Emanuel Renkl
Emanuel is a PhD student at the Technical University of Munich focusing on digital household finance. His research seeks to understand how fintechs can measure and increase the financial health of their customers.
Team
We are a passionate team of academics and practitioners dedicated to improving Financial Health across Europe.
Leadership
Moritz Nardini
Moritz is a PhD student at the Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität München focusing on behavioral household finance. He investigates how fintechs can help their customers to overcome biases in financial decisions.
Andreas Wittmann
Andreas is a PhD student at the Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität München. His research addresses the intersection of finance and social inequality and seeks to understand the social impact of financial health.
Advisors
Dr. Johanna Dichtl
Dr. Johanna Dichtl supports banks in implementing the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) at UNEP FI. With a PhD in Sustainable Finance and experience as a CSR manager at a cooperative bank, she brings deep expertise in ESG integration and sustainability management in banking and insurance. Her institutional background and work with major financial institutions help the initiative bridge research and practice in the financial sector.
Prof. Dr. Tim Kaiser
Prof. Dr. Tim Kaiser is Professor of Economics at the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU), specializing in financial literacy and education. His landmark research with Annamaria Lusardi, published in the Journal of Financial Economics, demonstrated that financial education significantly affects financial knowledge and downstream behaviors. Affiliated with the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, IZA, and CESifo, Tim helps the initiative build its academic ecosystem and advance insights through rigorous, high-impact publications.
Nick Mulder
Nick Mulder is the founder and CEO of Hypofriend and Pensionfriend, fintech companies that have helped over 25,000 customers and facilitated more than 2 billion euros in mortgage volume. With his entrepreneurial background spanning product management at Zalando, Ada Health, and 8fit, Nick brings a founder mindset and deep expertise in building consumer-facing financial products. His B2C perspective helps the initiative translate research into practical tools that improve financial health for individuals.
Members
Thilo Reintjes
Thilo studied Information Systems at the Technical University of Munich and worked as a Data Scientist. He co-founded a FinTech start-up building innovative payment solutions for the hospitality industry.
Caro Ellmauer
Caro holds a bachelor degree in Architecture and studies Economics at the Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität München. In her research she sheds light on wealth inequalities and gender roles in the economy.
Lena Jofer
Lena works as a Talent Acquisition Specialist for a leading international consultancy firm. She holds a M.Sc. in Business Administration with a focus on Marketing and Corporate Communications.
Felix T.J. Dietrich
Felix is a doctoral candidate at the Technical University of Munich at the Applied Education Technologies research group, focused on software engineering education.
Lars Weber
Lars works on private and corporate taxation in fintechs. He wants to make taxation and finance knowledge comprehensible to increase the financial health of everyone.
Tobias Aschauer
Tobias works as Manager for a leading international consultancy firm. He holds a double degree in Big Data & Business Analytics and Business Consulting & Digital Management.
Benjamin Schliebener
With his social media channel "InvestierenmitBen", Benjamin inspires more than 100,000 people with short videos on financial topics. He is a content creator and advises banks in the implementation of financial education formats.
Stephan Schulz
Stephan is a Senior Strategy Lead within the COO Area at one of Germany's fastest-growing fintech companies. His educational background includes a Master's degree in Organisational and Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Eva Reuthlinger
Eva is a PhD student at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, focusing on ecological and social sustainability in the financial sector. Her research interests include impact investing and the role of finance in promoting sustainable development.
Simon Hochstraßer
Simon is a PhD student at the Technical University of Munich focusing on financial literacy and personal finance. His previous research explored the influence of social media and Finfluencer on equity culture in Germany.
Julian Nalenz
Julian is co-founder and CTO of the FinTech company Divizend. As a systems artist, at "henophilia.art" he also explores how reimagined digital, economic, and political systems can foster human growth and collective well-being.
Lisa Fütterer
Lisa is a PhD student in Psychology at Psychologische Hochschule Berlin. She is researching the psychological foundations of financial health and the mechanisms that support it. She's passionate about empowering others to integrate emotional awareness into financial decision-making.
Hayden Mueller
Hayden is a doctoral student at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. His research investigates information seeking behaviors in personal finance decisions, especially in regard to online shopping scams.
Lisa Bartmann
Lisa is a master's student at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. She is studying business administration with a focus on finance and works as a student assistant at the LMU's FinTech Institute.
Simon Schöbel
Simon is a financial influencer with over 450,000 followers and several million monthly video views. He is a speaker, author, and advises FinTechs on all aspects of financial communication.