ANNUAL REVIEW - Australian Centre For Financial Studies

Striding towards
its mission
SYD BONE
KNOWLEDGE CREATION
On behalf of the Board of the Melbourne
Centre for Financial Studies (MCFS) it is my
pleasure to present the Annual Review of
MCFS’s activities for 2008/09 and its plans
for the forthcoming year.
MCFS is a not-for-profit consortium
of Monash University, the University of
Melbourne, RMIT University and Finsia
(Financial Services Institute of Australasia).
Funding by external sponsors and partners is
a key component of the business model, with
special thanks to the Victorian government,
AAMI and the Commonwealth Bank for their
strong support.
Now in its fourth year, MCFS has
already made great strides towards achieving
its mission of linking together finance
practitioners, academics and government
to facilitate and disseminate knowledge
through the greater finance community.
MCFS has developed a strong
reputation for its ability to attract high profile
speakers to its outstanding events, for the
depth of research it has funded, and for
its strong unbiased contributions to public
debate on financial services issues. The
information contained in this Annual Review
provides an excellent summary of what
has been achieved during 2008/09 and I
commend it to you.
The challenge going forward for MCFS
is to build on the strong base now in place. It
is indeed an exciting time in this regard, with
MCFS set to expand its activities significantly
in 2009/10 by launching the Melbourne
Mercer Global Pension Index in October and
assuming responsibility for the Melbourne
Financial Services Symposium held annually
in March.
Another key initiative underway is
the formation of three Research Reference
Groups made up of senior industry and
academic leaders in the banking, insurance
and funds management fields respectively.
The intent is to identify and develop research
issues that are most relevant to industry.
This will then provide direction for research
students and staff of the consortium
universities, for the annual MCFS research
grants offered to the universities, as well
as provide consulting opportunities and
introductions.
PAYING TRIBUTE
I cannot let this opportunity go by without
paying tribute to the outgoing Chairman
of the Board John Unkles, who has been
involved with MCFS from its inception. John’s
vision and leadership will be surely missed,
and we thank him for his contribution.
At management level, we welcomed
Professor Deborah Ralston first as Acting
Director of MCFS whilst Kevin Davis was on
sabbatical in the UK, and more recently as
its Director now that Kevin has returned to
take on the role of Director of Research. The
skills and experience of both Deb and Kevin
dovetail exceptionally together and augur
well for MCFS’s future success.
Finally, I wish to thank the Board, our
management team and all our sponsors
and partners for a great year in 2008/09.
We look forward to another strong, indeed
groundbreaking, year ahead.
Syd Bone, Chairman,
Melbourne Centre for Financial Studies,
September 2009
A NOTE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
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