Yun Qiao, a 4th year Ph.D. student in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at York University, has been selected as this year’s recipient of the annual BMO Capital Markets Advanced Research Scholarship.

Qiao will receive a $20,000 honorarium for her research work in Hedging and Asset/Product Allocation Problem for Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefits.

The scholarship program allows academics and Ph.D. level candidates in mathematics, finance or similar areas to submit research proposals on specific topics. The award committee was made up of five quantitative analysts for BMO Capital Markets, who all hold Ph.D. degrees.

“This scholarship award highlights BMO’s commitment to education and the importance of supporting advanced research at Canada’s universities,” said Patrick Cronin, executive managing director and head of financial products and debt products at BMO Capital Markets. “Yun’s work was one of numerous excellent proposals that we received.”

“I am very honoured to receive this award for my Ph.D. research. I am excited by the opportunity to collaborate with BMO Capital Markets to further my research in the area of quantitative finance,” said Qiao.

Qiao graduated with a B.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from Nanjing University China in 2004. After moving to Toronto, she continued her education and graduated with a M.A. in Applied Mathematics and a Graduate Diploma in Financial Engineering from York University in 2006. Her research area is mathematical finance, specifically probability theory, numerical analysis and their applications to actuarial finance. She is a student member of the MITACS Finsurance Project.

Last year, Vladimir Surkov, a Ph.D. student at the University of Toronto, was the inaugural recipient of the annual BMO Capital Markets Advanced Research Scholarship.