Prof. Dr. Rachel Pownall holds the TEFAF Art and Finance chair at the University of Maastricht and the Van Gogh chair of Art Finance and Museum Management at TIAS Business School. Rachel ’s research interests broadly cover the realm of understanding investor behaviour. She has a particular focus on art markets, cultural goods, the fashion industry and assets with an emotional attachment. She is interested in the behavioural issues of how emotions and psychology influence individuals’ financial decision-making involving risk. This includes understanding the non-pecuniary benefits from investment, such as how aesthetic, environmental, and emotional values, and the influence of individual aspects of status and relative wellbeing influence investment decisions. In 2017 she authored the TEFAF Art Market Report. She is currently involved in research as part of the Made2Measure project which aims to develop the local arts and fashion industry. Her passion for research stems from a belief that through a better understanding of how individuals make risky decisions and incorporating non-pecuniary returns to investment into decision-making, will help promote a society that makes more sustainable investment decisions in future.
E-mail: r.pownall[at]maastrichtuniversity.nl