Trained as a financial econometrician, I believe that financial markets, evidence-based research, and innovative ideas are keys to overcoming our world’s challenges. In my work I applied econometrics and machine learning to various datasets, ranging from financial Bloomberg data to geospatial satellite data. I'm passionate about getting the key insights across with visualizations that tell a story.

I've collaborated with international organizations, central banks, global tech companies, major reinsurances, leading investment banks and even a space agency. I have held visiting positions at Columbia Business School, SOAS University of London, and the Dutch Central Bank. I'm currently a honorary research associate at the University of Oxford.

I first joined the Bank in 2018 and consulted various units and departments, such as the Long-Term Finance team, under Finance, Competitiveness and Investment, Fragility, Conflict and Violence, Macroeonomics, Trade and Investment, Development Economics. You can read about my work on World Bank blogs. I have led the development of the new Sovereign ESG Data Portal and the FAB dashboard.

Sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) are promising complements to labeled bonds, such as green bonds or social bonds. At the end of the day, issuers want to be sure that their efforts are adequately rewarded, and investors want to know that they are having a real impact. Otherwise, SLBs will face the same questions about greenwashing and additionality. A KPI based on a transparent, scientific model addresses these concerns by construction.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing have influenced the allocation of billions of dollars. The ESG scores, however, are not a one-fit-all solution for sustainability, especially on the country level. As part of the long-term finance team, I look at the ESG scores and use statistical methods to examine how they relate to national income, natural wealth or credit ratings.

As a modeling consultant for the Fragility, Conflict and Violence unit, I collaborated with leading insurance companies and global tech companies on the Famine Action Mechanism. In this project, I developed a stochastic model to understand and predict the population dynamics in food insecurity. See here (World Bank) and here (Washington Post) for press coverage of our project.

During my doctoral studies and visiting researcher position at the Dutch Central Bank, I focused on financial stability and the pricing of systemic risk. I developed a dynamic network effects model to price and predict contagion risk among the Eurozone’s 25 largest banks, providing a novel tool for systemic risk assessment that informed board-level decisions.