Annual Report 2005 - Fields Institute - University of Toronto

ment returns. The object of the research was to construct
portfolios of investments which can insulate investors
from risk to the economy and provide superior, sustainable
returns.
“Investors and institutions such as pension funds are
looking for alternatives to exposure to the economy and
will want positive returns with investment profiles not
dependent on economic growth. Sigma’s detailed research
permits us to deliver that product,” comments David Rudd.
Sigma has two basic business themes: 1) providing investment
consulting services to large financial institutions in
Canada, the U.S., and South America; 2) acting as sub advisor
to firms who wish to invest in global structured product
and alternative investments. Sigma has seven full-time staff
including four senior math researchers and is now registered
as an investment counsellor.
The Individual Finance and Insurance Decisions (IFID)
Centre @ the Fields Institute
The Individual Finance and Insurance Decisions Centre
(IFID) is a non-profit corporation that is currently housed
at the Fields Institute and is closely associated with the
Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto.
The broad objectives of The IFID Centre are to conduct and
disseminate applied research in the field of financial risk
management for individuals. This mandate covers the areas
of finance, insurance, economics, actuarial science, taxation,
operations research, law, psychology, sociology and
marketing, insofar as they apply to individual consumers
and their financial decisions. The IFID Centre has two primary
and ongoing activities. The first is to link and support
a wide network of academic researchers interested in the
topic of personal finance and insurance. The second is to
engage in quantitatively-based contract work for industry
and government. The IFID Centre is supported by a variety
of sponsors that provide funding for targeted research projects,
graduate and postdoctoral fellowships, and an annual
conference devoted to personal risk management. The IFID
Centre’s organizational structure consists of an Executive
Director, a governing board of directors, in-house support
staff, and research associates from industry and academia.
The current executive director of The IFID Centre is Moshe
A. Milevsky, Associate Professor of Finance at the Schulich
School of Business at York University.
C o m m e r c i a l / I n d u s t r i a l M a t h e m a t i c s
Moshe Milvesky
Fields Institute 2005 ANNUAL REPORT 113