Dr. Gertrud R. Traud has been Chief Economist at Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen since 2005 and Head of Research at Helaba since 2006. For many years she has been the only woman in this position in the German banking world. She is one of Germany's most sought-after specialists, a profound expert in her field and also devotes herself outstandingly to research and teaching. Gertrud R. Traud studied biology and chemistry for two semesters before going to France and Washington as an au pair. She then studied economics in Mainz and Michigan and completed her doctorate. She began her career at Julius Bär, where she later headed the economics department, before moving to Bankgesellschaft Berlin in 1999. Her responsibilities there included heading macro research for institutional clients and managing the equity market strategy of the European Securities Network, a research network of ten European financial houses. Dr Traud is active in academia and teaching. In 2003 she was appointed professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt. She is a member of numerous committees, including the Asset Advisory Board of the Volkswagen Foundation, the Supervisory Board of DLE Group AG, the Advisory Board of H&R GmbH, the Board of Trustees of the Aventis Foundation, the Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute for Financial and Banking History and the LOEWE Research Promotion Initiative. She is also involved in numerous social projects and is, among other things, patron of the ZONTAlente project and honorary member of the ZONTA Club Frankfurt am Main. Dr. Traud is a regular contributor to the press, radio and social media on financial market and economic issues and is a frequent guest speaker at national and international financial market conferences and webinars. She presents economic and capital market topics in a way that is both informative and entertaining. The Frankfurter Neue Presse calls her "the unique one", FOCUS MONEY writes about her: "The experienced economist with the proven forecasting power" and the TOP Journal Frankfurt states: "Traud is listened to. Because she is unique. And crystal clear".