Sebastien Betermier
PhD, Finance, University of California at Berkeley (Haas), USA
MSc, Finance, University of California at Berkeley (Haas), USA
AB, Economics, International Relations, University of California at Davis, USA
Sebastien Betermier is an Associate Professor of Finance at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University and the Executive Director of the International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM). His research focuses on risk and return, portfolio management and asset pricing, pension funds and retirement systems, household finance, and sustainable finance. His work appears in top finance journals and has been featured in the Economist, Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and Bloomberg among others. Professor Betermier teaches Applied Investments, and Pension Funds and Retirement Systems at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has been recognized repeatedly through nominations for teaching excellence which includes receiving the Desautels Distinguished Teaching Award in 2016 and 2020 and coaching the winning team of the PRMIA international risk management challenge in 2016, 2017, and 2019. He was named one of the World's Best 40 under 40 Business School Professors by Poets and Quants in 2017. He founded and serves as Advisory Board member of the Sustainable Growth Initiative at McGill, founded and serves as Faculty Director of the McGill International Portfolio Challenge (MIPC), and he is also a member of the Pension Administration Committee at McGill, the C.D. Howe Pension Policy Council, and the Research Policy Network on Household Finance at the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). He previously served as Head of the Finance Area at Desautels from 2020-2022 and Academic Consultant at the Bank of Canada from 2018-2022. Professor Betermier holds a PhD in Finance from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. He was born in France and grew up in Paris and San Francisco.
Selected Publications
"Investor factors" (2025) with Laurent Calvet, Samuli Knupfer, and Jens Kvaerner, Journal of Finance, Vol 80:5, 2789-2830
"Direct value creation and capture in the Canadian pension fund industry: Five examples" (2025) with Eduard Van Gelderen and Barbara Zvan, Journal of Alternative Investments, Vol 27:3, 8-19 (lead article)
"Mutual fund proliferation and entry deterrence" (2023) with David Schumacher and Ali Shahrad, Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Vol 13:4, 784-829
"Green urban development: The impact investment strategy of Canadian pension funds" (2021) with Alexander D. Beath, Maaike van Bragt, Yuedan Liu, and Quentin Spehner, Journal of Sustainable Real Estate, Vol. 14:1, 75-94
"The Canadian pension fund model: A quantitative portrait" (2021) with Alexander D. Beath, Chris Flynn, and Quentin Spehner, Journal of Portfolio Management, Vol. 47:1, 159-177
"Who are the value and growth investors?" (2017) with Laurent Calvet and Paolo Sodini, Journal of Finance, Vol. 72: 1, 5-46 (lead article)
"Hedging labor income risk" (2012) with Thomas Jansson, Christine Parlour, and Johan Walden, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 105: 3, 622-639.
Awards
2023 - Dean's Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Media and Public Engagement
2021 - Morgan Stanley Best Paper Award in Investments
2021 - Best Paper Award in Asset Pricing and Market Microstructure - NFA
2020 - Prof. Morty Yalovsky Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate Programs
2017 - World's Best 40 Under 40 Business School Professors, Poets and Quants
2016 - Distinguished Teaching Award for Undergraduate Programs
2015 - CFR Best Paper Award, 14th Colloquium on Financial Markets
Grants
2024 - Global Risk Institute Research Award ($7,500)
2023 - SSHRC Insight Grant ($66,500)
2021 - National Pension Hub Research Award ($22,922)
2020 - SSHRC Insight Grant ($68,000)
2018 - National Pension Hub Research Award ($70,000)
2015 - FQRSC New Researcher Grant ($50,292)
2012 - SSHRC Insight Grant ($132,580)
