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Netspar Talent Grant Awarded to Anne Kellers

29 October 2026

The 2026 Netspar Talent Grant has been awarded to dr. Anne Kellers, assistant professor at the University of Groningen. She will investigate how pension funds can translate participants’ sustainability preferences into collective investment policies.

Kellers is affiliated with the Department of Global Economics and Management at the University of Groningen. She is also a researcher at the Wharton Impact, Value and Sustainable Business Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. She submitted a proposal titled “From Preferences to Portfolios: Eliciting and Implementing Sustainability Preferences in Collective Portfolios.”

“I am delighted to receive the Netspar Talent Grant!” says Kellers in response to the award. “What makes this opportunity particularly meaningful to me is the chance to increase the real-world impact of my research, which focuses on understanding how sustainability preferences can be reflected in investment decisions. I look forward to collaborating closely with pension providers and other partners through the network of Netspar, exchanging ideas and developing new approaches that can make a meaningful difference for pension participants.”

Promising researcher

The aim of the Netspar Talent Grant is to introduce promising junior or medior researchers into the Netspar network and pension practice. Following a recommendation by an independent selection committee, the Netspar Board awarded Kellers the €100,000 grant.

Mathijs van Dijk, scientific director of Netspar: “Anne Kellers is a promising researcher with a strong motivation to conduct academically innovative research that is directly relevant to Dutch pension practice. Her research proposal on measuring participants’ sustainability preferences and translating these heterogeneous preferences into a collective investment policy is innovative, well-thought-out, timely and of direct importance to pension administrators. We look forward to Anne’s contribution to the Netspar network!”

Netspar congratulates Anne Kellers on receiving the grant and thanks the other candidates for their research proposals. During the Netspar Pension Day 2026, we will mark the awarding of the grant in the presence of Kellers.