Connecting science and industry: ‘Researchers meet Innovators’ at TU Berlin (Part 1)

A PhD not only prepares for academic research, there are plenty of opportunities outside of academia to apply soft and hard skills learned during a graduate degree. To educate researchers at the start of their career about opportunities in entrepreneurship and how to transfer knowledge from science to business, the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) and Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) organised the event Researchers meet Innovators on 11–12 July 2019 at the TU incubator. Many graduate students and PhDs, from fields ranging from history and arts to computer science and biotech attended.

In this two-part blog series, we highlight two of the speakers: Markus Schuller and Ben Hartwig and ask them their thoughts about bridging research and innovation.

Markus Schuller: Science and Innovation at Panthera Solutions

Mag. Dr. Markus Schuller, MBA, MScFE is the founder and managing partner of Panthera Solutions (www.panthera.mc). As Investment Decision Architects, Panthera optimises the choice architecture of professional investors through applied behavioural finance methods. Empowering the decision makers towards comparative advantages in capital markets remains the ultimate goal. The Panthera intervention toolbox has proven to be equally effective and innovative.

As adjunct professor, Markus teaches courses like ‘Adaptive Risk Management’, ‘Investment Banking’ and ‘Asset Allocation for Practitioners’ at renowned Master of Finance programmes of the EDHEC Business School and the International University of Monaco. Markus publishes in top academic journals (i.e. Journal of Portfolio Management, 2018), writes articles for professional journals (i.e. CFA Institute, OECD Insights etc.) and holds keynotes at international investment conferences.

In short, as an investment banker, adjunct professor and author, Markus looks back at 18 rewarding years of trading, structuring, and managing standard and alternative investment products. Prior to founding Panthera Solutions, he worked in executive roles for a long/short equity hedge fund for which he developed the trading algorithm. Markus started his career working as an equity trader, derivatives trader and macro analyst for different banks.

• What do you do at Panthera Solutions?

Panthera Solutions is a Monaco-based applied behavioural finance specialist that optimises the investment decision architecture for professional investors. We embody the idea that market complexities can be mastered most effectively with empowered market participants that are supported by aligned teams and a robust choice architecture. This combination put in action transpires professional investment management into a crafted, skilful art.

Panthera´s proprietary decision-making intervention and application framework of Intuitive Behavioural Design (R) empowers our customers through (1) training, (2) coaching, (3) consulting and (4) Behaviour-Tech elements, tailored to the unique needs of each individual client towards making better investment decisions.

• What is the niche or need that you found in the market?

There is more talk than walk in behavioural finance. We empower professional investors in practically benefitting from behavioural insights to produce most evidence-based investment decisions.

• What do you think are the most important needs for researchers to move into business?

A career in academia became a social game with a reward system linked to star-ranked journal publications and its citations. This might distract from its original ‘universitas’ purpose as maybe the most elementary truth-seeking institution’ in our societies, through which to validate or falsify hypotheses. Researchers entering the business community should expect even stronger incentives for distraction. To maximise their impact to the business community through their methodological thinking process, researchers need to develop a robustness to withstand those distractions and to power through the games played inside the business community.

• Why do you think researchers should care about innovation?

Business and academia are seen as two different universes, with different incentive systems and societal purposes. I see them as different, but intertwined parts of our society that create an action-reflection loop to address the relevant topics of our times. Innovation is just the outcome this loop produces.

• What have you contributed at TU Berlin?

Intending to make the intangible value of better investment decisions more tangible for non-market professionals via a hands-on investment committee simulation.

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