Financial Literacy and Behavioral Finance
Mechanisms, Contexts, and Emerging Technologies
Date: November 6, 2026
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Location: Schreiber Center, Loyola's Quinlan School of Business
Individual financial decision-making plays a critical role in economic security, financial resilience, and social inclusion within an increasingly complex global economy. The Financial Literacy and Behavioral Finance Conference explores how cultural and social influences, behavioral biases, emotions, risk tolerance, and emerging technologies shape financial behavior and outcomes.
In collaboration with our sponsor, the Journal of Risk and Financial Management (JRFM), the conference will highlight recent scholarly and educational work that examines underlying mechanisms, establishes causal relationships, evaluates interventions, and informs meaningful policy approaches to financial literacy, particularly in emerging and developing economies.
Key takeaways will include:
- Financial resilience, responses to financial shocks, economic vulnerability, and inequality.
- The roles of identity, social status, gender, and culture in shaping financial decision-making.
- Fintech and artificial intelligence as tools for financial assessment, prediction, intervention, and dynamic behavioral analysis.
- Financial literacy evidence on children, adolescents, college students, young and older adults.
- Consumer protection, lending practices, financial regulation, and the behavioral design of financial products and services.
Agenda
Click here to view our program
8:00 am
Breakfast and Registration
9:00 a.m.
Welcome
Abol Jalilvand, Department Chair and Professor of Finance; Graduate Program Director, MS Finance; Director, Risk Management and Insurance Center
9:15 a.m.
Panel 1: Financial Literacy Education: Academic and Industry Perspectives
This panel will focus on emerging perspectives in financial literacy education including recent initiatives for college students, local and state government agencies, and the financial services industry. Specifically, the discussion will cover the educational pedagogy, content, delivery, social, and demographic dimensions of the evolving role of financial literacy in today’s environment.
Panelists: Maria Tabrizi, Executive VP, Chief Operating Officer, First Women's Bank; Maggie Owen, Financial Program Manager, Office of the Illinois State Treasurer; Atif Ikram, Clinical Professor of Finance, Arizona State University; Joseph Mathew, Adjunct Professor of Finance, Loyola University Chicago
Moderated by: Teresa Krafcisin, Sr. Associate VP and Controller, Loyola University Chicago
10:30 a.m.
Q&A and Break
10:45 a.m.
Panel 2: Ethical Implications of AI-Driven Financial Advice, Algorithmic Decision-Making, and Digital Financial Platforms
This panel will explore the ethical and educational intersection of financial literacy within the emerging development in digital finance, financial technology (fintech), and artificial intelligence. Key topics will include the role of AI in enhancing financial literacy, addressing ethical concerns and its potential to complement traditional financial education, consumer credit behavior and protection in the financial services industry.
Panelists: Ugur Uygur, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Loyola University Chicago; Gaurav Sharma, Former Head of Card Acquisition Marketing, SVP, Discover Financial Services; Seong Byun, Associate Professor of Finance, Virginia Commonwealth University
Moderated by: Lisa Yang, Associate Professor of Finance, Loyola University Chicago
12:00 p.m.
Q&A and Break
12:15 p.m.
Lunch and Keynote Address
Keynote: Fernando Diaz, Deputy Treasurer for the State of Illinois
Introduction by: Ajinth Sreedharan, Sr. Enterprise Architect | IT Engineering - Enterprise Architecture, Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago
1:30 p.m.
Panel 3: Rethinking Assessment in the Age of AI in Financial Education
This panel will focus on innovations in the design, delivery, and assessment of financial education in the Age of AI. Potential topics include new courses and curriculum design, development of new approaches to student assessment, and integration of technology into financial education.
Panelists: Adeel Mahmood, Associate Professor of Finance and Business Economics, McMaster University; Alex Platt, Data Science Division, BMO; Abol Jalilvand, Department Chair and Professor of Finance; Graduate Program Director, MS Finance; Director, Risk Management and Insurance Center; and Guillaume Bolivard, Loyola University Chicago Alum, Master of Science in Finance
Moderated by: Ajinth Sreedharan, Sr. Enterprise Architect | IT Engineering - Enterprise Architecture, Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago
2:45 p.m.
Q&A and Final Thoughts
Abol Jalilvand, Department Chair and Professor of Finance; Graduate Program Director, MS Finance; Director, Risk Management and Insurance Center
3:15 p.m.
Networking and Happy Hour
Speakers and Panelists
Keynote Speaker update:
Due to a scheduling conflict, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs is no longer able to join us for the conference. We are pleased to welcome Fernando Diaz, Deputy Treasurer for the State of Illinois, who will deliver the luncheon keynote in his place.
Diaz brings extensive experience in financial education, behavioral finance, investments, retirement savings, and college savings programs through his leadership at the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer.
Keynote Speaker
Fernando Diaz
Fernando Diaz serves as Deputy Treasurer for the State of Illinois, overseeing investments, financial savings programs, communications, and other key divisions of the Treasurer’s Office. He also serves as Chair of the Illinois Secure Choice Board and is active with the National Association of State Treasurers. Diaz brings expertise in behavioral finance, data analytics, operations, and financial education, and holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Guillaume Bolivard
Loyola University Chicago Alum, Master of Science in Finance
Seong Byun
Associate Professor of Finance, Virginia Commonwealth University
Atif Ikram
Clinical Professor of Finance, Arizona State University
Abol Jalilvand
Department Chair and Professor of Finance; Graduate Program Director, MS Finance; Director, Risk Management and Insurance Center
Teresa Krafcisin
Sr. Associate VP and Controller, Loyola University Chicago
Adeel Mahmood
Assistant Professor of Finance and Business Economics, McMaster University
Joseph Mathew
Adjunct Professor of Finance, Loyola University Chicago
Maggie Owen
Financial Program Manager, Office of the Illinois State Treasurer
Alex Platt
Data Scientist, BMO
Gaurav Sharma
Former Head of Card Acquisition Marketing, SVP, Discover Financial Services
Ajinth Sreedharan
Sr. EA | IT Engineering - Enterprise Architecture, FHLBank Chicago
Maria Tabrizi
Executive VP, Chief Operating Officer, First Women's Bank
Ugur Uygur
Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Loyola University Chicago
Lisa Yang
Associate Professor of Finance, Loyola University Chicago
Call for Papers
Researchers are invited to submit original theoretical, empirical, and methodological research for a special issue of the Journal of Risk and Financial Management (JRFM) focused on Financial Literacy and Behavioral Finance: Mechanisms, Contexts, and Emerging Technologies.
Submissions may explore topics including financial literacy and education, behavioral biases, emotions and risk tolerance, cultural and social influences, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies in personal finance, and financial resilience and inclusion. Interdisciplinary research is especially encouraged.
Accepted papers will also be invited for presentation at conference on November 6, 2026.