Jan Van Hove confirmed as KBC's new Chief Economist
Wednesday, June 29, 2016 — Jan Van Hove, Professor at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) and Visiting Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), is to be KBC group's new Chief Economist. He replaces Edwin De Boeck, who left KBC on 1 May. Jan Van Hove takes up his new position on 1 September 2016.
Johan Thijs, KBC Group CEO: 'We look forward to working with Jan. He has great in-depth knowledge of both international economics and trade, and his experience and talent are recognised and respected in markets and academia. Jan will head up a team of KBC economists and his analyses, insights and leadership skills will underpin and support investment decisions and risk management at KBC Group.’
Jan Van Hove (born 26 November 1976) has a master's in economics, with a specialisation in ‘international and monetary economics', followed by a Ph.D. in economic sciences from KU Leuven.
As a professor of international economic sciences, his research focuses on international trade and European integration. He specialises in macroeconomic analyses, the analysis of manufacturing and product heterogeneity in international trade, the impact of trade agreements, the interaction of trade and technological innovation, and the impact of globalisation on European trade dynamics. Other research interests include real estate economics, economic geography and European policy in general.
Jan Van Hove is the Director of Research on Economics, Business and Innovation at the Leuven Centre for Irish Studies and Honorary Chairman of the International Network for Economic Research (INFER). He has been a research fellow at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, US), and visiting lecturer at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) and the ULB. He is often invited to advise EU and other international institutions on matters relating to international economics.
As KBC group's new chief economist he will advise the team of economists at head office and streamline the international group-wide collaboration of KBC’s economists. Jan Van Hove will continue his tenure at the KU Leuven.
He is married and has five children.