Experts from academia and industry presented on the conference theme of quantitative risk management and financial technology (fintech). As rapidly developing research areas, risk management and fintech are presenting new challenges and practical issues with implications not only for scholars, investors, entrepreneurs and policy makers, but also for society at-large. Presentation topics at the conference included mathematical, computational, and learning methods, as well as conceptual and technological innovations developed for finance, insurance, risk management, and government.
“The University of Waterloo is uniquely positioned to present this conference. We’re home to one of the top academic units for statistical and actuarial science in the world, with about 50 active full-time faculty conducting research in diverse and exciting areas, including risk management and fintech,” said Stefan Steiner, Chair of Waterloo’s Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science. “This conference was an opportunity to bring these top Canadian scholars together with international experts and relevant industry leaders to present and discuss the most cutting-edge advances in these fields."
Waterloo has a history of connecting industry and academia through research projects and the co-operative education program. With the building blocks to excel in these fields - programs in actuarial science, mathematical finance, quantitative risk management, computer science and relationships with insurance and financial companies – the Faculty of Mathematics can help industry forge the innovations and solutions needed for the future.
The WatSAF conference also hosted the David A. Sprott Distinguished Lecture, “A Machine Learning Approach to Portfolio Risk Management”, delivered by Professor Damir Filipovic (EPFL and Swiss Finance Institute).