The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance hosted its eighth Annual Alternative Finance Conference on 10 July 2023.
To find out more about CCAF annual conferences, please select a year below where you can view further details.
Eighth Annual Conference on Alternative Finance
Date
- 10 July 2023
Times & venues
- Academic conference: 08:00-17:45, Cambridge Judge Business School
- Drinks reception: 18:00, The Old Kitchen, Trinity College
- Annual dinner: 19:00, The Old Kitchen, Trinity College
About the conference
The conference is hosted by the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. Eight high-quality academic papers have been selected for presentation, covering a wide range of research topics including fintech, digital payments, machine learning, and household finance.
The CCAF annual conference is made possible with the generous support of Invesco.
CCAF Annual Conference programme
08:00 |
Registration & arrival refreshments |
08:25-08:30 |
Welcome & Opening remarks
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Session 1: Fintech |
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08:30-09:15 |
What Drives Racial Minorities to Use Fintech Lending?
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09:15-10:00 |
Cyber Income Inequality
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10:00-10:15 |
Coffee break |
Session 2: Digital payments |
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10:15-11:00 |
Can Cashless Payments Spur Economic Growth?
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11:00-11:45 |
Cashless Payment and Financial Inclusion
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11:45-13:00 |
Walk around Cambridge |
13:00-13:45 |
Lunch |
Session 3: Machine learning |
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13:45-14:30 |
Machine Traders, Human Behavior, and Model (Mis)Specification
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14:30-15:15 |
Does FinTech Innovation Improve Traditional Banks’ Efficiency and Risk Measures? A New Methodology and New Machine-Learning-Based Evidence from Patent Filings
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15:15-15:30 |
Coffee break |
Session 4: Household finance |
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15:30-16:15 |
Insufficient Sleep and Intra-Day Financial Decision-Making: Evidence from Online Lending
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16:15-17:00 |
The Effects of Cryptocurrency Wealth on Household Consumption and Investment
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17:00-17:45 |
Keynote speech
Christine A. Parlour is the Sylvan C. Coleman Chair of Finance and Accounting at Berkeley Haas. Most of her work is in institutionally complex areas, such as market microstructure and banking. Her current work focuses on changes in the payments system and the effects on bank balance sheets. She has written for major finance and economics journals. She has been on the Nasdaq Economic Advisory Board and is currently on the steering committee for the New Special Study of Securities Markets. Expertise and Research Interests: Fintech, Digital Payments, Credit Markets, Finance, Microstructure, Banking. |
17:45 |
Conference closes |
18:00 |
Drinks reception, The Old Kitchen, Trinity College |
19:00 |
Annual dinner, The Old Kitchen, Trinity College |
Seventh Annual Conference on Alternative Finance
Date
- 18 July 2022
Times & venues
- Academic Conference: 08:00 to 17:45| Cambridge Judge Business School
- Drinks Reception: 18:00 | The Old Library, Pembroke College
- Annual Dinner: 19:00 | The Old Library, Pembroke College
About the conference
The conference is hosted by the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. Eight high-quality academic papers have been selected for presentation, covering a wide range of research topics including crypto, microfinance, big data, and innovation.
The CCAF annual conference is made possible with the generous support of Invesco.
CCAF Annual Conference programme
08:00 |
Registration & arrival refreshments |
08:25-08:30 |
Welcome & Opening remarks
|
Session 1: Crypto |
|
08:30-09:15 |
The Coming Battle of Digital Currencies
|
09:15-10:00 |
Proof of Work Consensus Under Exogenous Distress
|
10:00-10:15 |
Coffee break |
Session 2: Microfinance |
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10:15-11:00 |
Microequity and Mutuality: Experimental Evidence on Credit with Performance-Contingent Repayment
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11:00-11:45 |
Escaping Violent Death: Access to Credit and Female Mortality
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11:45-13:00 |
Walk around Cambridge |
13:00-13:45 |
Lunch |
Session 3: Inferring Information From Big Data |
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13:45-14:30 |
Retail Trading in Options and the Rise of the Big Three Wholesalers
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14:30-15:15 |
Hidden Alpha
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15:15-15:30 |
Coffee break |
Session 4: Innovation |
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15:30-16:15 |
Why Are Firms Slow to Adopt Profitable Opportunities?
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16:15-17:00 |
Asset Overhang and Technological Change
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17:00-17:45 |
Keynote speech
Manju Puri is the JB Fuqua Professor of Finance at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. Professor Puri is an authority in the field of empirical corporate finance and has particular expertise in financial intermediation. Her published work spans the areas of commercial banks, investment banks, venture capital, entrepreneurship, behavioural finance, and fintech. Her research has appeared in publications such as American Economic Review, Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Financial Studies. Professor Puri serves as Editor of Review of Financial Studies. Professor Puri’s professional leadership roles include serving as Chair of the Academic Female Finance Committee (AFFECT), AFA, as a Director of the American Finance Association (AFA), and Vice-President Elect of the Western Finance Association. Prof. Puri has worked with multiple regulatory authorities serving on the Financial Advisory Roundtable, Federal Reserve Bank of New York and on the Model Validation Council, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. She currently serves on the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) Advisory Panel, Basel, and as Senior Advisor, Center for Financial Research, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and on the Advisory Panel of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Basel. |
17:45 |
Conference closes |
18:00 |
Drinks reception, Old Library Pembroke College |
19:00 |
Annual dinner, Old Library Pembroke College |
Sixth Annual Conference on Alternative Finance
Dates & times
- 28, 29 and 30 June 2021
Sessions will take place daily at:
- 08:00-11:00 EDT (New York) / 13:00-16:00 GMT+1 (UK) / 14:00-17:00 CEST (Paris) / 20:00-23:00 CST (Beijing)
Format
Online – via Zoom
About the conference
The conference is hosted by the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. Eight high-quality academic papers have been selected for presentation, covering a wide range of research topics including crowdfunding, fintech disruption, AI, labor economics and corporate finance, and financial intermediaries. The keynote speaker for the conference will be Stefan Nagel (University of Chicago).
Day 1 programme: Crowdfunding
28 June |
Welcome
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28 June |
Opening Remarks
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28 June |
PresentationsInformation Cascades and Threshold Implementation: An Application to Crowdfunding
Do FinTech Lenders Fairly Allocate Loans Among Investors?
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28 June |
Keynote SpeechRuns 15:00-16:00 GMT+1
Professor Nagel’s research focuses on asset pricing, investor behavior, and risk-taking of financial intermediaries. His most recent work explores the role of personal experiences in shaping expectations about the macroeconomy and financial market returns, novel approaches for measurement of bank tail risk exposures, and the application of machine learning techniques to understand the risk and return of investment strategies in the stock market. Professor Nagel currently serves as the Executive Editor of the Journal of Finance, one of the leading academic finance journals in the world. Previously, he was an editor at the Review of Financial Studies from 2014-2015 and an associate editor at various top journals. |
Professor Stefan Nagel (Keynote speaker)
Fama Family Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
Day 2 programme: Labour economics and corporate finance
29 June |
PresentationsSurviving the Fintech Disruption
Artificial Intelligence and High-Skilled Work: Evidence from Analysts
How to Talk When a Machine is Listening: Corporate Disclosure in the Age of AI
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Day 3 programme: Financial Intermediaries
29 June |
PresentationsFintech Lending and Sales Manipulation
Trust as an Entry Barrier: Evidence from FinTech Adoption
Open Banking: Credit Market Competition When Borrowers Own the Data
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Fifth Annual Conference on Alternative Finance
Dates & times
- 29 June 2020, 12:00-15:00 GMT+1
- 30 June 2020, 12:00-15:00 GMT+1
- 1 July 2020, 12:00-15:00 GMT+1
Format
Online – via Zoom
About the conference
The conference is hosted by the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. Eight high-quality academic papers have been selected for presentation, covering a wide range of research topics including crowdfunding, marketplace lending, cryptoassets, blockchain and social issues in alternative finance. The keynote speaker for the conference will be Campbell Harvey, Duke University.
2020 programme
29 June |
Welcome
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29 June |
Opening remarks
Dr Henning Stein is the Global Head of Thought Leadership for Invesco. Henning and his team of strategists and researchers provide valuable insight and perspectives to the institutional investor and financial advisor global communities. Henning joined Invesco in 2016 from DWS where he led a global research initiative working together with the CIO office and management teams in the wealth and asset management businesses in addition to his role as Head of EMEA Marketing for the active management business. He also served on the Board of Deutsche Bank Switzerland’s pension fund and on its Investment Committee. He has 22 years of experience, including senior executive, business development and consulting roles, across pension funds, platforms, academia, asset management, and insurance working with boards and CEOs. He currently serves as a fellow at Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. |
29 June |
CryptoassetsCollectibles Tokenization & Optimal Security Design
What Keeps Stable Coins Stable?
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29 June |
Keynote speechRuns 14:00-15:00
Professor Campbell Harvey is Distinguished Professor of Finance at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is known as the economist who discovered a crucial bellwether of coming recessions: the inverted yield curve. He served as President of the American Finance Association in 2016. He has received eight Graham and Dodd Awards/Scrolls for excellence in financial writing from the CFA Institute. Professor Harvey is a Founding Director of the Duke-CFO Survey, a widely watched quarterly survey polls over 1,500 CFOs worldwide. His current teaching includes two blockchain-themed courses: “Innovation & Cryptoventures” and “Tech Driven Transformation of Business”. |
30 June |
Big data and behavioural financeFinancial Inclusion and Alternate Credit Scoring for the Millennials: Role of Big Data and Machine Learning in Fintech
Human vs. Machine: Underwriting Decisions in Finance
Attention Triggers and Investors’ Risk Taking
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1 July |
CrowdfundingWith a Little Help from Friends: Strategic Financing and the Crowd
Are All Heuristics Created Equal? Evidence from P2P Investments
Consumers as Financiers: Consumer Surplus, Crowdfunding, and Initial Coin Offerings
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Fourth Annual Conference on Alternative Finance
The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance’s fourth annual Conference Transforming Alternative Finance: Innovation, Trust and Impact, took place on 1 and 2 July 2019 at Cambridge Judge Business School.
Following the successes of our annual conferences in 2016, 2017, and 2018 – the 2019 conference theme reflected the Centre’s global research activities in alternative finance/FinTech and the need to critically examine the evolution of this rapidly maturing industry.
The first part of our Annual Conference was a boutique academic conference that took place on 1 July at Cambridge Judge Business School. Following an open call for submission, eight high-quality academic papers were selected for presentation, covering a wide range of research topics including crowdfunding, marketplace lending, cryotoassets, blockchain and social issues in alternative finance. On the 2 July, the CCAF Annual Conference brought together academics, industry practitioners, policymakers, regulators and business leaders to discuss global market trends, the latest technology-enabled business models, the application of financial innovation in developing and developed economies and the related regulatory challenges and opportunities. It provided the opportunity to share learning, transfer knowledge and leverage our collective network to tackle emerging challenges and find practical solutions.
Download the 2019 conference programme
Keynote addresses
This 2019 conference was structured around four keynote addresses and five panel discussion sessions. After the welcome introduction by Bryan Zhang, the Executive Director of CCAF, Robert Wardrop, the Director of the Centre will gave an opening address expanding on the themes of innovation, trust, and impact in alternative finance and the roles that they have played and will play in the continued development of the sector. The four keynote addresses explored the following themes:
FinTech and Financial Inclusion: Perspectives from the World Bank
Speaker: Alfonso Garcia Mora, Global Director, Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice, the World Bank
Creating Value Through Collaboration: FIntech and Traditional Financial Services
Speaker: Bob Wigley, Chair, UK Finance
Banking Regulation in Fostering Financial Inclusion: the Angolan Case
Speaker: José de Lima Massano, Governor, Banco Nacional de Angola
Regulating Financial Innovation – Going Behind the Scenes
Speaker: Christopher Woolard, Executive Director of Strategy and Competition, Financial Conduct Authority
Third Annual Conference on Alternative Finance
The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance’s third annual Conference Reimagining Alternative Finance: Global Perspectives and Local Insights, took place on 29 and 30 June 2018 at Cambridge Judge Business School.
It was attended by 150 speakers and delegates from the global alternative finance industry, academics, policymakers, regulators and corporate leaders.
Following the success of the Centre’s previous conferences in 2016 and 2017 – the 2018 conference theme reflected the Centre’s global research activities and the need to critically examine the state, purpose, framework and impact of a rapidly maturing and constantly evolving alternative finance industry.
The conference programme consisted of four panel sessions and five keynote speeches exploring the four keys themes of ‘Researching Alternative Finance: Global Perspectives and Local Insights’, ‘Inclusive Financial Innovation in Developing Countries & Emerging Markets’, ‘Financial Innovations and Regulatory Challenges: Frameworks, Tools and Data’ and ”Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Finance: Progression or Disruption?’. Keynote speakers included: Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands (The UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate in Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA)), Greg Medcraft (Director of OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs), Professor Njuguna Ndung’u (The immediate former Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya), Miriam Koreen (Deputy Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities OECD) and Ann Cairns, the Vice Chairman of Mastercard.
Speeches
The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance third annual conference, Reimagining Alternative Finance: Global Perspectives and Local Insights, was opened by Bryan Zhang, Executive Director and Co-founder, CCAF, who emphasized the needs to reflect and reimagine financial innovation and regulatory innovation.
The opening address “Operationalising Financial Innovation” was given by Robert Wardrop, Director and Co-Founder, CCAF, who discussed the role of regulation in financial innovation and diverse regional patterns of innovation, and asked, “does the system kill innovation, or does it change following such innovation?”
Greg Medcraft, Director of OECD for Financial and Enterprise Affairs delivered the first keynote address, highlighting the global forces shaping finance with an emphasis on the OECD and the Development of Blockchain.
The first-panel discussion “Researching Alternative Finance: Global Perspectives and Local Insights”, led by Raghavendra Rau, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Professor of Finance & Director of Research, CCAF, analysed the new forms of innovation – whether they pose a threat to existing institutions, and whether regulators should worry about financial innovation. Ross Levine, Willis H. Booth Chair in Banking and Finance, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley; Naoyuki Yoshino, Dean of the Asia Development Bank Institute and Rotem Shneor, Professor of Centre for Entrepreneurship, University of Agder joined the panel.
Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate in Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), addressed the conference via a live video link. She discussed the importance of financial inclusion and how we should seize FinTech’s potential to provide vital access to finance for millions of unbanked and underbanked populations.
The second-panel discussion focused on “Inclusive Financial Innovation in Developing Countries & Emerging Markets”. Chaired by by Robert Wardrop, panelists included Juan Ketterer, Director, Connectivity Markets and Finance, the Inter-American Development Bank; Matthew Saal, Head of Digital Finance, International Finance Corporation (IFC); Lotte Schou-Zibell, Financial Sector Group, Asian Development Bank; Kabir Kumar, Director of Policy and Ecosystem Building, Omidyar Network and Paul Musoke, Director for Competitive Strategies, FSD Africa.
The third, and penultimate panel session “Financial Innovations and Regulatory Challenges: Frameworks, Tools and Data”, was moderated by Jon Frost, FinTech Lead, Financial Stability Board, saw the panellists discuss both FinTech regulations and regulatory innovation in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Europe. Panelists include Nick Cook, Head of RegTech and Advanced Analytics, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Dirk Schrade, Deputy Head of the Payments and Settlement Systems, Deutsche Bundesbank; Patrick Armstrong, Senior Advisor, the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) and Mirtel ter Braak, Senior Policy Advisor, Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).
Mark Napier, Director, FSD Africa, introduced third keynote Professor Ndung’u, the immediate former Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, who explored how Kenya regulated M-Pesa, the mobile phone accessible bank with “Regulation and Innovation: The Experience of Regulating Kenya’s M-Pesa”. The fourth keynote speaker, Miriam Koreen, Deputy Director and Head of SME & Entrepreneurship Division, OECD discussed the role of alternative instruments for the financing of SME with a presentation entitled “SME Financing, Entrepreneurship and Alternative Finance”.
The final panel, chaired by Jesse McWaters, Financial Innovation Lead, the World Economic Forum, discussed the role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in Finance. Panelists included Michael Janiszewski, Managing Director, Global Head of Investment Services, Invesco; Lesly Goh, Chief Technology Officer and Director, Enterprise Architecture & Technology, the World Bank; Keith Bear, Global Leader for Financial Markets, IBM; Claire Calmejane, Transformation Director, Lloyds Banking Group and Robert Reoch, Global Head of Digital Lending Innovation at HSBC.
The closing keynote was delivered by Ann Cairns, Vice Chairman, Mastercard. She discussed the importance of making the most of public and private partnerships to further the cause of financial inclusion globally.
Photo gallery
Second Annual Conference on Alternative Finance
The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance second annual Conference Navigating the Contours of Alternative Finance, took place on 28 and 29 June 2017 at Cambridge Judge Business School.
It was attended by 150 speakers and delegates from the global alternative finance industry, academia, corporate sectors, multilateral institutions, national and supranational policymaking and regulating bodies.
Following the success of the inaugural conference in September 2016, the 2017 conference focused on the continuously evolving global alternative finance landscape in the broader context of FinTech and highlighted the latest market trends, regulatory and policy developments and research advancements in this exciting space.
The conference programme consisted of five peer-led panel sessions and three keynote speeches exploring the four keys themes of ‘Regulatory and Supervisory Issues Raised by Fintech,’ ‘Corporate Adaption of Alternative Finance,’ ‘Making Crowdfunding Work in the Interest of Consumers’ and ‘Opportunities and Challenges in Regulating Alternative Finance’. Notable keynote speakers included: Svein Andresen (Secretary General, Financial Stability Board), Sarah Rapson (Director of Authorisation, Financial Conduct Authority), and Mario Marcel (Governor, Central Bank of Chile).
The conference provided a thermometer for FinTech industries, corporates, investors, policymakers and regulators on the current temperature of alternative finance, while elucidating new areas for study and refined methodologies.
In the first keynote address, Svein Andresen highlighted the regulatory implications of new financial technology or ‘FinTech’ innovations—how it should be regulated and what societal implications of new technologies in the alternative finance space might exist?
Mario Marcel, the Governor of the Central Bank of Chile, in his keynote noted that he does not see ‘FinTech’ to be in conflict with central banking, its regulatory architecture, or its current financial stability mandates.
“Yet, the pace of ‘FinTech’ innovation has left many recent developments comparatively unregulated, such as initial coin offerings (ICOs). And with a lack of data, experience, and market penetration, assessing risks for regulatory purposes is particularly complicated as governing bodies seek to ensure fair-play without stifling innovation. As a result, most regulatory efforts have focused on crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending, as it is amongst the most visible application of technology for alternative capital funding. Even here, however, regulatory authorities have to cope with a fast-evolving set of industry players and investors.”
Sarah Rapson, Director of Authorisation at the Financial Conduct Authority, noted that firms under regulation have increased and diversified their activities due to swelling consumer demand and continual financial innovation. This, coupled with the global nature of alternative finance, has brought a need to better understand the associated regulatory risks and challenges.
To help contextualize this new industry for regulators and industry players, Raghavendra Rau (CCAF), Stijn Claessens (Bank for International Settlements), and Luigi Zingales (University of Chicago) highlighted the current state of affairs globally in alternative finance, and shed light on the importance of trust in alternative finance markets. The largest markets can be found in the US, the UK and China. And while the success of China and the US can be explained by their relative size, that of the UK cannot be.
The second panel discussion turned its attention towards the corporate perspective of alternative finance. Representatives from the CME Group, Microsoft, IBM, the World Economic Forum, and BBVA were on-hand to discuss various topics including blockchain’s effect on existing financial infrastructure, cryptocurrency, its implications for investment management, and the continued development of online channels
The global character of alternative finance was the theme of the third panel session on emerging markets and developing countries. Representatives from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development bank, FSD Africa, Lend Academy and YingCanGroup discussed how to leverage financial innovation to promote financial inclusion via online alternative finance channels, the eradication of chronic poverty through digital leapfrogging, and the empowerment of women entrepreneurs and investors.
The last panel discussion on regulation was conducted under Chatham House Rules and chaired by a member of the Financial Stability Board’s Secretariat. Regulators from the SEC, the Abu Dhabi Financial Services Regulatory Authority, the Malaysian Securities Commission and the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) discussed varied approaches in regulating alternative finance and how best to forge an evidence-based, appropriate and proportionate regulatory regime.
Photo gallery
Inaugural Annual Conference on Alternative Finance
The Inaugural Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance Conference: Mapping the Landscape of Alternative Finance Conference took place at Downing College, Cambridge on 29 September 2016.