Senior Lecturer
Dr Kevin Liu
Ph.D. (Finance), University of Sydney
Business School
Risk & Actuarial
Dr Kevin Liu is the Undergraduate Program Coordinator of the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies at the University of New South Wales. Prior to joining UNSW in 2011, Kevin served in the research department at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). He has an honours degree and a PhD in Finance from the University of Sydney.
Kevin’s primary area of expertise is superannuation and retirement income policy. Kevin’s current research projects focus on the governance and performance of superannuation funds; regulation and supervision of superannuation and private pension funds; systemic risk in retirement systems; and retirement saving and investment decision making. Kevin has led and participated in grant projects attracting over $300,000 dollars in public and industry funding.
Kevin is also a regular contributor to superannuation policy discussions, and his research is cited by major public reviews and inquiries. He served on two APRA working groups on investment governance and trustee governance in conjunction with the post-Cooper Review (Super System Review) superannuation reforms. Kevin has been a consultant on superannuation governance and performance issues to APRA and Industry Super Australia (ISA) and was a member of the Productivity Commission’s Industry Roundtable on the efficiency and competitiveness of the superannuation system.
In the education space, Kevin is a multi-award-winning educator who is committed to empowering students by developing inspirational learning experiences through the integration of a career-focused educational approach and innovative educational technologies. As an EF Academic, he leads multiple teaching innovation projects and has led the development of six new courses for undergraduate, postgraduate, and professional students at UNSW Business School. Kevin co-directs the Sandbox Education Program. He pioneered the StoryWall Formative Assessment Model, which has been adopted in over 25 courses at UNSW Business School to engages students as partners in co-creating authentic learning experiences and active online learning communities. Kevin also leads teaching innovation projects that use advanced digital technologies to support student learning, e.g. Online Personalised Adaptive Revision Tool, Retirement VR (Virtual Reality). He is a founding member of two Learning and Teaching Communities of Practice at UNSW, and has jointly received $367,800 competitive learning and teaching funding. Kevin received the UNSW Business School Bill Birkett Award for Sustained Teaching Excellence in 2021.
Kevin is also a director of Understanding Super, a not-for-profit start-up that provides free financial literacy education through its online platform and mobile app to help young people understand superannuation.
Phone
+61 2 9385 7119
E-mail
Location
Room 576
Level 5, East Wing
UNSW Business School Building – Ref E12
UNSW
- Publications
- Awards
- Grants
- Media
Publications
Awards
- UNSW Business School, Award for a Program that Enhances Learning (2017)
- AFA (Association of Financial Advisers)/PFL (Plan for Life), Annuity & Income Stream Innovation Award for UNSW Retirement Planning Course (Collaborated with Challenger, Co-developed with Hazel Bateman) (2014)
Grants
Research Grants
- 2016-2017: Team Leader and Chief Investigator (with E Ooi), Industry Research Grant, Industry Super Australia, $50,000.
Governance, related-party outsourcing and MySuper performance of Australian Superannuation Funds - 2016: Chief Investigator (with E Ooi and P Gerrans), UWA Business School Research Development Awards (BSRDA), $8,000.
Who is Best to Look After Our Retirement Savings? The Role of Trustee Independence for Superannuation Fund Boards - 2015: Chief Investigator, UNSW Business School Research Grants (BSRG), $20,000.
Does Governance Explain Heterogeneous Fees for Homogeneous Products? Trustee Board Structure and Default Product Fee-setting in the Australian Superannuation Industry - 2014: Chief Investigator, UNSW Business School Research Grants (UNSW Business School Research Grant), $25,000.
Are Trustees Rewarded for Performance? The Remuneration of Superannuation Fund Trustees and Its Determinants - 2013-2014: Chief Investigator (with B Arnold, H Bateman, R Buckley, S Donald), Centre for International Finance and Regulation (CIFR) Research Grant (with Australian Prudential Regulation Authority), $200,800 over 2 years. Identifying, Monitoring and Managing Systemic Risks in Australia's Superannuation System
- 2013: Investigator (with H Bateman), The ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR) Research Grant, $15,000.Retirement Income Provision in China: The impact of Household Characteristics and Regional Differences
- 2013: Chief Investigator UNSW Business School Special Research Grant (SRG), $10,000. Can Trustee's Expertise be Trusted? The Competence of Superannuation Fund Trustees and Its Implications on Fund Performance
Learning and Teaching Grants
- 2018: UNSW Education Focussed Foundation Funding (with twenty EF academics across all Faculties at UNSW), $197,000.
Digital Assessment: Empowering Students and Supporting Teachers through Innovative Student-Oriented Educational Practices - 2018: UNSW Education Focussed Foundation Funding (with eleven EF academics across six Faculties at UNSW), $100,000.
AV Select: Enriching UNSW Teaching Through AV (Audio and Video) Technologies - 2017: UNSW Scientia Education Investment Fund Grant (with H Yip, K Fong, M Uncles, T Wilcox, K Clark, D Mayorga, L Piggott, J Wardrop), $50,000.
A Learner-Centred Approach to Attain Significant Learning of Oral Communication for AOL in MCom Programs - 2015: UNSW Learning and Teaching Innovation Grant (with H Bateman), $20,000.
Enhancing the Learning Experience of Postgraduate Students with Diverse Backgrounds Using Personalised Pathways and Adaptive Tools