Professor Paul Kofman
Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics and Sidney Myer Chair of Commerce at the University of Melbourne

Advisory Board Member
Professor Paul Kofman is Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics and Sidney Myer Chair of Commerce at the University of Melbourne.
He holds a PhD in Economics (1991) from Erasmus University Rotterdam and came to Australia in 1994 as a Lecturer in Econometrics at Monash University. He joined the University of Melbourne in 2001 as a Professor of Finance after appointments at the University of New South Wales and the University of Technology, Sydney. He was Head of the Department of Finance from 2006 until 2010, then progressed to Deputy Dean in 2010. He was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics in 2012.
Paul has undertaken consultancy work for the European Options Exchange, the New York Board of Trade, the Central European University, several Dutch investment banks, the Dutch Centre for Actuarial Statistics, and the Australian Office of Financial Market.
His main research interest is in quantitative finance and the ethics of finance; the latter of which he continues to teach. With colleague and co-author of the book A Matter of Trust, Clare Payne, they introduced Ethics in Finance as one of the first online subjects at the University of Melbourne. With Associate Professor Sean Pinder, Paul designed and developed the first Coursera MOO specialisation, ‘Essentials of Corporate Financial Analysis and Decision Making’, in partnership with the Bank of New York Mellon.
Paul was one of the founding directors of the ARC-funded Financial Integrity Research Network which to this date provides a strong, cohesive and efficient approach toward supporting research and research training in the Australian finance academic community.

Advisory Board Member
Professor Paul Kofman is Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics and Sidney Myer Chair of Commerce at the University of Melbourne.
He holds a PhD in Economics (1991) from Erasmus University Rotterdam and came to Australia in 1994 as a Lecturer in Econometrics at Monash University. He joined the University of Melbourne in 2001 as a Professor of Finance after appointments at the University of New South Wales and the University of Technology, Sydney. He was Head of the Department of Finance from 2006 until 2010, then progressed to Deputy Dean in 2010. He was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics in 2012.
Paul has undertaken consultancy work for the European Options Exchange, the New York Board of Trade, the Central European University, several Dutch investment banks, the Dutch Centre for Actuarial Statistics, and the Australian Office of Financial Market.
His main research interest is in quantitative finance and the ethics of finance; the latter of which he continues to teach. With colleague and co-author of the book A Matter of Trust, Clare Payne, they introduced Ethics in Finance as one of the first online subjects at the University of Melbourne. With Associate Professor Sean Pinder, Paul designed and developed the first Coursera MOO specialisation, ‘Essentials of Corporate Financial Analysis and Decision Making’, in partnership with the Bank of New York Mellon.
Paul was one of the founding directors of the ARC-funded Financial Integrity Research Network which to this date provides a strong, cohesive and efficient approach toward supporting research and research training in the Australian finance academic community.
Leadership Roles
- Co-Chair, The Mabo Centre (2024-present) - Partnership between NNTC and University of Melbourne
- Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Melbourne (2012-present) - Appointed May 2012
- Sidney Myer Chair of Commerce, University of Melbourne (current)
- Deputy Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Melbourne (2010-2012)
- Head of Department of Finance, University of Melbourne (2006-2010)
- Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne (2001-present)
- Member, Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) Council on Economic Policy
- Founding Director, ARC-funded Financial Integrity Research Network
- Associate Editor, Journal of International Money and Finance
- Associate Editor, International Journal of Managerial Finance
- Associate Editor, Review of Futures Markets
- Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW Sydney (prior to 2001)
- Professor of Finance and Economics, University of Technology Sydney (prior to 2001)
- Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Econometrics, Monash University (1994-late 1990s)
- Assistant Professor (Universitair Docent), Erasmus University Rotterdam (prior to 1994)
Key Achievements
- Co-developed, with Associate Professor Sean Pinder, the first Coursera MOOC specialisation 'Essentials of Corporate Financial Analysis and Decision Making' in partnership with Bank of New York Mellon
- Co-created, with Clare Payne, 'Ethics in Finance' - one of the first online subjects at University of Melbourne for postgraduate students
- Numerous Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Grants
- Extensive research publications and citations across financial economics literature
- Continues to teach ethics in finance at University of Melbourne
Published Works
- A Matter of Trust: The Practice of Ethics in Finance, co-authored with Clare Payne, 2017/2018 - Melbourne University Publishing
- Scoring the Ethics of AI Robo-Advice: Why We Need Gateways and Ratings (2024) - Journal of Business Ethics
Does Australia Need a New Banking Model? with Carsten Murawski, 2015 - Australian Economic Review
- Do Insurance Companies Possess an Informational Monopoly? Empirical Evidence From Auto Insurance with Gregory P. Nini, 2013 - Journal of Risk & Insurance
- Is Default Risk Priced in Australian Equity? Exploring the Role of the Business Cycle with Howard Chan and Robert Faff, 2011 - Australian Journal of Management
- Stock margins and the conditional probability of price reversals with James T. Moser, 2001 - Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Economic Perspectives
- Young Australians worry about job prospects (2024) - Pursuit by University of Melbourne
- Regular contributor to The Conversation on ethics in finance and financial services
