Sustainable Finance · ESG · Credit Markets
Dr. Rui Zhong
Associate Professor of Finance · Ph.D., CFA, FRM
UWA Business School, The University of Western Australia
Coordinator, Master of Applied Finance
Research interests: sustainable finance, ESG, energy finance, credit derivatives, financial risk management, investments and corporate finance.
CFA Charterholder · CFA Institute
Certified FRM · GARP
CFA Institute & GARP University Affiliation Lead
RZ
Highlights
Research achievements
Selected achievements with links to the underlying articles, rules and award records.
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Academic publications
- 25 articles in leading peer-reviewed journals, including Journal of Accounting Research and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis (both FT50, ABDC A*).
- Further A*-ranked work in the Journal of Financial Markets and Journal of Banking & Finance.
- Current pipeline includes revise-&-resubmits at Nature Communications, Review of Finance and Journal of World Business.
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Citations & impact
- 2,500+ citations and h-index of 16 (Google Scholar); 1,000+ citations and h-index of 11 (Scopus).
- #1 most-cited article over the last 5 years in the Journal of Accounting Research (Google Scholar Metrics, October 2025).
- Finalist, FIR-PRI Awards “Finance & Sustainability” 2025, Best Published Article.
- ESG disclosure study ranked #3 most-read business school sustainability research by the Financial Times (2023).
- Cited in the U.S. SEC final climate-related disclosure rules (March 2024).
- Reprinted by the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.
- Top-cited article in Accounting & Finance (2023).
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Research grants
- Approximately A$860K in competitive research funding as chief or co-investigator.
- Principal Investigator of a flagship National Foundation for Australia-China Relations project (2025–27) on Australia–China sustainable finance taxonomy interoperability.
- Funders include the ClimateWorks Foundation, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, IFSID and the Canadian Derivatives Institute.
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Awards & recognition
- Best Paper Award, GRASFI Annual Conference 2021 (Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment).
- Best Paper Award in Finance, AFAANZ 2019.
- Finalist, FIR-PRI Awards “Finance & Sustainability” 2025, Best Published Article.
- UWA Business School Mid-Career Research Award Commendation, 2024.
- UWA Business School Dean’s Award for Overall Achievements in PRME & Sustainability, 2025.
Research contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 4 · Quality Education
SDG 8 · Decent Work & Growth
SDG 9 · Industry & Innovation
SDG 10 · Reduced Inequalities
SDG 13 · Climate Action
SDG 17 · Partnerships