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PROFESSOR ALEX FRINO
Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) – Accounting and Economics 1989
Master of Commerce (Honours) – 1991
When two University of Wollongong PhD students joined the Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre (CMCRC) on $150,000 research scholarships earlier this year, Professor Alex Frino couldn’t have been happier.
Professor Frino is the CMCRC’s Chief Executive Officer and Professor of Finance at the University of Sydney.
He is also a UOW graduate, having completed Bachelor and Master of Commerce degrees (both with Honours) at Wollongong – with a Master of Philosophy in Finance at the University of Cambridge sandwiched between his two UOW degrees and a PhD in Finance at the University of Sydney added later.
On his return to Australia from Cambridge in 1991 Professor Frino spent a year lecturing at UOW while completing his Masters degree, before joining the University of Sydney staff in 1992. He later worked as an analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston and as an economist for the Sydney Futures Exchange before returning to the University of Sydney in 2001 to chair its School of Economics – at age 31 the youngest chair on campus up to that time.
“As a Wollongong graduate, it has meant a lot to bring my old university into the fold as a partner in the CRC,” Professor Frino said. “There is a lot of talent at UOW, and the first two PhD students in our research program (Jane Chau and Anthony Flint) have been fantastic.
“We’re definitely looking to build on the association. I got a lot out of my time at UOW, and it’s good to be able to put something back.”
As its name implies, the Capital Markets CRC that Professor Frino heads focuses on stock market research. It receives $25 million in annual funding from the Federal Government, matched by funds contributed by its 17 industry partners in Australia and overseas. These partners include major stock exchanges, market regulating authorities, investment banks, insurance companies and hedge funds.
The CRC has five university partners – Sydney, NSW, Macquarie, UTS and now Wollongong.
The CRC’s research agenda has a strong focus on stock market integrity, especially developing technology to counter stockmarket manipulation such as insider trading and other issues including insurance fraud.
It has research students placed at 55 institutions around the world, including the London, Singapore and Hong Stock Exchanges.
The global financial crisis has increased demand for the CRC’s services and reinforced its role.
“It’s well-known that when share prices take a tumble, the potential for market manipulation increases,” Professor Frinosaid. “Since the crisis began we haven’t lost a partner, and have actually attracted new sponsors. We are working really hard with our industry partners to make sure our research is relevant to their needs.”
Professor Frino’s story is a classic example of the Wollongong migrant experience. His Italian parents migrated to Australia to give their children the opportunity for a better life, with his father working at the Port Kembla steelworks and his mother in local textile factories to put their children through school.
Young Alex excelled at Edmund Rice College and at UOW, winning a string of prizes and scholarships before being awarded a Commonwealth Trust Scholarship to study at Cambridge. That overseas experience was just a taste of things to come, as he has subsequently spent time as a visiting scholar at Cambridge and the Universita’ Frederico II in Italy, and in the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship.