
Overview
Background
Rand Low is Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Queensland and an Associate Professor of Quantitative Finance at Bond Business School.
Assoc. Professor Rand Low’s research areas are in asset and investments management, specifically correlation/dependence modelling, portfolio optimization, risk management, systematic trading strategies and commodities investing strategies. His work has been published in leading academic and industry journals such as Journal of Banking & Finance, Quantitative Finance, Journal of Empirical Finance, Journal of Investing, Journal of Commodities Markets, Resource Policy, and Journal of Risk. Rand is an avid supporter of Open Access Journals and multi-disciplinary research. He is an Editor of the Special Issue of Mathematics: Mathematical Models and Applications in Finance (Impact Factor: 2.6; Q1 Journal Ranking)
Prior to his PhD studies, Assoc Prof. Professor Low worked in control systems engineering and management roles for Honeywell for landmark engineering projects such as GOMA, SLQ, Brisbane Square, Mater Mothers' Hospital, St Andrews Hospital, and more where he achieved the Chartered Engineer designation from Engineers Australia. During his PhD studies, he won the GSITA Award and 3MT competitions. Upon completing his PhD, he received the Dean's Award for Research Higher Degree Excellence, a research fellowship on portfolio optimization & risk management techniques for financial crises and an Australia Awards - Endeavour fellow. He has been a visiting research fellow at the New York University - Stern School of Business, and an Australian Institute of Business and Economis (AIBE) Scholar He has also had Visiting Research Fellow appointments at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK and Sunway University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Assoc. Prof Low research expertise has allowed him to successfully transition into industry as he has worked at the global headquarters of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BlackRock in New York City. He led teams of quantitative researchers in building mathematical models for market/credit/operational risk, securities lending, structured products, asset-backed securities, and portfolio management. He has also defended quantitative model development practices on behalf of these institutions to US regulators such as the Federal Reserve (FED) and the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC). He is worked on quantiative model stress-testing, model risk management practices, and model risk governance for major global financial institutions.
Assoc. Professor Low’s is interested in applying statistical and machine learning techniques in automating business processes and investments management in areas such as corporate credit ratings, robo-advisors, digital assets (i.e., cryptocurrencies, blockchain), commodities, and systematic active investment strategies.
Availability
- Dr Rand Low is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Multi-asset portfolio optimization (Commodities, Fixed Income, Private Equity)
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Dependence modelling for financial crises (Vine copulas, Factor copulas)
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Digital assets & cryptocurrency (Ethereum, Stablecoin, Privatecoin)
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Credit risk, market risk & operational risk (PD/LGD/EAD, VaR/CVaR)
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Systematic trading strategies (Factor-Investing, Event-Driven)
Research impacts
Professor Low has frequently contributed his academic and industry insights into topical issues in global financial markets, the Australian economy, interest rates, cryptocurrencies, and investing & retirement with national newspapers and trade publications (e.g., Australian Financial Review, Courier Mail, BBC, Australian Stock Exchange, Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange, news.com.au, 7news, Newsweek, etc.). He has been quoted as the "DIY recession guy" appearing on interviews with Channel 9: The Today Show, Channel 10 The Project, and Channel 10 News. He has also been interviewed several times on ABC Brisbane Mornings with Steve Austin on the state of the Australian economy, inflation rates & risks, and the Australian Federal Budget 2024. He has also been called to parliament for the Inquiry into the Development of the Australian Corporate Bond Market and provided advice on how to increase Australian retail investment into corporate bonds.
Based on Professor Low's research expertise in the application of copulas in portfolio optimization and risk management, he has led quantitative research & development teams in the world's pre-eminent buy-side and sell-side financial institutions in Manhattan, NYC. He is a consultant and advisor to financial technology firms such such as BitOrb (Digital Assets Derivatives Exchange) and the Australian Bond Exchange (Fixed Income Products Exchange).
Works
Search Professor Rand Low’s works on UQ eSpace
2016
Journal Article
The role of analyst forecasts in the momentum effect
Low, Rand Kwong Yew and Tan, Enoch (2016). The role of analyst forecasts in the momentum effect. International Review of Financial Analysis, 48, 67-84. doi: 10.1016/j.irfa.2016.09.007
2016
Journal Article
Enhancing mean-variance portfolio selection by modeling distributional asymmetries
Low, Rand Kwong Yew, Faff, Robert and Aas, Kjersti (2016). Enhancing mean-variance portfolio selection by modeling distributional asymmetries. Journal of Economics and Business, 85, 49-72. doi: 10.1016/j.jeconbus.2016.01.003
2015
Journal Article
Is diversification always optimal?
Humphrey, Jacquelyn E., Benson, Karen L., Low, Rand K.Y. and Lee, Wei-Lun (2015). Is diversification always optimal?. Pacific Basin Finance Journal, 35 (Part B), 521-532. doi: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2015.09.003
2013
Other Outputs
Examination of correlation structures in the context of modern portfolio management
Low, Kwong Yew (2013). Examination of correlation structures in the context of modern portfolio management. PhD Thesis, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland.
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Rand Low is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
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Corporate credit risk ratings (Statistical Learning, Machine Learning)
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Robo-advisors (Dynamic Portfolio Optimization, Bellman Equation)
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Multi-asset portfolio optimization (Hedge funds, Commodities, Fixed income)
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Digital Assets & Cryptocurrency
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Copulas and dependence modelling (Vine copulas, Archimedean copulas)
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Statistical arbitrage (Pairs trading, Risk arbitrage, Event studies)
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Tree-based, deep learning and sentiment analysis applications to corporate credit ratings
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Tree-based, deep learning and sentiment analysis applications to corporate credit ratings
Associate Advisor
Completed supervision
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Impact of Mining Technological Innovations on Iron Ore Share Prices
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Mohsen Yahyaei, Associate Professor Mehmet Kizil
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Rand Low directly for media enquiries about:
- bitcoin
- corporate bonds
- cryptocurrency
- digital assets
- downside risk
- economy
- ethereum
- factor investing
- fixed income
- inflation rates
- investments
- portfolio management
- portfolio optimization
- retirement planning
- risk management
- superannuation
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