Arturo Bris – Keynote Speaker

Professor Arturo Bris wears three different hats at IMD: His first hat is as Professor of Finance. His areas of expertise include international aspects of financial regulation, in particular the effects of bankruptcy, short sales, insider trading and merger laws. Arturo has also researched and lectured on the effects of the Euro on the corporate sector and the valuation impact of corporate governance changes. His work in these areas has been published in the most prestigious academic journals, including the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Legal Studies and the Journal of Business, among others. He is a frequent speaker at international conferences and very often consulted by international media.

His most recent project in this area resulted in the 2018 co-authored book Blockchange!: How to survive the crypto economy, which gives a clear overview of the world of blockchain, cryptocurrency and Bitcoin, as well as how blockchain can change our (economic) world for good.

Arturo Bris’ second mandate at IMD is as the Director of the World Competitiveness Center (WCC). For 30 years in 2019, the WCC has been ranking countries’ competitiveness on an annual basis. Under Arturo’s leadership, the WCC added to its annual output the IMD World Talent ranking and the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking. The WCC will also launch a Smart City ranking later this year, in partnership with Singapore University of Technology & Design (SUTD). A first output from this project is the 2019 co-authored book Sixteen Shades of Smart: How Cities can shape their own future, which examines how 16 cities manage a number of critical areas ranging from urban planning, sustainable energy, and transport strategies to social integration and talent attraction, to name a few.

In addition to leading the Center, Arturo also conducts research on the relationship between income inequality, social mobility and competitiveness. Recent projects include the 2019 co-authored book Flex or Fail: The Future of Work and Pay, which examines the economics of labour markets and competitiveness and addresses the issues of individuals who face significant change in their lives.

Arturo Bris’ third hat is that of award-winning teacher and program director. In addition to intervening regularly in IMD’s MBA and EMBA programs, Arturo directs the Strategic Finance program and several custom programs for organisations operating in various industries, with a particular interest in the financial sector.

Arturo Bris holds an MBA from CEMFI (Foundation of the Bank of Spain) and a PhD from INSEAD. He joined IMD in 2005, coming from the Yale School of Management where he was the Robert B & Candice J. Haas Associate Professor of Corporate Finance.

Arturo serves as a Member of the Strategic Committee of Debiopharm International SA, the international Advisory Council of Wealth Management Institute and the International Advisory Board of CENTRUM Graduate Business School. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the IMD Pension Fund Foundation, and serves or has served as a Member of the Supervisory Board of Kyiv International Economic Forum and the International School of Lausanne. As of 2019, he is also Academic Advisor of the Blue Whale Foundation, a decentralized ecosystem enabling the self-employed to thrive by capturing a fair share of the value they create.