Laura Ryan
Head, Research & Dev
I am an Executive Committee Member and Head of Research & Development with 27 years' experience advising, presenting to and supporting boards, executive leadership teams and committees across financial investment services, and academia. I bring expertise in AI governance, quantitative research, model governance, technology transformation, ESG governance and stewardship policy development.
At board level, I help organisations navigate complexity, risk and regulation. My governance experience includes leading Ardea's AI Committee, serving on ESG and Technology Committees, co-developing the firm's AI Governance Policy with the Head of Risk, authoring the ESG Policy and Stewardship Code, and leading the audit and documentation of investment risk models.
In an executive capacity, I am Head of Research & Development at Ardea Investment Management, where I lead AI implementation, quantitative research, model governance and technology transformation. I developed Ardea's Capital Management Tool, I developed Ardea's Capital Management Tool, which is used in insurer portfolio construction and client presentations, secured a strategic partnership with AON and a UK licensing agreement, and led the redevelopment of Ardea's core trading and risk systems.
Previously, I was Head of Quantitative Research at Inferential Capital and Senior Vice President and member of the Australian Management Team at PIMCO, where I established the Client Analytics and Solutions capability and developed a capital efficiency optimiser that contributed to securing a $1.6 billion institutional mandate. My research has been published by the CFA Institute and has contributed to industry policy discussions on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Outside my executive career, I founded The Impossible House, a nationally recognised public education initiative featured on Grand Designs AU and Better Homes & Gardens.
I hold a Bachelor of Actuarial Studies (Honours), a Master of Quantitative Finance and a PhD in Statistics, specialising in Machine Learning techniques for model uncertainty, and am an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney.
