Dr. Paul Smeets is Associate Professor in Finance at Maastricht University. His research investigates the motives of investors to choose for socially responsible investments, for which he obtained a Veni grant from the Dutch Science Foundation (NWO). He also investigated philanthropy of millionaires in the United States, France and the Netherlands. His papers are published in The Journal of Finance, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization and PNAS. His work has been covered by outlets such as The New York Times, BBC News and Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Smeets visited the University of California San Diego, the University of California Los Angeles and the Toulouse School of Economics. He has been working together with several national and international financial institutions such as Robeco, ABN AMRO, Triodos Bank, Pension fund Detailhandel and Deutsche Bank.