Klaus Grobys

Biography in brief:

Klaus Grobys holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Vaasa, where he currently serves as Associate Professor of Finance. In recognition of his academic contributions, he has been awarded two Titles of Docent (Econ.): one in Asset Pricing by the University of Jyväskylä, and a second in Applied Econometrics by the University of Oulu—one of Finland's largest universities and ranked among the top 3% globally (QS World University Rankings). His demonstration lecture at the University of Oulu was graded as excellent (5/5), reflecting the strong academic and intellectual merit of his candidacy.

Notably, Grobys is the only senior researcher at the University of Vaasa to have been granted two docentships—a distinction that reflects a uniquely high level of academic qualification within the institution.

At the University of Vaasa, he also became the first senior researcher to supervise a doctoral student under a co-tutelle agreement in collaboration with the University of Turin, marking another important institutional milestone.

For the academic summer term of 2025, Grobys has been appointed Guest Professor at the Christian-Albrechts University (CAU) of Kiel, Germany, where he holds full responsibility for both teaching and research in the Department of Monetary Economics and International Finance.

In addition to his academic achievements, Grobys brings several years of experience from the financial industry. As a Risk Analyst at Klarna AB, he led various projects related to merchant credit risk control.

His research is published in prestigious international finance journals, with approximately 75% of his scientific output appearing in A-ranked outlets. His work has received widespread media attention, having been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, AlphaArchitect, and Cointelegraph, among others.

Academic Awards:

Honourable Mention for an Innovative Initiative in Teaching (University of Vaasa, January 2022)

Honourable Mention in Science Communication (University of Vaasa, February 2021)

Research Interests:

Fintech, Cryptocurrency, Asset Pricing

Academic Positions:

Associate Professor of Finance (tenure-track), School of Accounting & Finance (University of Vaasa)

Associate Professor of Finance (tenure-track), Innovation & Entrepeneurship (InnoLab) (University of Vaasa)

Full Professor of Financial Economics, Institute of Economics, Christian-Albrechts University zu Kiel, Germany (04/2025 -- 07/2025)

Docent (Econ.) in Applied Econometrics, University of Oulu.

Docent (Econ.) in Asset Pricing, University of Jyväskyla.

Teachings:

Theoretical Perspectives on Open and User Innovation (Bachelor-level course at InnoLab, University of Vaasa)

Digital Finance and Blockchain-based Payment Solutions (Master-level course at the University of Vaasa)

Empirical Analysis in Asset Pricing (Master-level course at the University of Jyväskyla) 

Quantitative Financial Data Analysis in Matlab (Master-level course at the University of Vaasa)

Research in Financial Markets (Master-level course at the University of Vaasa)

Data Analytics in Applied Research (Doctoral-level course at the University of Vaasa)

Finance Channel on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX6MEXedXC84ELYaAXUOm1w/featured

Books

"Rationality: The Antidote To Being Fooled By The Industry".

(ISBN-13: 9789528066743)

About this book: Inspired by Nassim N. Taleb's works The Black Swan, Antifragile, and Skin in the Game, Klaus Grobys explores how rationality and irrationality are manifested in human behavior across various domains of human life. The stories discussed in this book are based on real-life observations. This work deals with political incorrectness, the presence of concentration in virtually all domains of human life, the carelessness of industries manifested in profit-maximizing at the expense of simple folks, and various other issues that many authors typically avoid. The objective of this book is first to acquaint the reader with a new perspective concerning the concept of rationality and second to equip the reader to identify traps set up by profit-maximizing industries and self-serving lobbies.

(A free sample of the book is available here.)

Scientific Research

Refereed Publications:

Low risk anomalies: Evidence from the Nordic equity markets (with E. Hartikainen, J. Äijö), Applied Economics, 2025, forthcoming.

Is gold in the process of a bubble formation? New evidence from the ex-post global financial crisis period (single-authored), Research in International Business and Finance, 2025, 75, 102727.

Cryptocurrency momentum has (not) its moments (with D. Sandretto, A. J. H. Shahzad, J. W. Kolari, J. Äijö), Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, 2025, forthcoming.

A common component of Fama and French factor variances (with M. Fathi and J. Äijö), North American Journal of Economics and Finance, 2025, (75)A, 102292.

A universal exponent governing foreign exchange rate risks (single-authored), International Review of Financial Analysis, 2024 (95), 103422.

Science or Scientism? On the Momentum Illusion (single-authored), Annals of Finance, 2024, (20), 479-519.

Combining Low-Volatility and Momentum: Recent Evidence from the Nordic Equities (with V. Fatmy and T. Rajalin), Applied Economics, 2024, forthcoming.

On co-dependent power-law behavior across cryptocurrencies (single-authored), Finance Research Letters, 2024 (63), 105295.

No reward -- no effort: Will Bitcoin collapse near to the year 2140? (single-authored), Finance Research Letters, 2024 (63), 105294.

On the Realized Risk of Foreign Exchange Rates: A Fractal Perspective (with M. Fathi and J.W. Kolari), Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2024 (17), 79.

A finite-time singularity in the dynamics of the US equity market: Will the US equity market eventually collapse? (single-authored), International Review of Financial Analysis, 2023 (89), 102787.

A Fractal and Comparative View of the Memory of Bitcoin and S&P 500 Returns (single-authored), Research in International Business and Finance, 2023, (66), 102021.

A Multifractal Model of Asset (In)Variances (single-authored), Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 2023 (85), 101767.

Correlation versus co-fractality: evidence from foreign exchange rate variances (single-authored), International Review of Financial Analysis, 2023 (86), 102531.

Fear sells: On the sentiment deceptions and fundraising success of Initial Coin Offerings (with N. Sapkota), Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 2023 (83), 101716.

Better Not Forget: On the Memory of S&P 500 Survivor Stock Companies (with Y. Han and J. Kolari), Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2023 (16), 126.

A Fractal View on Losses Attributable to Scams in the Market for Initial Coin Offerings (with T. King and N. Sapkota), Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2022 (15), 579.

What's the expected loss when Bitcoin is under cyberattack? A fractal process analysis (with J. Kolari, N. Sapkota and J. Dufitinema), Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 2022 (77), 101534

On Survivor Stocks in the S&P 500 Stock Index (single-authored), Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2022 (15), 95.

Man versus Machine: Artificial Intelligence and Hedge Funds Performance (with J. Niang and J. Kolari), Applied Economics, 2022 (54), 4632-4646.

When Tether says "JUMP!" Bitcoin asks "How low"? (with T. Duc Huynh), Finance Research Letters, 2022 (47)A, 102644.

Choosing Factors: The International Evidence (with J. Kolari), Applied Economics, 2022 (54), 633-647.

Factor Momentum, Investor Sentiment, and Option-Implied Volatility-Scaling (with J. Rutanen and J.W. Kolari), Journal of Asset Management, 2022 (23), 138-155.

What do we know about the second moment of financial markets? (single-authored) International Review of Financial Analysis, 2021 (78), 101891.

On the Stability of Stablecoins (with J. Kolari, J.-P. Junttila and N. Sapkota), Journal of Empirical Finance, 2021 (64), 207-223.

Asset Market Equilibria in Cryptocurrency Markets: Evidence from a Study of Privacy and Non-Privacy Coins (with N. Sapkota), Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 2021 (74), 101402.

Speculation and Lottery-Like Demand in Cryptocurrency Markets (with J.-P. Junttila), Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 2021 (71), 101289.

When the blockchain does not block: On hackings and uncertainty in the cryptocurrency market (single-authored), Quantitative Finance, 2021, (21), 1267-1279.

Blockchain Consensus Protocols, Energy Consumption, and Cryptocurrency Prices (with N. Sapkota), Journal of Energy Markets, 2020 (13), 117-139.

Is Smart Beta Investing Profitable? Evidence from the Nordic Stock Market (with V.-P. Silvasti and J. Äijö), Applied Economics, 2020 (53), 1826-1839.

When Bitcoin has the flu: On Bitcoin's performance to hedge equity risk in the early wake of the COVID-19 outbreak (single-authored), Applied Economics Letters, 2020 (28), 860-865.

Predicting Cryptocurrency Defaults (with N. Sapkota), Applied Economics, 2020 (52), 5060-5076.

Another Look at Value and Momentum: Volatility Spillovers (with S. Vähämaa), Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting 2020 (55), 1459-1479.

Profitability of Technical Trading Rules among Cryptocurrencies with Privacy Function (with S. Ahmed and N. Sapkota), Finance Research Letters, 2020 (35), 101495.

Technical Trading Rules in the Cryptocurrency Market (with S. Ahmed and N. Sapkota), Finance Research Letters, 2020 (32), 101396.

On Industry Momentum Strategies (with J.W. Kolari), Journal of Financial Research, 2020 (43), 95-119.

Cryptocurrencies and Momentum (with N. Sapkota), Economics Letters, 2019 (180), 6-10.

Combining value and momentum: Evidence from the Nordic equity market (with T. Huhta-Halkola), Applied Economics, 2019 (51), 2872-2884.

Risk-managed 52-week high industry momentum, momentum crashes, and hedging macroeconomic risk (single-authored), Quantitative Finance, 2018 (18), 1233-1247.

Return Dispersion Risk in FX and Global Equity Markets: Does It Explain Currency Momentum? (with J.-P. Heinonen and J. Kolari), International Review of Financial Analysis, 2018 (56), 264-280.

Risk-managed industry momentum and momentum crashes (with J. Ruotsalainen and J. Äijö), Quantitative Finance, 2018 (18), 1715-1733.

Option-implied volatility spillover indices for FX risk factors (with J.-P. Heinonen), Economics Letters, 2017 (157), 83-87.

Are momentum crashes pervasive regardless of strategy? Evidence from the foreign exchange market (with J. Haga), Applied Economics Letters, 2017 (24), 1499-1503.

Does option-implied cross-sectional return dispersion forecast realized cross-sectional return dispersion? Evidence from the G10 currencies (with J.-P. Heinonen), Journal of Futures Markets, 2017 (37), 3-22.

Momentum crash, credit risk and optionality effects in bear markets and crisis periods: Evidence from the US stock market (single-authored), Applied Economics Letters, 2016 (24),387-391.

Is there a credit risk anomaly in FX markets? (with J.-P. Heinonen), Finance Research Letters, 2016 (18), 1-6.

Identifying portfolio-based systematic risk factors in equity markets (with J. Haga), Finance Research Letters, 2016 (17), 79-87.

Another look at momentum crashes: Momentum in the European Monetary Union (single-authored), Applied Economics, 2016 (48), 1759-1766.

Is the asset growth anomaly driven by macroeconomic states? Applied Economics Letters (single-authored), 2016 (23), 576-579.

The market price of credit risk and economic states (with J. Haga), Empirical Economics, 2016 (50), 1111-1134.

Are volatility spillovers between currency and equity market driven by economic states? Evidence from the US economy (single-authored), Economics Letters, 2015 (127), 72-75.

Momentum in global equity markets in times of troubles: Does the economic state matter? (single-authored) Economics Letters, 2014 (123), 100-103.

Idiosyncratic volatility and global equity markets (single-authored), Applied Economics Letters, 2014 (22), 402-405.

Size distortions of the wild bootstrapped HCCME based LM test for serial correlation in the presence of asymmetric conditional heteroskedasticity (single-authored), Empirical Economics, 2015 (48), 1189-1202.

Momentum, sovereign credit ratings, and global equity markets, Applied Economics Letters (single-authored), 2014 (21), 1288-1292.

An empirical analysis of changes of the impact of federal budget deficits on stock market returns (single-authored), Applied Economics Letters, 2013 (20), 921-924.

 

Recent Media Coverage of Research & Expert Tasks:

FORBES: "How Much Should Finance Industry Leaders Trust Academic Research?"

ILKKA POHJALAINEN (Finnish): "Vaasalainen kryptovaluuttojen tutkija lataa tiskiin faktoja piensijoittajiakin houkuttelevasta ilmiöstä – ja antaa neuvon, jota Teslakin on saattanut noudattaa"

HELSINGIN SANOMAT (Finnish): "Bitcoinin arvo on noussut räjähdysmäisesti, tuoreen tutkimuksen mukaan arvonnousu muistuttaa arpapeliä"

ILTA SANOMAT (Finnish): "Suomalaistutkimus: kryptovaluuttakauppa pitkälti arpapeliä, riskit huomattavan suuret"

THE NEW YORK TIMES: "New York Times Research of the Week."

Expert Take for Cointelegraph: "The Impact of Bitcoin Hacking Incidents on the Crypto Market."

VAASA INSIDER: "Podcast: After class med Jesper och Dennis: The Bitcoin Paradox."

Expert Take for Cointelegraph: "Did you fall for it? 13 ICO scams that fooled thousands."

Afterclass med Jesper & Dennis at Hanken School of Economics: "The Bitcoin Paradox."

MINING.COM: "How to detect unreliable cryptocurrencies."

EINPRESSWIRE.COM: "Study proposes a model to predict cryptocurrency defaults."

MORNINGPICKER.COM: "Is It Profitable To Do Technical Trading In Cryptocurrency? Know the Pros and Cons."

HACKERNOON.COM: "Can We Call Bitcoin a Safe Haven Asset?"

COINTELEGRAPH: "Is Technical Trading in Cryptocurrency Markets Profitable?"

COINTELEGRAPH: "Bitcoin's Hedging Performance in the Wake of the Coronavirus Outbreak."

VAASA INSIDER: "Vasa universitets Klaus Grobys: Kryptovalutor är en del av en ny digital finansmarknad med nya möjligheter och nya risker."

COINBET.COM: "What happened to all those failed cryptocurrencies?"

ALPHAARCHITECT.COM: "International Evidence on Factor Premiums."

FORBES: "How To Tell If Your Cryptocurrency Will Go Bust?"

VAASA INSIDER: "Forbes lyfter upp Vasa universitets forskning om kryptovaluta."

BITCOINBULLETIN.COM: "Finnish Study Reveals Trends Amongst Failed Cryptocurrencies."

ASGARDIA: "Will Cryptocurrencies Ever Come to Naught?"

CURRENCY ANALYTICS: "Italy is relaxing its Ban and Coming down Easy on Cryptocurrencies."

PROFESSIONAL BUYER CITY WIRE: "A new ETF will add live data to the long-running debate on whether it's possible to time factors."

ETF.COM: "When Risk Goes Unrewarded."

DOPKINS WEALTH MANAGEMENT: "Explaining The Currency Carry Premium."

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