Second Workshop on Understanding and Overcoming Confusion in Consumer Financial Decision Making
Thursday, 13 October 2022, by invitation only - venue details will be provided upon registration.
Professor Hazel Bateman (UNSW Sydney & CEPAR)
Professor Susan Thorp (University of Sydney Business School & CEPAR)
The aim of this workshop is to explore complexity and confusion in consumer financial decision making and to highlight possible solutions.
Program (subject to minor changes)
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TIME (AEDT) |
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9.00-9.20am |
Arrival and Registration |
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9.20-9.30am |
Opening Remarks Professor Hazel Bateman, CEPAR Deputy Director, UNSW Sydney |
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9.30-10.45am |
SESSION 1 – COMPLEX FINANCIAL DECISIONS Chair: Hazel Bateman, UNSW, CEPAR
Retirement Eggs and Retirement Baskets Akshay Shanker, University of Sydney Finance Discipline & CEPAR
Reverse Mortgage Decisions Katja Hanewald, UNSW School of Risk & Actuarial Studies & CEPAR Background papers:
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10.45-11.00am |
Morning tea |
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11.00am-12.15pm |
SESSION 2 – HIRED HELP - The role and impact of brokers and financial advisors Chair: Katja Hanewald, UNSW, CEPAR
Who Pays the Price for Bad Advice? The Role of Financial Vulnerability, Learning and Confirmation Bias Susan Thorp, University of Sydney Finance Discipline & CEPAR
The Impact of Mortgage Brokers on Borrowers’ Preferences and Perceptions Junhao Liu, CEPAR and Vanguard |
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12.15-1.00pm |
KEYNOTE Chair: Ben Newell, UNSW, CEPAR What Motivates Social Security Claiming Age Intentions? Testing Behaviorally-Informed Interventions Alongside Individual Differences Suzanne Shu, Cornell University Background paper:
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1.00-2.00pm |
Lunch |
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2.00-3.15pm |
SESSION 3 – SELF HELP- The impact of information (income projections) and communication strategies on superannuation (pension) fund member decision making Chair: Junhao Liu, Vanguard, CEPAR
How Much Can I Spend? The Role of Projections and Anchor-Values in Guiding Spending in Retirement Ben Newell, UNSW School of Psychology & CEPAR
Understanding Pension Fund Members’ Behavioural Responses to Market Volatility Hazel Bateman, UNSW School of Risk & Actuarial Studies & CEPAR |
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3.15-3.45pm |
Afternoon tea |
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3.45-5.00pm |
SESSION 4 – DIGITAL HELP -Examples of digital tools – such as online calculators, apps, interactive tools - which are/could be used to assist people with financial decisions Chair: Susan Thorp, University of Sydney, CEPAR
Examples from Commonwealth Bank Behavioural Research Carlos Vazquez & Andreas Ludwig, Commonwealth Bank Behavioural Research
Retirement Savings Target Tool Xavier O’Halloran, Super Consumers Australia |
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5.00pm |
Closing Remarks Professor Susan Thorp, CEPAR Associate Investigator, University of Sydney |
Speaker bios
Akshay Shanker is a Senior Research Associate at the School of Finance at the University of Sydney and CEPAR, UNSW. Akshay's research focuses on theoretical and computational economics. In particular, Akshay works on developing and applying new mathematical methods and high-performance computing technologies to build richer models across a variety of areas such economic growth, portfolio optimisation, pensions and household finance, experimental economics and energy economics.
Katja Hanewald is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies and the Coordinator of the Actuarial Co-op Program at UNSW Sydney. She is also the Director of Research of the Ageing Asia Research Hub, which is hosted by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR). Her research addresses risk management and insurance responses to population ageing. Katja has published in all leading international insurance and actuarial journals (including the Journal of Risk and Insurance, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics and the ASTIN Bulletin) and several major economics journals (including the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization). Her current research investigates optimal retirement financial decisions of older households and the design of retirement financial products such as reverse mortgages, long-term care insurance, and annuities. She teaches risk management courses. Before rejoining UNSW in 2016, Katja held academic positions at the University of New South Wales (2011-2013) and at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany (2008-2010). She worked for the German Federal Ministry of Finance from 2013 to 2015. Katja obtained her doctoral degree from the School of Business and Economics at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in November 2010.
Susan Thorp is Professor of Finance and Associate Dean Research at the University of Sydney Business School. She researches consumer finance, focusing on retirement savings. She uses theoretical, empirical and experimental techniques to test consumer responses to advice, disclosures and choice architecture. Her research has been published in leading international academic journals including Management Science, the Review of Finance and the Economic Journal, and has attracted over four million dollars in public and industry funding. Susan is a member of the Steering Committee of the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pensions Index, a member of the Research Committee of the OECD/International Network on Financial Education and a Director of Super Consumers Australia.
Junhao Liu is an investment strategy analyst at Vanguard Australia and an associate investigator at CEPAR. He received a Ph.D. in Risk and Insurance at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sydney Business School. His academic research focuses on personal finance and financial regulation using a wide range of data, including projects on mortgage decision making, the COVID-19 early access of superannuation, and the regulation of insurance contract language and prices. His work has been published in the Journal of Risk and Insurance and the Journal of Consumer Affairs.
Suzanne B. Shu is the Dean of Faculty and Research for the Cornell University SC Johnson College of Business, and the John S. Dyson Professor in Marketing at Cornell’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Her main area of research is in consumer financial decision making, especially regarding retirement income decisions. Dean Shu received a PhD from the University of Chicago and holds degrees in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. She is currently an NBER Research Associate and has been a visiting scholar for several years at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Ben Newell is Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Deputy Head of the School of Psychology at UNSW Sydney. His research focuses on the cognitive processes underlying judgment, choice and decision-making and the application of this knowledge to environmental, medical, financial and forensic contexts. He has published over 150 articles and book chapters and is the lead author of the book Straight Choices: The Psychology of Decision Making. Ben has worked with industry and government partners on projects including climate change communication, child protection, aged-care provision and retirement wealth-planning. A key theme of much of this work is over-coming the myopic thinking that tends to cloud our judgment when we are making decisions about an uncertain future. Ben is a member of the Academic Advisory Panel of the Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government.
Hazel Bateman is a Professor in the School of Risk & Actuarial Studies, UNSW Sydney, and Co-Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR). Hazel’s research focusses on consumer financial decision making especially as it relates to retirement accumulation and decumulation with an emphasis on interventions to facilitate better financial decisions. Her current research investigates the role of choice and information architecture on lifecycle financial decisions including superannuation and housing. She also works on design of and demand for retirement products including annuities, aged care insurance and home equity release products. She is the author of over 70 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and has been a Chief Investigator on over a dozen Australian Research Council funded projects. Hazel has consulted on retirement income issues to international organisations including the OECD, the World Bank, the Social Insurance Administration (China) and the Korean Institute of Health and Social Affairs. She is the Chair of Netspar’s Scientific Council and President of the International Pension Research Association (IPRA) and serves on the UniSuper Consultative Committee and the Advisory Boards of the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index, the Conexus Institute and the Centre for Behavioural Economics, Science and Technology (BEST).
Xavier O'Halloran, Director, Super Consumers Australia
I am a consumer advocate with a passion for making the complex simple. I specialise in financial services, in particular superannuation and group life insurance. I led CHOICE's finance team during the Banking Royal Commission. I now lead a newly formed organisation – Super Consumers Australia – dedicated to advancing and protecting low and middle income people in the superannuation system.
You can find me on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Carlos Vazquez, PhD, Senior Manager - Behavioural Research, CBA
I am the lead for behavioural research and innovation at CBA, where I oversee the research portfolio with our academic partners, and lead a team of behavioural scientists, to deliver cutting-edge applied research, while initiating new research projects to help building a brighter future for all. I am an honorary associate at the University of Sydney Business School, where I lecture on a sessional basis for the MBA, and undergraduate programs. Further, I have a keen interest in building strong connections between industry and academia to create shared value for both practitioners and scholars. I did my PhD at the University of Sydney, where I focused on bridging behavioural science theories and innovation management problems. As a behavioural scientist, I conduct research on the socio-cognitive conditions (i.e. structures of the environment/context and cognitive limitations) that influence deliberative and/or intuitive judgement. I am particularly interested in the interplay of environmental structures and cognition when making decisions for the creation and/or extraction of economic value, and the role that interacting with technology, particularly AI, has in making those decisions. I am member of the Global Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists, the Research and Development Management Association, the Product Development Management Association, and the Academy of Management.
I enjoy playing basketball and baseball. And, occasionally, I am a very reluctant gym-goer. I am a father of three (five if you count my two dogs), a husband of one, and a wannabe master distiller.
You can connect with me via twitter: @vazquezc_ Or visit my website for more information and possible collaborations: www.mindphile.com. I am also on LinkedIn, please feel free to connect with me.
Important information for the in person on-campus event
Visitor Safety Information - The health and safety of our patrons is our top priority, and this event will abide by the Public Health Order prevailing at the time. Please follow our conditions of entry.
Feeling unwell? Do not attend the event if you feel unwell, have recently experienced any cold or flu-like symptoms or are awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test. If subsequent to attending the event you are required to be tested for COVID-19, please alert us at cepar@unsw.edu.au so we can complete the online notification form: https://www.covid-19.unsw.edu.au/covid-19-case-notification
Health and safety protocol:
- Face masks are recommended;
- Maintain physical distancing and density limits of not more than 1 person per 2sqm indoors;
- Wash or sanitise your hands regularly;
- Keep a safe distance from others and avoid physical contact.
Parking & Public Transport - The Kensington Campus is easily accessible via public transport. Call the Transport Infoline on 131 500 or visit transportnsw.info. Paid casual and visitor parking is offered via the CellOPark App and ‘pay by plate meters’. For more information head here.
Contact - For event enquiries, registration or to discuss your access requirements, please email cepar@unsw.edu.au.