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From improving financial literacy among students, through to examining Australia’s superannuation system, the UWA Business School’s Professor Paul Gerrans is passionate about improving our understanding of money.

In recognition of his innovative research, he has been awarded a 2013 MoneySmart Week award in the Individuals category.

The award acknowledges Professor Gerrans’ “strong, sustained and continuing contribution to the field of financial literacy research.”

MoneySmart Week award judges noted Professor Gerrans’ innovative and unique approach. “Importantly, his research has a very practical application that has proven invaluable for an array of organisations and their programs and projects,” the judges said.

Over the past decade, Professor Gerrans’ teaching and research has focused on issues surrounding individual financial decision-making and financial literacy, with a particular focus on superannuation.

This semester, Professor Gerrans and Winthrop Professor Richard Heaney are teaching a new first-year unit at the UWA Business School called Managing Your Personal Finance . Attracting an enrolment of more than 350 students, the unit has proven especially popular among those enrolled in non-business courses.

“Managing Your Personal Finance aims to help students grow more confident in their own financial abilities and be more active in successfully managing their money and financial futures,” Professor Gerrans said.

In addition, Professor Gerrans is currently working with the new $9 million CSIRO-Monash Superannuation Research Cluster.

The Cluster aims to address the themes of "Superannuation and the Economy", and "Australians Over 60", and brings together researchers from UWA, Monash University, Griffith University and the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

The Superannuation Research Cluster will examine the optimal forms of asset allocation by super funds, and how will this impact on economic growth as the pool of funds under management grows ever larger. It will also investigate what other products and services could be made available to retirees, and how super funds can continue to assist their members post-retirement.

Media references

Karen Della Torre (UWA Business School)    (+61 8) 6488 8538
Verity Chia (UWA Business School)    (+61 8) 6488 1346