Frankfurt School and WM Gruppe award the Philipp Sandner Memorial Award in Digital Finance Research

Judith Bohnenkamp, a PhD candidate at the University of Miami, examines in her award-winning paper “The Tech Aficionado: Household Finance in the Age of Digital Access”, how the adoption of financial technology such as banking apps influences household investment decisions. Her findings show that technology primarily helps financially literate individuals to overcome portfolio inefficiencies. At the same time, however, technology adoption leads to less prudence and shorter planning horizons—particularly among user groups with lower levels of financial literacy. 

Lorenzo Schönleber, Assistant Professor at Collegio Carlo Alberto in Turin, and his co-authors analyse in their paper “The Implied Impermanent Loss in Decentralised Liquidity Provision”, how the risk of so-called impermanent losses for liquidity providers on decentralised crypto exchanges can be quantified. The study documents the existence of an impermanent loss premium that captures the variance and correlation premia of the underlying tokens and increases with pool size. 

The international Philipp Sandner Memorial Award in Digital Finance Research, has been established in 2025 and is awarded annually. Is aimed at early-career researchers working on current technological developments in the financial industry. 

Judith Bohnenkamp commented: “I am very honoured to receive this award and would like to thank the jury for recognising my work. It shows that digital financial tools can help retail investors make better decisions. At the same time, it highlights that financial literacy remains crucial to ensure users can make meaningful use of digital offerings”. 

Professor Lorenzo Schönleber added: “I would like to thank the jury for this recognition. Our research examines a key risk faced by liquidity providers on decentralised crypto exchanges. We show that these risks can be systematically measured using option pricing methods—and that investors receive a corresponding risk premium”. 

Professor Co-Pierre Georg, Director of the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center and member of the award’s academic committee, said: “Banking and finance have become technology-driven industries. The two awarded papers combine current technological developments in the financial sector with rigorous academic analysis. They demonstrate how research can help us better understand new technologies and their impact on markets and investors”. 

Joachim Lauterbach, Chief Executive Officer of WM Gruppe and Co-Chair of the award jury, added: “Digital technologies are fundamentally transforming the financial industry. This ranges from the mechanisms of crypto markets to financial apps that influence retail investors’ investment behaviour. The award-winning papers demonstrate how scientific research can contribute to a thorough analysis and classification of these innovations. We are delighted to support this initiative”. 

Academic committee and jury of the Philipp Sandner Memorial Award 

The award is granted based on a two-stage selection process: an academic committee reviews the submitted papers and draws up a shortlist, from which a jury, made up of representatives from business, academia, and public administration selects the winner or winners. 

Academic Committee: 

Professor Andrea Barbon, Assistant Professor of Finance, University of St. Gallen 

Professor Jean-Edouard Colliard, Associate Professor of Finance, HEC Paris 

Professor Martina Fraschini, Assistant Professor in Digital Finance, Université du Luxembourg 

Professor Co-Pierre Georg, Professor of Practice in Digital Finance and Technology, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management 

Professor Alfred Lehar, Professor in Finance, University of Calgary 

Professor Jiasun Li, Associate Professor in Finance, George Mason University 

Professor Cyril Monnet, Professor of Economics, University of Bern 

Professor Maarten van Oordt, Professor of Money and Banking, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 

Professor Tarik Roukny, Associate Professor of Finance, KU Leuven 

Jury: 

Professor Nils Stieglitz (Co-Chair), President and CEO, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management 

Joachim Lauterbach (Co-Chair), CEO, WM Gruppe 

Souad Benkredda, Member of the Management Board, DZ BANK 

Dr Stephanie Eckermann, Member of the Executive Board, Deutsche Börse 

Thomas Vlassopoulos, Director General Market Infrastructure and Payments, ECB 

Professor Jens Weidmann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Commerzbank