Shaun Bond is the Frank Finn Professor of Finance in the UQ Business School at the University of Queensland. Shaun has research interests in the areas of real estate finance and financial economics. Prior to joining the UQ Business School, Shaun was the West Shell Professor of Real Estate in the Department of Finance at the University of Cincinnati and the Director of the UC Real Estate Center. Prior to this he held an appointment in the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge. In addition, Shaun has been a visiting professor at the Pennsylvania State University and the George Washington University. Shaun holds a PhD and an MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge, and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Queensland (awarded with First Class Honours).
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.
Ihtisham is a Lecturer in Finance at the University of Queensland (UQ), also having earned his PhD from UQ in 2020. With over a decade of teaching experience, within and outside Australia, he has taught various undergraduate and postgraduate finance courses, both in traditional and online formats, covering topics such as Portfolio Management, Asset Pricing & Public Financial Management.
Besides teaching students within university, Ihtisham also plays an active role in industry engagement and Executive Education and has a vast experience in facilitating capacity building courses, especially for the public sector. He currently serves as the Academic Director for UQ’s joint public sector finance program with the Queensland Treasury Corporation. This role allows him to bridge academic knowledge with practical industry insights, enriching the learning experience for both students and professionals alike. Notably, Ihtisham has been recognised for his excellence in teaching and learning, receiving the Student Engagement Award for his commitment to fostering a dynamic and engaging learning environment.
Ihtisham not only has a long teaching experience but is also actively involved in finance research. He has published scholarly work, in the fields of Climate Risk, Asset Pricing, and Corporate Finance in a number of highly ranked academic journals and has also been cited by different media outlets. Ihtisham has secured several research grants, from within UQ, and other prestigious organizations (e.g., American Finance Association, Korean Development Institute) and presented his scholarly work at leading local and international conferences (e.g., Financial Management Association)
