UTS Finance Department

The UTS Finance Department would like to welcome the Autumn 2025 intake of students into the UTS Anchor Fund. We hope they find this a #rewarding experience and will be able to make the most of this #opportunity. This is another example of how the University of Technology Sydney partners with #industry to provide industry-relevant courses that produce industry-ready graduates. Lauren Bailey Alexandra Bakss (Undergraduate at BridgePoint Group, formerly Strategy and Transactions Intern at EY) Grace Berry Cameron Edwards (Asset Management Intern at Mirvac, formerly Investment Intern - Unlisted Assets at HESTA) Wil Kirkman (Paralegal - Banking, Recovery & Restructuring at Dentons) Roman Klijn Max Miller (has held roles of roles as a Corporate Development Intern at Scentre Group (Owner of Westfield destinations in Aus and NZ), Deals Advisory Intern at KPMG, and Finance Intern at TOGA) Pouya Mousavi (has held roles as a Data Analyst Intern at Macquarie Group and Software Engineering Intern at IAG) Hrishita Nariani Mercy Nathanael (Undergraduate Accountant at Bedford, formerly Audit Internship at EY) Harshil Vyas (has completed a Finance Internship at QBE Insurance) Tara Wappett (Legal Assistant at Barkus Doolan Winning) Matthew Whitney (has undertaken a 6-month internship as a Corporate Strategy Analyst at the ASX) Emma Worner The UTS Anchor Investment Fund is a unique, student-managed #investment fund at the UTS Business School that provides hands-on #money management experience for selected #students. The Anchor Investment Fund is managed by students enrolled in the elective subject 25625 UTS Student Managed Fund, as part of the Bachelor of Business program. The program aims to enrich students' #education through active participation in financial markets, offering a blend of advanced theoretical training and practical, internship-like experience in equity research and asset management. Under the supervision of Dr Lorenzo Casavecchia and Adjunct Industry Professor Michael Block CIMA, Chief Investment Officer at Bellmont Securities, the operations of the AIF is overseen by an Investment Advisory Committee consisting of senior industry leaders. This extraordinary educational opportunity bridges the gap between academic insight and industry practice, setting it apart from peer funds in this field. Students are responsible for formulating investment recommendations, pitching investment ideas, and assisting in the construction, monitoring, and management of the Anchor Investment Fund. The Investment Advisory Committee approves all investment decisions and portfolio trades.   #finance #assetmanagement #philanthropy #industryexperts #mentoring #investing #investmentmanagement #industryengagement #industrypartners #empowerment #financialmarkets #moneymanagement #equityresearch #portfoliomanagement #fundsmanagement #assetallocation

Congratulations to UTS Finance Department academic, Dr Alessandro Spina, who has been awarded a UTS Business School research grant for his project titled: “Public Perceptions of Monetary Policy”. This study explores how individuals interpret central #bank communications and whether perceptions of monetary policy decisions vary across different groups. By analysing survey data from financial professionals, Alessandro aims to uncover systematic differences in how people understand central bank reaction functions. The findings could provide valuable insights for policymakers looking to enhance transparency and improve monetary policy effectiveness. #finance #monetarypolicy #banking

The UTS Finance Department would like welcome Yang YOU from HKU Business School who will be presenting a seminar titled "Market Power and Redeemable Loyalty Token Design" on Wednesday 19th March from 12 noon (Australian Eastern Daylight Time). This research is co-authored with Kenneth Rogoff from Harvard University and Zhiheng He from Tsinghua University. The seminar will be held in room CB08.08.002, Building 8, 14-28 Ultimo Rd, Ultimo, Sydney (Campus map: https://lnkd.in/gj43i5-Z). To attend in please RSVP to Cassie Sloane (Cassie.Sloane@uts.edu.au). #Digitalization led to a rapid expansion of loyalty tokens typically bundled as part of product price. Some tokens, such as those in the airline industry, already account for tens of billions of dollars and are major contributors to #revenues. An open question is whether, as #technology evolves, firms will have a strong incentive to make loyalty tokens tradable, functioning as their own capital pools, raising #regulation issues, including for monetary and banking authorities. The authors main finding is that an issuer has a strong incentive to make tokens non-tradable by earning a higher revenue even though the consumer would be willing to pay a premium for tradable tokens, as non-tradability effectively enables a #finance channel based on the user base. The authors further show that an issuer with stronger market power tends to make its revenue more token-dependent. Empirical results from airline mileage and hotel reward programs align with this theory. Download paper: https://lnkd.in/gRWxAmwu #loyaltytokens #loyaltyprograms #assetpricing #businesseconomics

Recently the UTS Finance Department greeted our 2025 #Honours #students with a welcome barbecue. They have already completed their intensive bootcamp to start what will be a very challenging and hopefully rewarding year. We wish them all the best with their studies this year. Nicholas Aroney Christopher Augustine Oscar Bradley Daniel Gilad Timothy Glass Boban Mirjanoski Kian O’Neill Sahajveer Singh Manav Sandhu Marco Serratore Daniel Swane Georgia Tsihlis #finance #uts #financeeducation #highereducation #education #financeindustry #studentsuccess #highachievers

Congratulations to UTS Finance Department academic, Dr Christina Nikitopoulos who has been awarded a UTS Collaboration Scheme grant for the project titled: “Next-Gen AI Platform to Enable Smart Home Electrification”. Her collaborators on this project will be Dr Ibrahim IBRAHIM from the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures, Associate Professsor Andrea Trianni from the School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, UTS Faculty of Engineering and IT, and external partner, Patrick Lay from Retragreen Pty Ltd - Australia. This project aims to develop a next-generation artificial intelligence (#AI) platform that leverages advanced machine learning, #optimisation, and smart sensors to revolutionise smart home #electrification. The AI platform will analyse residential #energy patterns, incorporate tariff structures, and provide actionable insights to enable customers to maximise the benefits of electrification and flexible demand. Through this, households can minimise energy bills, reduce carbon emissions, optimise the utilisation of their customer energy resources (CERs) such as solar systems, and unlock the full potential of the energy market, including dynamic pricing, virtual power plants (VPPs), and demand response programs.    The AI platform will support smart home electrification by integrating advanced analytics, enabling real-time decision-making, and fostering customer engagement in energy management. Flexible demand capabilities will reduce minimum demand issues for the network, increase grid stability, and allow for the integration of additional renewable energy resources. This project will ultimately contribute to #decarbonising the residential sector, achieving net-zero emissions targets, and empowering households to actively participate in the transition to a sustainable energy future. The Next-Gen AI Platform will also set a new standard for sustainable energy management. By developing and refining metrics to optimise energy consumption and balance market supply and demand, this project will help achieve significant #environmental, #economic, and societal benefits. The outcomes will position Australia as a global leader in leveraging AI for sustainable home electrification and energy transition. The UTS Collaboration Scheme is designed to enhance opportunities for cross-disciplinary #research and support UTS research teams forge new #collaborations across faculties and disciplines. #finance #artificialintelligence #machinelearning #smartsensors #smarthomes #householdenergyusage #carbonemissions #energymarket #dynamicpricing #energymanagement #gridstability #renewableenergy #sustainability #netzeroemissions #energytransition

The UTS Finance Department would like to welcome new visiting #PhD #student, Varsha Madheshiya! Her supervisors while she is at the University of Technology Sydney will be Dr Vinay Patel and Dr Leo Liu. Varsha is a visiting scholar at UTS as part of the joint PhD program (collaborative degree) between UTS and the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. She is a #research scholar at the Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, India. She holds a bachelor's and master's degree with specialization in #finance. She has already published a paper titled "How do firms navigate the tightrope of R&D investments, cash flow sensitivity, and financial constraints? Evidence from China and India" (https://lnkd.in/geZ4J_kM) in the journal, Applied Economics, with her supervisor and co-author Professor P.Krishna Prasanna. #visitingscholar

Congratulations to UTS Finance Department academic, Dr Amir Armanious, who as chief investigator, is leading the team that has been awarded a UTS Collaboration Scheme grant for their project titled: “Integrating Financial Literacy and Behavioral Science to Prevent Financial Abuse”. His collaborators on this project will be Associate Professsor Phoebe Bailey, who is Director of Studies (Psychology) at UTS and Professor David Michayluk. The importance of #financial literacy has been widely recognized, with studies demonstrating its positive impact on financial behaviours, wealth accumulation, and overall financial well-being. Despite this, financial literacy levels among young adults remain concerningly low. This lack of financial knowledge can lead to poor financial decision-making, increased #debt, and long-term financial struggles. Poor financial literacy and traditional financial literacy approaches have proven insufficient in preventing financial abuse, as they primarily focus on knowledge transfer while overlooking crucial #behavioural and #psychological factors. This gap between financial knowledge and behaviour is particularly evident in vulnerable populations, where psychological factors often override cognitive understanding in financial decision-making. This project will significantly transform how financial literacy programs address abuse prevention by integrating behavioural science with financial education. The projects research will establish a new paradigm in financial abuse prevention, moving beyond traditional knowledge-based approaches to address underlying psychological factors that contribute to financial vulnerability. The UTS Collaboration Scheme is designed to enhance opportunities for cross-disciplinary #research and support UTS research teams forge new #collaborations across faculties and disciplines. This project will enhance #collaboration between the finance and clinical #psychology departments at UTS. #finance #financialliteracy #financialabuse #financialdecisionmaking #behaviouralfinance #financialeducation #crossdisciplinarycollaboration

Nominations are now open for the 2025 UTS Alumni Awards. Celebrate the extraordinary impact of a UTS #graduate by nominating them for a 2025 UTS Alumni Award. Your nomination helps ensure that our most #innovative, #inspiring, and #diverse #graduates receive much-deserved #recognition. Since its inception in 2009, the UTS Alumni Awards program has recognised over 100 graduates – #trailblazers, #innovators and #pioneers. These inspiring graduates epitomise the immense depth of talent within the UTS #alumni community – high achievers who are professionally distinguished in their fields and driven by a desire to create a lasting impact in the world.  Each year we invite the UTS community, members of the public, and colleagues to nominate UTS alumni for the awards during our nomination campaign between March to May. From these nominations, a judging panel selects the winners for each category. Recipients of the awards are announced at an annual celebration in October. Nominations close on Friday, 2nd May 2025 How to nominate: https://lnkd.in/gk-C4nZj #alumniaward #utscommunity #utsgraduates #utsalumni

The UTS Finance Department would like welcome Denis Sosyura from Arizona State University who will be presenting a seminar titled "Remotely Productive: The Efficacy of Remote Work for Executives" on Monday 10th March from 12 noon (Australian Eastern Daylight Time). This research is co-authored with Ran Duchin from Boston College. The seminar will be held in room CB08.08.003, Building 8, 14-28 Ultimo Rd, Ultimo, Sydney (Campus map: https://lnkd.in/gj43i5-Z). To attend in please RSVP to Cassie Sloane (Cassie.Sloane@uts.edu.au). The authors study the efficacy of remote working arrangements between #CEOs and firms. Long-distance CEOs underperform according to operating performance, firm valuation, insider reviews, and announcement returns to CEO departures. These effects are stronger when the CEO lives further away and crosses multiple time zones. Using the private costs from uprooting the CEO’s spouse as an instrument for the CEO’s decision to work remotely, the authors verify the robustness of performance outcomes. The #underperformance of long-distance CEOs is related to short-termism, loss of information, and consumption of leisure, such as recreational boats and beach homes. Download paper: https://lnkd.in/g_H529KP #finance #remoteworking #commuting #corporatefinance #corporategovernance #behavioralfinance

7th Sydney Market Microstructure and Digital Finance Meeting From Traditional to Decentralized Financial Markets 8-9 December, 2025 Sydney, Australia This two-day meeting brings together researchers, industry practitioners, and policy makers to discuss current issues and recent research on the microstructure of both traditional and digital financial markets. The conference will be held in-person in Sydney, Australia on December 8 and 9, 2025. Submissions are invited of empirical, theoretical, and experimental papers from all areas in market microstructure and digital finance including, but not limited to: - Design of traditional and digital financial markets - Liquidity, price efficiency, and integrity of traditional and digital markets - Algorithmic and high-frequency trading - Fragmentation of trading across venues - Market surveillance and regulatory challenges in digital markets - #DeFi infrastructure (#blockchain, smart contracts, oracles, and #tokenization) - DeFi/FinTech applications (#DEXs, #AMMs, #NFTs, and tokenized securities) The format of the meeting includes paper presentations and discussions and keynote presentations by Maureen O'Hara (Cornell University) and Agostino Capponi (Columbia University). Deadline for submissions is June 30, 2025. Participants will be notified by mid-August, 2025. Submit paper: https://lnkd.in/g_CY7dvJ The meeting is hosted by the Financial Research Network (FIRN), the Digital Finance CRC and the University of Technology Sydney. This meeting is part of the FIRN program of topic specific #research meetings. ORGANISING COMMITTEE: Dr Ester Félez Viñas Professor David Michayluk Professor Talis Putnins Meeting web site: https://lnkd.in/gFJjVzAz #marketmicrostructure #digitalfinance #financialmarkets #conference #algorithmictrading #highfrequencytrading #fintech #cryptocurrencies #financialmarketregulation