Shlomo Benartzi
Shlomo Benartzi is a Professor and a Co-Chair of the Behavioral Decision-Making Group at UCLA Anderson School of Management. Benartzi is a behavioral economist interested in combining the insights of psychology and economics to solve big societal problems. Throughout his career, he has been dedicated to applying his research in the real world. He has collaborated with famous thinkers, contributed to the behavioral economics literature, and developed effective behavioral interventions. He has also advised many government agencies, financial institutions, and advisory boards. Benartzi is one of the pioneers of Save More Tomorrow, a program that helped millions of employees boost their retirement savings.
Shlomo Benartzi Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Professor and Co-Chair of the Behavioral Decision-Making Group
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Professor
Academic History
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Ph.D., Johnson Graduate School of Management
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B.A., Economics, Cum Laude
CURRENT AFFILIATIONS
Founder, Digitai
Founder, PensionPlus
Board Member, Acorns
Senior Advisor, Blast
Senior Advisor, Personal Capital
Senior Advisor, WisdomTree
Distinguished Senior Fellow, Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative
Senior Academic Advisor, VOYA Behavioral Finance Institute for Innovation
EXPERTISE
Benartzi is a leading authority on behavioral finance with a special interest in household finance and participant behavior in retirement savings plans.
He works on creating digital nudges that leverage technology to achieve massive scale and help millions make better financial decisions.
He has advised government agencies in the U.S. and abroad and has helped craft numerous legislative efforts and pension reforms.
SAVE MORE TOMORROW™
Along with Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler, Shlomo pioneered the Save More Tomorrow™ (SMarT) program, a behavioral prescription designed to nudge employees to increase their savings rates gradually over time.
In their original research, Benartzi and Thaler found that SMarT increased employee savings rates from 3.5% to 13.6%.
The program is now offered by more than half of the large retirement plans in the United States and a growing number of plans in Australia and the United Kingdom.
It has also been incorporated into the Pension Protection Act of 2006, enabling approximately 15 million Americans to boost their retirement savings.
EARLY CAREER
Benartzi was a co-founder of the Behavioral Finance Forum, a collective of 40 prominent academics and 40 major financial institutions from around the globe.
He also co-founded PensionPlus, a start-up dedicated to providing a personalized retirement income plan for all Americans.
His work stands at the intersection of economics, technology, and psychology, and his innovations have enabled more adaptive decision-making in a variety of areas.