Head of Research and Development,
Ardea Investment Management

Dr Laura Ryan leads the systems and technology and client solutions teams. Her work focuses on building scalable and robust technology for trading and portfolio construction, and on applying advanced statistical and machine learning methods to support investment idea generation.

Through the client solutions team, Laura delivers independent quantitative research to help clients solve complex investment problems. This includes the Ardea Capital Management Tool, designed to optimise insurance portfolios across risk, return and regulatory capital, while also supporting modelling for broader institutional and wholesale investment portfolios.

Laura has more than 26 years of investment experience and is an internationally published academic. Her research has appeared in journals including The Journal of Portfolio Management, The Journal of Forecasting, The Journal of Investing, The Journal of Retirement and The Global Finance Journal, among others.

Prior to joining Ardea, Laura was senior vice president (quantitative research) and a member of the Australian senior management team at PIMCO. Earlier roles include manager of quantitative strategy at Commonwealth Bank, quantitative manager at AMP Capital, and lecturer in statistics at the Australian National University.

Laura holds a PhD in Statistics and an Honours degree in Actuarial Studies from ANU, a Master of Quantitative Finance from UTS, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at UTS.

Outside finance, Laura created The ImPossible House, a sustainable Sydney renovation project focused on becoming fully off-grid for water, sewage and electricity, featured on Grand Designs Australia and Better Homes and Gardens.