Prof.Scholtens appointed to Investment Policy and Risk Management Committee of Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment

Prof. Bert Scholten has been appointed by Minister Donner to the Investment Policy and Risk Management Committee set up by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. Prof.Scholtens is Professor by special appointment of Sustainability and Financial Institutions at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen. The Investment Policy and Risk Management Committee aims to investigate whether pension funds followed responsible investment policies in recent years and how they made their return-risk evaluations.

The current crisis is the second in under ten years to put the pension system under severe strain. The committee will therefore focus specifically on analysing what caused developments in the composition of the investment portfolios of pension funds since the 1990s and on making recommendations in the fields of investment policy and risk management. The committee will report its recommendations to the Minister before 1 January 2010.

Curriculum Vitae

L.J.R. Scholtens (Loppersum, 1959) studied General Economics at the RUG. He gained his PhD at the Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) with a thesis entitled 'Towards a theory of international financial intermediation', while working as a policy official at the Postbank. After graduating he worked as University Lecturer (UD) in International Economics and as UD in Financial Institutions at the UvA. In 1999 he transferred to the RUG, where he became UD in Finance, Investment and Accounting. In 2001 he was appointed Senior Lecturer (UHD) in Sustainability and Financial Institutions and in 2005 he became Professor (endowed chair) of Sustainability and Financial Institutions.