network with Global Reach
The new edition of the EFFAS Summer School, took place on June 23 and 24 at the Central Bank of Austria in Vienna, gathering a large number of participants from more than thirty countries. Additionally, the event was accessible via live online streaming provided by EFFAS for those unable to attend in person.
The organization of the EFFAS Summer School was made possible through the essential collaboration of the Austrian Association for Financial Analysis and Asset Management (OVFA, Österrechische Vereinigung für Finanzanalyse und Asset Management), the Austrian national association that is part of EFFAS along with thirteen other European national associations (Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Malta, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland), representing over 18,000 financial analysts.
Leadership Transition at the EFFAS Annual General Meeting
At the end of the Summer School, the EFFAS General Assembly was also held, during which a leadership change took place. After four terms and thirteen years leading the European analysts federation, the Spanish Jesús López Zaballos stepped down and was succeeded by Austrian Fritz Mostböck, who was deputy chair until yesterday and is now the new president of EFFAS. López Zaballos and Mostböck were responsible for opening this new edition of the EFFAS Summer School with their speeches.
EFFAS Certifications and Global Expansion
Over the years, EFFAS has become the leading organization for European financial professionals and has experienced exponential international growth, especially in Asia. The Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA) awarded by EFFAS is the world’s pioneering professional title in ESG matters and has established itself as an undisputed international leader, with over 7,500 certified professionals across five continents as of early this year. This number is expected to increase by the end of 2025. Innovation and foresight are key aspects of EFFAS, which recently launched the new and prominent Certified Climate Risk Analyst (ECRA) title. Currently, EFFAS has more than 27,000 certified professionals.
Conference Highlights
The EFFAS Summer School was titled “Navigating the Financial Horizon 2025: The European economic outlook and implementing corporate reporting,” featuring top-tier speakers.
On the first morning, Koen Geens, Emeritus Professor at Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven and former Minister of Finance, Justice, and European Affairs of Belgium, delivered the keynote lecture “The sustainability challenge: Are we capable of real change?” Geens positioned sustainability as a recurring, not new, concern rooted in long-term systemic dynamics, emphasizing the importance of maintaining consistent, high-quality sustainability data for effective capital allocation and policymaking.
Birgit Niessner, Director of the Economic Analysis and Research Department at the National Bank of Austria (OeNB), focused on the difficulty of making economic forecasts amid structural and geopolitical uncertainty, noting that a 50% increase in firm-level uncertainty leads to higher inflation volatility, concluding that uncertainty affects policy transmission and price stability.
Next, Romain Baeriswyl, Deputy Head of Monetary Policy Analysis at the Swiss National Bank, reflected on how technology is transforming both the payment system (how money moves) and the monetary system (how money is created).
Additionally, Javier de Frutos, Chair of the EFFAS Commission on Financial Reporting, highlighted that “recent developments in Europe on sustainability standards along with upcoming changes in financial statement presentation are major challenges for European companies. While accounting remains focused on accountability, integrating reporting will be the future of corporate reporting.”
Leef H. Dierks, Professor of International Capital Markets at Lübeck University of Applied Sciences and Academic Director at EFFAS, mentioned that “the lively discussion about the Savings and Investment Union (SIU) shows that capital market practitioners are very concerned about reducing Europe’s fragmented capital markets. It is difficult to see that what the Capital Markets Union (CMU) failed to achieve in the past ten years will now be a quick fix.”
On another note, Susana Peñarrubia, Director of ESG and European Equity Portfolio Manager & Analyst at DWS Asset Management, provided a practical case study on CESGA for the participants.
Insights from the Markets Panel
Giordano Beani, Chief Investment Officer at Fideuram Asset Management Ireland, stated: “Despite all the challenges we are facing, the US equity market still leads global equity markets. A weaker US dollar and higher US bond yields should not prevent the US equity market from leading international equity markets.”
Thomas Stul, Head of Collective Portfolio Management at Belfius Asset Management, added: “Our conviction at Belfius Asset Management is that now is the time for Europe to deliver.”
Álvaro Cangas, Climate and Sustainability Practice Leader at Marsh, emphasized: “We are one step away from a 3-degree hot-house world. Different actors such as financial markets and corporates are already starting to take this into account and building resilience.”
The EFFAS Summer School also featured contributions from many renowned professionals, including:
Luca Moroni, CFO at A2A; Bernd Maurer, Head of Capital Markets at Flughafen Wien AG; Tanja Castor, Head of Sustainability Reporting and Controlling Committee at BASF; and Barbara Cohen, Senior Credit Analyst at AXA.
Other key contributors included Tanja Gihr, Former Head of Sustainable Banking Group EMEA at Barclays Investment Bank; Jörg Raabe, Managing Director at Aurel BGC; Anton Heese, Global Fixed Income Strategist & Portfolio Manager at Morgan Stanley; and Giordano Beani, Chief Investment Officer at Fideuram Asset Management Ireland.
Jeff Leung, Senior Sustainability Consultant of Global Sustainability at ING; Thomas Stul, ABAF Board Member and Head of Collective Portfolio Management at Belfius Asset Management; Álvaro Cangas, Climate and Sustainability Practice Leader at Marsh; and Thorsten Müller, EFFAS Executive Management Committee (EMC) Member, DVFA Chair, and Managing Partner at Lighthouse Corporate Finance GmbH, also participated.
The list was completed by Jan-Peter Hülbert, CEO at True Sale International GmbH; Rocchino Contangelo, Head of Buy-Side Research at Swisscanto; Isabelle Grauer Gaynor, Head of Corporate Finance and Reporting Unit at the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA); Sandor Misik, President of EFFAS Hungary; and Hans Buysse, EFRAG Board Member and EFFAS EMC Member.
About EFFAS
EFFAS is a Not-for-profit organisation set up in 1962 with 14 national member associations in Europe, representing more than 18,000 Financial analysts, Asset managers, pension fund managers, corporate finance specialists, risk managers, treasurers among many other professional profiles from the investment profession. EFFAS is a certification body for finance with over 27,000 certificate holders worldwide.
For further information, please contact:
Alvaro Wagener Diez | Marketing & Communications Manager | Email: a.wagener@effas.com
Phone Number: +49 69 98959519
