ACFS Centre Staff | Australian Centre for Financial Studies

Centre Staff

Prof Deborah Ralston, Director
Professor Deborah Ralston is the Director of the Australian Centre and a Professor of Finance at Monash University. Previous appointments include Pro Vice Chancellor of the Division of Business Law and Information Science at the University of Canberra, and Director of the Centre for Australian Financial Institutions at the University of Southern Queensland.

Deborah’s academic background is in economics and financial management and she has taught in the areas of economics, corporate finance, credit risk management, financial statement analysis and financial institutions management. Her research interests include the impact of financial regulation, the strategy and management of financial institutions and regional economic development. She has published widely in these areas and is a co-author of the text Financial Institutions Management.

Deborah is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Financial Services Institute of Australasia, and the CPA Australia. Deborah was formerly a Director of Heritage Building Society 1992-2003 and is currently a Director of the listed mortgage broking company Mortgage Choice.

Research Interests – The impact of financial regulation; the strategy and management of financial institutions and regional economic development.

Prof Kevin Davis, Research Director
Kevin Davis is a Professor of at the University of Melbourne. Prior to joining Melbourne in 1987, he was a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Adelaide. His primary research interests are in the areas of financial institutions and markets, financial engineering and corporate finance. He is co-author/editor of sixteen books in the areas of finance, banking, monetary economics and macroeconomics and numerous journal articles and chapters in books.

Kevin is on the Board (and previously Chairperson) of the Melbourne University Credit Union, and the Board of SIRCA. He has developed and presented numerous training programs for banks and businesses. He has undertaken an extensive range of consulting assignments for financial institutions, business and government, including preparing a report for the Federal Government on Financial System Guarantees. Most recently, the Federal Government appointed Kevin as a part-time member of the Australian Competition Tribunal.

He is a Senior Fellow of Finsia and a Fellow of the FTA and of the AMI Institute, and a member of the Economics Society Australia, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, American Economic Association, American Finance Association, Financial Management Association, Asian Finance Association.

Research Interests – Financial institutions management, treasury management, financial engineering, corporate financial policy, financial markets.

John Fowler, Research Fellow
John has been Research Fellow at the Australian Centre for Financial Studies since its inception in June of 2005. He is a graduate of The University of Melbourne and the Manchester Business School.

Having had a long career in corporate finance roles culminating as Chief Finance Officer of Carlton & United Breweries and subsequently Fosters Asia, John has since worked as a management consultant and financial researcher.

John’s focus of research and consulting has been on national and international capital markets with particular reference to Australian equities.

Frieda McLoughlin, Senior Manager Marketing, Events and Sponsorship
Frieda joined the Centre in November 2009 and brings over 30 years experience across the financial services industry in areas of banking, operational administration, marketing, communications, event, sponsorship and membership management.