Welcome to CAFIN!
The Center for Analytical Finance (CAFIN) is a group of researchers whose aim is to solve real-world problems of finance in a globalized financial system. We seek to:
- Push the frontiers of financial knowledge
- Demystify financial markets and practitioners
- Teach modern finance in broader context to empower consumers in financial decision-making
- Show how to level the playing field, improving access to financial markets and services
- Identify problems in financial markets and how to fix them
- Bring experts from outside finance to provide context and unique skills
Financial Literacy Initiative
The Center for Analytical Finance (CAFIN), in association with Professor Patricia Kelly, is advancing financial literacy through Cowell 52: Personal Finance and Investing, a popular 5-unit UC course that enrolls over 1,500 cross-campus students each year. Covering essentials like budgeting, credit, and investing, the class equips students with real-world financial tools.
CAFIN’s new initiative builds on this course to study its long-term impacts and expand collaborations across the UC system, preparing students for stronger financial decision-making and career success. Learn More at the Link Below:
Research Bulletins
- Structured Finance to Fund Climate SolutionsClimate change is already affecting our everyday lives, and mitigation and adaptation actions need to be taken now. Many technical advances have been made in climate solutions, but their implementation and scaling up need funding. Private financial institutions are still underrepresented among climate solution investors—what structured financial instruments and public-private partnerships will help incentivize the… Read more: Structured Finance to Fund Climate Solutions
- Financial market solutions for funding green transition and climate resilienceClimate change is already affecting our everyday lives and mitigation and adaptation actions need to be taken now. Many technical advances have been made in climate solutions, but their implementation needs funding. On May 3, 2024, CAFIN, held a workshop that focused on the question of how we can bring more private sector funds into… Read more: Financial market solutions for funding green transition and climate resilience
- What’s Needed to Attract Private Finance of Climate Solutions?Issue 6. 06/22/2023 The Center for Analytical Finance (CAFIN), The Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) at UC Santa Cruz (UCSC), U.C. Investments, Centre for Economic Policy (CEP), and Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business jointly hosted the “Catalyzing Private Financial Markets for Climate Solutions” workshop on June 9th, 2023 at Santa Clara University’s… Read more: What’s Needed to Attract Private Finance of Climate Solutions?
Featured Research
Working Paper No. 2411: Industrial Composition of Syndicated Loans and Banks’ Climate Commitments
Authors: Galina Hale, Fernanda Nechio, Brigid Meisenbacher
About: Curious how green commitments from banks really stack up? This research paper reveals that while there has been an overall decline in loan-emission exposures, there is no significant difference between banks that flaunt their sustainability and those that do not—save those who adopted the Principles of Responsible Investments early on.
Link: Download Here
Working Paper No. 2403: A Preliminary Assessment of the Economic Effects of Energy and Climate in Chile
Authors: Mario González, Felipe Beltrán, Luigi Durand, Javier Moreno
About: This paper provides a crucial look into how the Central Bank of Chile has adapted its practices to account for and better understand climate change. To deal with the forecasted medium to strong impacts of climate change across the country, the bank has begun to georeference assets and develop new ways to estimate the uncertainty of significant climactic events among other exercises.
Link: Download Here
News & Events
- The Future of Finance 2025Blockchain, Stablecoins, and the Next Wave of Financial Innovation October 16, 2025 Hosted by: Lam-Larsen FinTech Initiative, San Francisco State University (Director Todd Feldman) and CAFIN, UC Santa Cruz (Co-Directors Nirvikar Singh and Galina Hale) Speakers: Chris Larsen (Ripple), June Ou (Figure Technologies) Moderator: Sameet Mehta (Granite Hill Capital) (June Ou is a member and Sameet Mehta is the chair, of the CAFIN Advisory Board)… Read more: The Future of Finance 2025
- Structured Finance to Fund Climate SolutionsClimate change is already affecting our everyday lives, and mitigation and adaptation actions need to be taken now. Many technical advances have been made in climate solutions, but their implementation and scaling up need funding. Private financial institutions are still underrepresented among climate solution investors—what structured financial instruments and public-private partnerships will help incentivize the mainstream financial institutions to seek profitable investment opportunities in climate… Read more: Structured Finance to Fund Climate Solutions
- CAFIN News November 2024November 29, 2024 The European Stability Mechanism (ESM), University of Luxembourg, and Banque centrale du Luxembourg recently hosted CEBRA’s International Finance and Macroeconomics (IFM) program annual meeting. This prestigious conference was co-organized by an esteemed panel including Galina Hale from UC Santa Cruz. On November 21-22, 2024, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the University of Luxembourg, and the Banque centrale du Luxembourg hosted CEBRA’s International… Read more: CAFIN News November 2024
