19 Sep 07

The University of Oxford officially opened its Oxford-Man Institute on Tuesday 18 September. The Institute is intended to become the world's leading interdisciplinary academic institute for research in quantitative finance.

The Institute, to be based at Blue Boar Court in Oxford, will house about 20 members, including 10 full-time researchers and staff and a further 10 senior faculty members spending substantial time at the Institute.

The research will have particular emphasis on alternative investments and intends to attract the best researchers from around the world. It is an interdisciplinary initiative, which already brings together researchers from across the major divisions and departments, including Oxford's Departments of Economics, Engineering Science, and Statistics, as well as the Mathematical Institute, the Computing Laboratory and the Saïd Business School.

Man Group, the world's largest hedge fund group, is the sole provider of the core funding for the Institute. Man's initial contribution to the centre is for £13.75m: £10.45m will be for the initial five years with an additional £3.3m for an endowed chair to be called the Man Professor of Quantitative Finance.

Man Group will house its own research laboratory in the same building as the Institute. This will give academics increased direct access to industry-leading practitioners, while Man Group's researchers will benefit from the closer interaction with an outstanding academic community.

The Research Director of the Institute, Professor Neil Shephard, said: 'The opening of the Institute signals the start of what will be a hugely important body of work looking at quantitative finance. We are looking for the next big idea, rather than incremental change. By providing a focal point for the world's researchers in quantitative finance, we are confident we will have a team of the best academics from across the globe, who are interested in this cutting-edge area of research.'

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Dr John Hood, said: 'Original ideas springing from studying problems in finance have seen their application in all areas of modern science. That is why many of our top quantitative researchers have supported this new Institute with their time and their insight. They have worked hard at designing a research environment which will increase the probability of producing significant ideas which have a chance of shaping our future.'

The Chief Executive of Man Group plc, Peter Clarke, said: 'We are extremely pleased to be supporters of this ground-breaking collaboration between the academic and practitioner worlds. Both stand to benefit very significantly from the Institute's focus on world-leading research relevant to the capital markets and alternative investments. We very much look forward to this opportunity to expand our close relationship with Oxford over the many years ahead.'