Thomas Gitzel has been voted in seventh place for the media evaluation of the economist rankings produced by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper. The Chief Economist of VP Bank has therefore been included among Germany’s most influential economists. At the same time, VP Bank was the best-placed financial institution.

For this year’s economist rankings produced by FAZ, VP Bank and its Chief Economist Thomas Gitzel secured 7th place in the “Media” category, the internationally active private bank from Vaduz writes in a press release. The frequency with which the economists were cited in media reports during the period from August 2020 to July 2021 was a key factor in determining the rankings of Germany’s most influential economists. In this context, Gitzel was quoted 458 times by the media.

As in the previous year, VP Bank was the best-placed financial institution among the 50 candidates in the media evaluation, the press release further explains. Top spot in the “Media” category went to the Ifo Institute, which is based in Munich.

The VP Bank research group regularly examines the performance of major economies and international financial markets as well as current, relevant political issues. In the press release, Gitzel comments on these developments and issues a forecast with regard to their impact on the economy, businesses and the markets. For the Chief Economist of VP Bank, it is not only the actuality of the selected topics that is key. He explains that quality is also a “top priority” with the aim of contextualizing current developments on a holistic basis.

“The once again top ranking underlines the excellent work of our team”, comments Felix Brill, Chief Investment Officer at the VP Bank Group, in the press release. Brill, who also heads up the banking group’s research division, takes the view that this placement highlights how VP Bank is able to “pick up on the right topics at the right time”.

Back to overview