Research

Publications

Management Quality and Carbon Performance of energy companies: September 2020 Update
Joint with Simon Dietz, Alexa Beaucamp, Dan Gardiner, Nikolaus Hastreiter, Valentin Jahn, Michal Nachmany, Saskia Straub, Rory Sullivan and Dongmiao Zhang
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2020
Selected coverage: Bloomberg, FT

Carbon Performance assessment in the diversified mining sector: note on methodology
Joint with Simon Dietz, Annabel Farr, Dan Gardiner and Valentin Jahn
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2020

Carbon Performance assessment of oil & gas producers: note on methodology
Joint with Simon Dietz, Dan Gardiner and Valentin Jahn
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2020

Carbon Performance assessment of electricity utilities: note on methodology
Joint with Simon Dietz, Dan Gardiner, William Irwin, Valentin Jahn and Bruno Rauis
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2020

Carbon Performance of European integrated oil and gas companies: briefing paper
Joint with Simon Dietz, Dan Gardiner and Valentin Jahn
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2020
Selected coverage: Bloomberg, BBC, The Times, Reuters, NRC

Carbon Performance assessment in the diversified mining sector: discussion paper
Joint with Simon Dietz, Annabel Farr, Dan Gardiner and Valentin Jahn
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2020

TPI State of Transition Report 2020
Joint with Simon Dietz, Rhoda Byrne, Dan Gardiner, Glen Gostlow, Valentin Jahn, Michal Nachmany and Rory Sullivan
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2020
Selected coverage: The Economist

Management Quality and Carbon Performance of industrials and materials companies
Joint with Simon Dietz, Glen Gostlow, Valentin Jahn, Michal Nachmany and Rory Sullivan
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2020
Selected coverage: FT, Aljazeera, BusinessGreen, Independent

Carbon Performance assessment of paper producers: note on methodology
Joint with Simon Dietz, William Irwin, Bruno Rauis, Valentin Jahn
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2020

Management Quality and Carbon Performance of transport companies: December 2019
Joint with Simon Dietz, Rhoda Byrne, Valentin Jahn, Michal Nachmany and Rory Sullivan
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2019

A survey of the net zero positions of the world’s largest energy companies
Joint with Simon Dietz, Valentin Jahn, Rupert Stuart-Smith and Cameron Hepburn
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2019
Selected coverage: Axios, Business Green

Management Quality and Carbon Performance of energy companies: September 2019
Joint with Simon Dietz, Dan Gardiner, Glen Gostlow, Valentin Jahn, Michal Nachmany and Rory Sullivan
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2019
Selected coverage: Reuters, Carbon Brief, Business Green, FT, AP

Carbon Performance assessment of oil & gas producers: note on methodology
Joint with Simon Dietz, Dan Gardiner and Valentin Jahn
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2019

TPI methodology and indicators report: Version 3.0
Joint with Simon Dietz, Valentin Jahn, Michal Nachmany and Rory Sullivan
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2019

TPI State of Transition Report 2019
Joint with Simon Dietz, Rhoda Byrne, Dan Gardiner, Valentin Jahn, Michal Nachmany and Rory Sullivan
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2019
Selected coverage: The Guardian, Reuters, CNBC, The Japan Times, AP

Management Quality and Carbon Performance of airlines: March 2019
Joint with Simon Dietz, Rhoda Byrne, Valentin Jahn, Michal Nachmany and Rory Sullivan
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2019
Selected coverage: BBC, CNN, Independent, Business Green, The Straits Times, Radio Taiwan International, The Peninsula, Sharenet, Handelsblatt, Nasdaq, YNA

Management Quality and Carbon Performance of aluminium producers
Joint with Simon Dietz, Valentin Jahn, Michal Nachmany and Rory Sullivan
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2019

Carbon Performance assessment of aluminium producers: note on methodology
Joint with Simon Dietz and Valentin Jahn
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2019

Management Quality and Carbon Performance of paper producers: November 2018 update
Joint with Simon Dietz, Margarita Grabert, Valentin Jahn, Michal Nachmany, Rory Sullivan, Patricia Yagüe
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2018

Carbon Performance assessment of paper producers: note on methodology
Joint with Simon Dietz, William Irwin, Bruno Rauis and Valentin Jahn
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2018

Management Quality and Carbon Performance of automobile manufacturers: November 2018 update
Joint with Simon Dietz, Valentin Jahn and Michal Nachmany
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2018

Carbon Performance assessment of automobile manufacturers: note on methodology
Joint with Simon Dietz, William Irwin, Bruno Rauis and Valentin Jahn
Transition Pathway Initiative, 2018

Master Dissertations

Temperature, Air Pollution and Urban Development (2018)
I study the effects of air pollution on local temperature in Chinese cities using NASA satellite data. An indirect effect of air pollution through the urban heat island effect (UHI) is studied through a novel estimation technique of the UHI. I also show that air pollution’s effect has been impacted by Chinese anti-pollution policies. Finally, I show that air pollution has a stronger effect on urban areas than rural areas (holding all else equal).

The current state of robo-advice: the financial model behind the hype (2017)
Robo-advice, which is essentially automated financial advice, is a new field that is rapidly growing. Only a limited amount of research has been conducted with regard to how robo-advisors work. Moreover, there is not yet a consensus about the definition of the term ‘robo-advisor’. This master thesis aims to start filling in that gap. Cross-sectional data was collected from 30 different robo-advisors in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands. The results show some significant differences between the literature, the SEC’s guidance framework and the real world robo-advisors. More particularly, robo-advisors claim to follow academic and especially Nobel-price winning research for their underlying algorithms. However, our research shows that they have become more sales tools for ETFs than real personalized, algorithm assisted, sophisticated portfolio management tools. It is unclear whether the model that is at the heart of the large majority of robo-advisors, MPT, is correctly used and extended to complement for the known potential flaws. Also, the use of ETFs raises questions about potential risks in the future. Finally, although robo-advisors lean on the merits of passive investment management, their total cost structure in the sample is more comparable to active asset management.”