Olfa Maalaoui, a PhD student in Finance at HEC Montréal, received the Risk Management Research Award at the 2008 European Financial Management Association (EFMA), held in June in Athens. This very prestigious award comes with a prize of US$2,500 from the Global Association of Risk Professionnals (GARP).
In her paper, Ms. Maalaoui presented a model identifying the significant determinants of credit spread changes in bond return rates. The original model, covered in one chapter of her PhD thesis, was applied to data concerning bonds held by US insurance companies.
Her thesis is entitled “Determinants of Credit Spread Changes within Switching Regimes.” Georges Dionne, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Risk Management, and Pascal François, a Professor in the Department of Finance, co-directed Ms. Maalaoui’s research work and co-authored the winning paper.
The award committee consisted of:
In addition to this award, Ms. Maalaoui was invited to present her work at a GARP research meeting.
The European Financial Management Association was established in 1994 and has become a global leader in developing and disseminating knowledge about financial decision-making tools. In addition to providing opportunities for professional interaction among academics, practitioners and students, the Association promotes the development and understanding of basic and applied research in this field and of sound financial management practices.
The Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) is an association consisting of over 76,000 individuals from more than 150 countries. Members are involved in financial risk management and work in all industrial and financial sectors, including banks and insurance companies.
