Prof. Dr. Othmar M Lehner works in the field of sustainability accounting and impact investing. As professor for Accounting and Finance in London and Helsinki, with an additional background in social entrepreneurship, he uses his knowledge to drive forward the field through high-impact publications, keynotes at global industry events and through consulting the banking and investment industry on ESG investment portfolios and shareholder engagement strategies. Previously Prof. Lehner worked as professorial fellow at the University of Oxford from 2014-2019. During that time, he developed one of the first portfolio optimization models to include social and environmental risks and returns besides the traditional financial returns and has contributed to the revisions of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 on Crowdfunding. Before his academic career he was a risk manager in the banking industry for more than 10 years. He is also the author of the influential Routledge Handbook of Social and Sustainable Finance and a regular guest lecturer at Oxford and Cambridge. In 2018 he was nominated and a finalist for the best international management research award by the Academy of Management and won best paper for the Public and NonProfit Division.
His motto is: “Robust, interdisciplinary research for a positive societal impact”