Campus for Finance
Europe's leading student-organized finance conference series, uniting speakers, sponsors and participants since 2001.
Last updated September 26, 2026
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Overview
Campus for Finance is a student-organized finance conference brand based at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar, Germany. It is run by the registered association Campus for Finance e. V., which was founded in 2001 by students of WHU together with Markus Rudolf and the university's Foundation Chair of Finance. The association's stated purpose is to bring students closer to the finance industry, connect participants with companies and sponsors, and network firms within the financial sector. Its motto is to unite the world of finance. The brand's flagship event is the Campus for Finance – WHU New Year's Conference, held each January and drawing roughly 500 participants, making it the largest conference in the series. Since 2004 the association has also staged the Campus for Finance – WHU Private Equity Conference each spring, focusing on private equity, growth equity and venture capital. Both conferences follow a shared two-day format of keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops and networking events, bringing together students, academics, politicians, business leaders and media from around the world. Career fairs are held on the WHU campus during the conferences. The New Year's Conference addresses a topical theme in finance at the start of each year, with past themes ranging from "Old/New Economy – One Finance" in 2001 to "Navigating the Future: Strategies for a Changing Financial Landscape" in 2024 and "25 Years of Change: Adapting and Advancing in a Volatile World" in 2025. The event has evolved with circumstances: in 2014 it was held for the first time partly at the Rhein-Mosel-Halle in Koblenz as well as on campus; in 2021 it was held fully digitally because of COVID-19; and from the 2022 Private Equity Conference and 2023 New Year's Conference it returned fully to the WHU campus at the request of partner companies and sponsors, to enable more intensive exchange among participants. The 2025 edition took place on 15 and 16 January. Campus for Finance positions itself as Europe's leading student-organized finance conference, combining academic research and teaching with business practice and fostering cross-disciplinary exchange. Its speaker roster has included prominent figures such as mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. of Princeton University. The organization operates as a non-listed registered association rather than a commercial company, and its activities are concentrated in Germany and Europe.
History
Campus for Finance traces its origins to 2001, when students of WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, with the help of Markus Rudolf and the university's Foundation Chair of Finance, organized the first Campus for Finance – WHU New Year's Conference under the theme "Old/New Economy – One Finance". The association Campus for Finance e. V. was founded in the same year to organize and promote the student-run conferences at WHU in Vallendar. The aim of that first conference and the annual editions that followed was to connect research and teaching with business practice and to stimulate cross-disciplinary exchange. From 2004 the association added a second annual event, the Campus for Finance – WHU Private Equity Conference, held each spring at WHU and dedicated to topics around private equity and especially growth equity. Over the years the New Year's Conference grew into the largest event in the series, with roughly 500 participants each January, and it developed a tradition of addressing a current finance theme at the start of the new year. Past themes have included "Asset Management & Asset Pricing" (2002), "Rationality of Stock Markets & Empirical Finance" (2003), "Corporate Finance – How to Create Value?" (2004), "Options and Futures: How Derivatives Shape Corporate Risk Management" (2005), "Fixed Income – Lending, Borrowing and Taking Risk" (2006), "Future of Banking – Between Markets and Institutions" (2007), "New Horizons for Financial Markets – Investing in a Changing World" (2008), "Behavioral Finance – How to Account for Irrationality?" (2009), "Finance 2020 – Perspectives on Tomorrow's Markets" (2010), "Financial vs. Real Economy – Two Sides of the Same Coin?" (2011), "Sustainable Finance – How to benefit from global mega trends?!" (2012), "Financial Markets, Media & Politics: Who rules the world?" (2013), "Tomorrow's Financial Services – Breakdown or Revival?" (2014), "Cheap Money – Easy Borrowing, Tough Investing?" (2015), "Financing European Business – Where does the Future of Corporate and Institutional Funding lie" (2016), "Innovation in Finance – Shaping Tomorrow's Business Models" (2017), "Omnipresent Uncertainty – Chasing the Narrow Path Between Risk and Opportunity" (2018), "Next Generation Finance: The Landscape is Changing – Are You?" (2019), "Big Banks, Low Margins – What is the Future of Banking?" (2020), "Global Shocks – Can Financial Systems save the Real Economy?" (2021), "The Cleansing Effect of Crisis – A Change in Global Economy" (2022), "The Vicious Cycle of Economy – The Illusion of Control" (2023) and "Navigating the Future: Strategies for a Changing Financial Landscape" (2024). The Private Equity Conference likewise adopted annual themes, including "Corporate Finance – How to Create Value" (2004), "Options and Futures: How Derivatives Shape Corporate Risk Management" (2005), "Fixed Income – Lending, Borrowing and Taking Risk" (2006), "Future of Banking – Between Markets and Institutions" (2007), "New Horizons for Financial Markets – Investing in a Changing World" (2008), "Behavioral Finance – How to Account for Irrationality?" (2009), "Finance 2020 – Perspectives on Tomorrow's Markets" (2010), "Value Creation – Exploiting this Decade's Opportunities" (2011), "Private Equity 2.0 – Redefining the industry's chessboard" (2012), "Heading for new Shores – Crisis as a Chance" (2013), "Private Equity Growing Up – Value Creation Strategies in a Maturing Market" (2014), "Circling Around the same Targets", "The Changing Role of LPs" and "From Profitability to Growth" (2015), and "Performance Differentiation Through Operational Value Creation" and "Replacing Capital Markets Through Private Growth Investors?!" (2016). The conferences have adapted to changing circumstances. In 2014 the New Year's Conference was held for the first time not only on the WHU campus but also at the Rhein-Mosel-Halle in Koblenz. In 2021 the conference was held entirely digitally for the first time because of COVID-19. From the 2022 Private Equity Conference and the 2023 New Year's Conference, at the request of partner companies and sponsors, the event returned fully to the WHU campus to ensure more intensive exchange between participants. The 2025 New Year's Conference took place on 15 and 16 January under the theme "25 Years of Change: Adapting and Advancing in a Volatile World". Across its history the series has attracted prominent speakers, including mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. of Princeton University.
- 2024
New Year's Conference theme: "Navigating the Future: Strategies for a Changing Financial Landscape".
- 2023
New Year's Conference theme: "The Vicious Cycle of Economy – The Illusion of Control"; from the 2023 New Year's Conference the event was again held fully on the WHU campus at the request of partners and sponsors.
- 2022
New Year's Conference theme: "The Cleansing Effect of Crisis – A Change in Global Economy"; from the 2022 Private Equity Conference the events returned fully to the WHU campus.
- 2021
New Year's Conference held fully digitally for the first time due to COVID-19; theme: "Global Shocks – Can Financial Systems save the Real Economy?".
- 2020
New Year's Conference theme: "Big Banks, Low Margins – What is the Future of Banking?".
- 2019
New Year's Conference theme: "Next Generation Finance: The Landscape is Changing – Are You?".
- 2018
New Year's Conference theme: "Omnipresent Uncertainty – Chasing the Narrow Path Between Risk and Opportunity".
- 2017
New Year's Conference theme: "Innovation in Finance – Shaping Tomorrow's Business Models".
- 2016
New Year's Conference theme: "Financing European Business – Where does the Future of Corporate and Institutional Funding lie".
- 2015
New Year's Conference theme: "Cheap Money – Easy Borrowing, Tough Investing?".
Products and positioning
Europe's leading student-organized finance conference series, bridging academic research and business practice.
Campus for Finance – WHU New Year's Conference
Annual January conference, the largest in the series with roughly 500 participants, addressing a topical finance theme.
Campus for Finance – WHU Private Equity Conference
Annual spring conference focused on private equity, growth equity and venture capital.
Career fairs
Career fairs held on the WHU campus during the conferences.
Panel discussions and workshops
Two-day program of speeches, panel discussions, workshops and networking events.
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