School of Computing and Digital Media staff profiles content store_hidden Nikolaos Georgikopoulos Our staff

Professor Georgikopoulos graduated in Mathematics BSc (Hons) from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. He earned his first postgraduate degree, Master of Science in Mathematical Modelling from the University of Oxford. He also achieved a Diploma in Quantitative Finance from the Centre for Quantitative Finance at Imperial College London. He holds a PhD in Finance from the University of London (Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine).

Professor Georgikopoulos is currently serving as a Senior Financial Advisor to the President of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE) and the new-elected Regional Governor of Attica in Greece, Dr George Patoulis, as well as his role as Professor of Mathematical Finance in London Met's Statistics, Operational Research and Mathematics (STORM) research centre.

Nikolaos previously served as a Visiting Professor at the Economic Analysis and Research Department at the Bank of Greece in Athens and has also worked as a senior research associate and consultant to the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Greece, Professor John Mourmouras.

Additionally, Nikolaos served as a researcher at the Centre of Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) in Athens. He was also the Head of Information Technology at KEPE from January 2011 until June 2013. KEPE is the largest economics research institute in Greece. Professor Georgikopoulos’ activities at KEPE were focused on applied research projects regarding the Greek economy and the provision of advisory services to the Greek government and the country's regional authorities on economic and banking policy issues. He was the coordinator of four research projects assigned to KEPE by the Greek State:

• The Growth Vision for Greece 2020: Forecasts, growth conditions, and financing mechanisms (coordinator of the financing mechanisms section), which was submitted to the Ministry of Finance – Council of Economic Advisors (Athens, July 2013)
• Investment Opportunities in Greece: The path to Recovery and Sustainable Growth, which was submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office (Athens, February 2013)
• The Impact of Electronic Transactions on Tax Revenues, which was submitted to the Hellenic Parliament (Athens, November 2011)
• Investment Opportunities in Greece, which was submitted to the Ministry of Development, Competitiveness and Shipping (Athens, September 2011)

Additionally, Nikolaos was the research coordinator and project manager of the first two research projects commissioned at KEPE by two international companies. The first project concerned the illicit tobacco trade in Greece and the negative consequences to the Greek economy (delivered to British American Tobacco), and the second examined the impact of electronic transactions on public revenues from the immediate return of VAT (delivered to MasterCard).

Prior to joining KEPE in Greece, he occupied the following posts:

• Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Quantitative Finance (CQF) – Imperial College London
• Financial Research Project Manager at Bevlodge Limited (London)
• Financial Adviser at KT & SS Ltd (London)
• Researcher and Quantitative Risk Analyst at Xenomorph Software Ltd. (London)
• Financial Researcher and Assistant Trader at Barclays Bank – BZW (London)
• Lecturer in Mathematics and Finance at Imperial College London

Since 2008, Nikolaos has been a founding member of a global network of academics and practitioners dedicated to sharing research and ideas in the field of financial econometrics. It is an independent non-profit membership organization, currently housed at New York University. The first Co-President of The Society of Financial Econometrics (SoFiE) (2007-2011) was Robert F. Engle, Professor of Finance at New York University Stern School of Business, who was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Economics.

From May 2010 to December 2014, he had been represented KEPE and STORM - London Metropolitan University at the Committee on Financial Markets of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Furthermore, from July 2009 until December 2014, Nikolaos had been appointed as an observer to the aforementioned committee of the OECD by the Hellenic Ministry of Economy and Development.

Professor Nikolaos Georgikopoulos has the following areas of expertise:

• financial and mathematical modeling
• computational mathematics
• applied mathematics
• numerical analysis
• financial mathematics
• quantitative finance
• financial risk management
• banking and finance
• investments

Professor Georgikopoulos’ current research is in the field of mathematical finance, credit risk and operations research. Among his other interests are risk management, quantitative finance, banking and investment. He has published research papers in the field of mathematical modelling, finance and risk management. He co-authored three books in shipping, market competition and government bond yield spreads. He has authored numerous articles in widely circulated economic and financial magazines and newspapers, regarding the latest financial and the recent sovereign crises as well as the European and Greek banking systems.  Finally, he often serves as a speaker and/or roundtable participant in many international and Greek financial conferences.

Since 2009, Nikolaos has been a member of the research team at STORM, promoting the statistical package: Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS), and with the collaboration of Professor Dimitris Stasinopoulos and Professor Bob Gilchrist, have focused on advancing research on GAMLSS applications in finance and banking. Furthermore, they are working on two different research projects by using the GAMLSS statistical package and advanced risk management methods.

The first project concerns the financial stability in the Greek banking system. Their research goal is twofold. Firstly, an investigation on the determinants that contribute to the non-performing loans (NPLs) formation. Secondly, the use of statistical models for the prediction that can serve as the basis of projecting credit risk portfolio dynamics under various macroeconomic scenarios. The final aim is to provide policymakers with policy tools in order to enhance financial stability monitoring and support decision making.

The second project relates to the determinants of the Greek-German government bond spreads; In this work, we examine the medium-term driving factors of the yield differentials between Greek and German long-term government bonds; as the introduction of the European Monetary Union (EMU) was expected to be accompanied with a reduction (if not virtual elimination) in the yield differences (spreads) of EMU country government bonds of similar characteristics. Our main goal is to distinguish the liquidity factors from the credit risk component regarding these yield differences, through the use of quarterly data and utilizing two alternative measures of bond spreads by mainly using the GAMLSS statistical package.

At present, he is working on two research projects with professors from the Information Systems Operations Management Statistics (IOMS) department at Stern Business School. The first project is in collaboration with Professor Mike Pinedo and relates to Greek ports. The main scope of this project is to analyse the current infrastructure capacity of Greek ports, as well as to forecast the movement of freight and passenger flows in order to highlight the necessity and feasibility of investments to expand, improve and upgrade existing port infrastructure. The second project, with Professor Halina Frydman, examines the non-performing loans (NPLs) in the Greek banking system. Credit risk is one of the most important risks currently in the Greek banking system and it is highly correlated to macroeconomic conditions. The statistical methods that we are considering for the analysis of the Greek NPLs data set are the following:

1. the Cox hazard model with time-dependent covariates (characteristics of a loan) with a failure outcome being NPL

2. constructing a random survival tree with time-dependent covariates and then obtaining a random survival forest

Academic Journals

• ‘The Greek banking system and its role for resetting the Greek economy: Preconditions for the complete lifting of capital controls’. 2016. Greek Economic Outlook (Greek & English Edition), Issue 31, pp: 37 - 44, Athens, KEPE, October 2016.
• ‘Illicit Tobacco Trade in Greece: An Evaluation of its Impact on Public Revenues’. 2016. Archives of Economic History, Volume XXVIII, No. 1, pages: 5 - 34, January - June 2016 (in collaboration with M. Pinedo).
• ‘Competitive conditions and developments in the banking sector’. 2016. Greek Economic Outlook (Greek & English Edition), Issue 30, Special Issues, pp. 61 - 73, Athens, KEPE, June 2016.
•  ‘Demand dynamics and peer effects in consumption: Historic evidence from a non-parametric model’. 2014. Archives of Economic History, Volume XXVI, No. 1, pages: 27 - 59, January - June 2014 (in collaboration with V. Voudouris).
• Overview and outlook of the Greek banking system’. 2014. Greek Economic Outlook (Greek & English Edition), Issue 24, pp: 53 - 57, Athens, KEPE, June 2014.
• ‘Prerequisites for the sustainability of Greek debt and the success of the financing program’. 2013. Greek Economic Outlook (Greek & English Edition), Issue 20, Special Issues, pp. 82 - 84, Athens, KEPE, February 2013 (in collaboration with E. Hatzaki, J. Barrionuevo and G. Nielsen).
•  ‘Electronic transactions as a means to control tax evasion’. 2012. Greek Economic Outlook (Greek & English Edition), KEPE, Issue 17, pp: 38 - 39, February 2012 (in collaboration with A. Chymis).
• ‘The Impact of the Financial and Fiscal Crisis on the Greek Banking System’. 2011. Greek Economic Outlook (Greek & English Edition), Issue 15, Special Issues, pp. 68 - 74, Athens, KEPE, June 2011.
•  ‘Bank credit and its structure in the sectors of the Greek economy’. 2011. Greek Economic Outlook (Greek & English Edition), KEPE, Issue 14, pp: 34 - 37, January 2011.
• ‘Stochastic Shocks of the European and the Greek Economic Fluctuations’. 2010. International Journal of Business Policy and Economics, Vol. 3, No. 1, pages: 89 -107, 2010 (in collaboration with C. Leon).
• ‘The Liquidity of the Greek Economy: The Role of Greek Banks’. 2010. Greek Economic Outlook (Greek & English Edition), KEPE, Issue 13, pp: 39 - 42, September 2010 (in collaboration with T. Efthimiadis).
• ‘Τhe Spreads’ Effect on the Borrowing Cost for the Greek State and the Banking Sector’. 2010. Greek Economic Outlook (Greek & English Edition), KEPE, Issue 12, pp: 22 - 25, May 2010 (in collaboration with T. Efthymiadis).
• ‘A Model for the Value of a Business, Some Optimisation Problems in its Operating Procedures and the Valuation of its Debt’. 1997. The IMA Journal of Applied Mathematics, Oxford Journals, Volume 59, Issue 3, pages: 273-285, December 1997 (in collaboration with M.Z.Apabhai, D.Hasnip, R.Jamie, M.Kim, P. Wilmott).

 Research papers in progress

• ‘The determinants of the Greek-German government bond spreads A GAMLSS application’. London Metropolitan University, 2019 (in collaboration with Prof. Mikis Stasinopoulos).
• ‘Non-Performing Loans in the Greek banking system: using survival analysis models for forecasting and prediction’. IOMS, New York University, 2019 (in collaboration with Prof. Halina Frydman and Prof. Anna Matuszyk).

Referred in Books and Monographs

• ‘Market Conditions and Competition in the Greek Economy’. 2011. Author in: ‘The Greek Banking System’. KEPE Series of Reports, No. 67, Part C, Chapter 21, pp: 63 - 94, Athens, KEPE, 2011.
• ‘Essays in Economics, Applied Studies on the Greek Economy’. 2011. Edited by: S. Balfoussias, P. Hatzipanayotou and C. Kanellopoulos. KEPE Special Editions: 50 years anniversary publication. Author in: ‘Government Bond Yield Spreads in the EMU: The Case of Greece’, pp. 203 - 223, Athens, KEPE, 2011 (in collaboration with T. Efthymiadis).
• "The Greek Merchant Shipping". 2010. KEPE Series of Reports, No. 62, Athens, KEPE, 2010 (co-authors: S. Spathi and S. Karangiani).
   

Participation in scientific books and magazines

• ‘How to run a bank 2012: The essential reference guide for senior bank management around the globe’. 2012. Financial Times: The Banker. Author of the article: Protecting balance sheets and liquidity. Greek banks: down but not out. Chapter 2, pp.: 30 - 32, Special annual edition, Financial Times Business, London, UK, 2012.
• ‘Proceedings of International Symposium on Business, Economics and Financial Applications’. 2012. The scientific papers and abstracts presented at the international conference entitled: 1st International Symposium on Business, Economics & Financial Applications, held in Kefalonia, June 1-2 2012. ISBEFA, ISSN: 2241-2727, Kefalonia, Greece, 2012.
• ‘How to run a bank 2010: The essential reference guide for senior bank management around the globe’. 2010. Financial Times: The Banker. Author of the article: Survival of Fittest: Identifying the Future Leader of Finance. Chapter 3, pp.: 40 - 41, Special annual edition, Financial Times Business, London, UK, 2010.
• ‘DERIVATIVES The Theory and Practice of Financial Engineering’. 1999. Author: Paul Wilmott. Part of my undergraduate thesis at Oxford University has been published in the aforementioned finance book. This work is included in Chapter 43 entitled Credit Risk, pages 559-565, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, West Sussex, England, 1999.

Participation in financial magazine and newspapers

• ‘Lesson to learn from the Greek banks: Six Key steps towards resetting the Greek banking system’. The Banker - Financial Times. Bracken column, Financial Times Business, London, UK, January 2017 (in collaboration with M. Pinedo).
• ‘How to pay Greece’s creditors and rebuilt its economy’. The New York Times. Editorial opinion, New York, USA, November 6, 2012 (in collaboration with E. Hatzakis, J. Barrionuevo and G. Nielsen).
• ‘Putting Greece back on track’. The Banker - Financial Times. Special edition: Top 1000 World Banks 2012. Viewpoint, pages: 12, Financial Times Business, London, UK, July 2012 (in collaboration with E. Hatzakis, J. Barrionuevo and G. Nielsen).
• ‘Ignorante Helfer'. Financial Times Deutschland. Comment (printed version), Hamburg, Germany, 25 June 2012 (in collaboration with E. Hatzakis, J. Barrionuevo and G. Nielsen).
• ‘How Greek banks can alleviate the liquidity squeeze’. The Banker - Financial Times. Viewpoint, pp.: 10, Financial Times Business, London, UK, November 2010.

Referred in the international press

• ‘Greek Banks Pin Turnaround Hopes on NPL resolution’. The Banker - Financial Times. Reportage article, pp. 38 - 42. Financial Times Business, London, UK, January 2017. Reference to my views on the issue of non-performing loans in Greek banks.
• ‘Eurozone meltdown: how can it be avoided?’. The Banker - Financial Times. Cover Story, pp.: 20 - 25, Financial Times Business, London, UK, March 2015. Reference to my views on the sustainability of Greek sovereign debt.
• Le Figaro, the French newspaper, November 28, 2013. Reference to my research work on the sustainability of sovereign Greek debt based on a paper published in the Greek Economic Outlook journal in Greece.
• La Tribune, French Newspaper, November 22, 2013. Reference to my research project/report on Investment Opportunities in Greece delivered to the Prime Minister's office in 2013.
• Le courrier des Balkans, French News Portal, October 30, 2013. Reference to my research project/report on the Illicit Tobacco Trade in Greece.
• Der Standard, Austrian Newspaper, October 10, 2013. Reference to my research project/report on the Illicit Tobacco Trade in Greece
• Europolitics, October  1, 2013. Brussels based political-economic daily press. Reference to my research project/report on the Illicit Tobacco Trade in Greece.

Professor Nikolaos Georgikopoulos
Professor of Mathematical Finance
Room: T9-01
E: n.georgikopoulos@londonmet.ac.uk 
T: +44 (0)207 558 8524
M: +44 (0) 7881454228