ANNUAL REVIEW - Australian Centre For Financial Studies

Industry Advisory Committee and
Reference Groups
PROFESSOR BOB OFFICER
CASE STUDY 4
12
Facilitating links between academia,
industry and government has been a primary
objective of MCFS since its inception.
Enabling these links has been the role
of the Industry Advisory Committee (IAC).
The IAC is chaired by Emeritus Professor
Bob Officer, and is comprised of around 23
senior managers from Melbourne’s finance
community.
The IAC meets at least four times each
year to give the MCFS directors and Board
guidance on the needs of industry and to:
• provide practical advice on broad research
directions for MCFS, which reflect MCFS’s
goal of facilitating research which is
innovative, high quality and of value to the
Melbourne financial sector;
• assist MCFS in developing its network of
contacts with industry; and
• review the activities of MCFS to ensure that
they are appropriately targeted towards
achieving its objectives.
The composition of the Committee
is determined so as to provide a range
of expertise across the areas of interest
to MCFS. As well as representatives
from a number of industry sectors, there
are members from a range of relevant
professions, as well as a blend of experience
across private, public and academic sectors.
Commencing in 2009 the work of
the IAC is being supplemented by three
Research Reference Groups, which will drill
down further to develop a research agenda
of industry relevant topics for staff and
postgraduate students of the consortium
universities. The intention of the Reference
Groups is to increase the interaction between
industry and academia and maximise the
outcomes of industry relevant research.
The research focus of each group will
be broadly:
• Funds Management – superannuation/
pensions, venture capital, managed funds,
private equity, charitable trusts etc. –
chaired by Syd Bone
• Insurance - general insurance, risk
insurance – chaired by Professor Bob
Officer
• Banking – retail and wholesale issues –
chaired by Professor Kevin Davis
• Wherever possible, research will be
empirical and of practical relevance to
industry in its focus. Common elements of
each group’s considerations will be aspects
of:
• Regulation – impact and effectiveness,
cost and benefit trade-off; efficiency vs.
equity considerations,
• Governance – how will excellence in
the field (product design, organisation/
industry structure, efficiency) contribute to
improved governance outcomes
• Innovation - in financial products/markets/
services is an important part of dynamic
efficiency and applies equally across
all areas. Successful implementation
of innovative instruments/techniques/
processes is a key element of value
creation in financial services.
The reference group will also advise
MCFS on potential industry partners with
reference to their ability to fund and/or
participate in research projects (including
submissions to government and regulatory
bodies) and support post-graduate and other
academic interns.
Each of the three reference groups will
be charged with developing each year a half
(or full) day research symposium involving
practitioners, academics and postgraduate
students.