About the Centre

About the Centre

The Centre for Investment Research was established in 2007 with a grant awarded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS). The Centre comprises researchers from University College Cork, Cass Business School (City University, London) and Dublin City University.

CIR - Investment Collage

The Directors of the Centre are Professor Niall O’ Sullivan (Department of Economics) and Professor Mark Hutchinson (Department of Accounting, Finance and Information Systems), UCC. The other researchers are Professor Keith Cuthbertson and Dr Dirk Nitzsche, from CASS Business School, and Professor Liam Gallagher, from Dublin City University. In addition to a strong track record in high-level research in financial markets, the team of researchers brings considerable financial services industry experience to the Centre and aim for it to be a focal point for investment research.

The Centre is involved in many areas of investment research of benefit to investors, the financial markets industry and government agencies where its research findings have important applications. Its findings are likely to be of interest to both institutional investors, such as banks, insurance companies, fund managers etc and retail investors as well as to financial sector regulators. The research funding has enabled the Centre to gain access to databases in Ireland, the UK and the US on pension funds, mutual funds and hedge funds as well as high frequency stock market data which facilitates high quality research.

One important area of this research focuses on pensions where the centre aims to make an important contribution to the current policy issue in Ireland of future pensions funding. With increasing longevity and given projected state pensions, a ‘pensions gap’ is predicted in the majority of European Union countries in 20 years. An important element in these policy debates is the attractiveness and suitability of investment products as a means of funding pension requirements.

The Centre is also involved in collaborative research and consultancy in the public and private sectors.

Centre for Investment Research

University College Cork, College Road, Cork, Ireland

Top