Skip to main content

Yuan Zhao

Associate Professor of Real Estate Finance

MSc Real Estate Finance Director

Image of Yuan Zhao

Specialisms

  • Asset pricing, 
  • Portfolio optimisation, 
  • Fund performance, 
  • Real estate finance, 
  • Risk management, 
  • Behavioural finance, 
  • Sustainability, 
  • Crypto assets

Location

HBS 217, Whiteknights Campus

Yuan Zhao is an Associate Professor of Real Estate Finance at the University of Reading. Before joining Henley Business School, Yuan worked as an Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Aberdeen where she gained her PhD in Real Estate Finance.


Yuan's research areas cover a wide range of finance and real estate subjects, including mutual funds; portfolio optimisation; behavioural finance; risk management; crypto assets from finance fields, and housing valuation; real estate finance; sustainability; leasehold relativity from real estate areas.

Yuan has built her research portfolio in real estate and finance with both ABS-ranked 3*/4* journal papers and institution-funded research projects. She has published and served as a referee in several peer-reviewed journals such as European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Journal of Real Estate Research, International Review of Financial Analysis, and International Journal of Finance & Economics. She has worked as a co-investigator in several funded research projects, including the IPF project on the investigation of hurdle rates in the real estate investment process and the consultancy project on London leasehold relativity. Yuan is currently working on research projects on portfolio homogenous subsets, investor sentiment, herding, tokenised real estate, and fund family competition. She is also involved in a Property Research Trust-funded project on occupier profile and the ESG agenda in commercial real estate with the University of Aberdeen.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Real Estate Finance (University of Aberdeen)
  • MSc in Finance (Alliance Manchester Business School)
  • Financial Risk Manager (GARP)
  • FHEA (Advance HE)

PhD Supervision Interests

  • Asset pricing
  • Behavioural finance
  • Mutual funds
  • Risk management
  • Real estate finance
  • ESG/SRI/CSR
  • Climate finance

Reference: Liu, N., Zhao, Y. , Hutchison, N. and Bowen, Y., (2024) Occupier profile and the ESG agenda in commercial real estate. Report. Property Research Trust, London.
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: Ilbasmıs, M., Gronwald, M. and Zhao, Y. (2024) The impact of dividend payout policies on real estate market diversification. International Journal of Finance & Economics. ISSN 1099-1158 doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.2944
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: Klinkowska, O. and Zhao, Y. (2023) Fund flows and performance: new evidence from retail and institutional SRI mutual funds. International Review of Financial Analysis. 102596. ISSN 1057-5219 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2023.102596
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: Mynbayeva, E., Lamb, J. D. and Zhao, Y. (2022) Why estimation alone causes Markowitz portfolio selection to fail and what we might do about it. European Journal of Operational Research, 301 (2). pp. 694-707. ISSN 0377-2217 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2021.11.036
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: MacGregor, B. D., Schulz, R. and Zhao, Y. (2022) Do the managers of global real estate mutual funds have skills? Journal of Real Estate Research. ISSN 0896-5803 doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/08965803.2022.2033398
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: Zhao, Y. , Liu, N. and Li, W. (2022) Industry herding in crypto assets. International Review of Financial Analysis, 84. 102335. ISSN 1057-5219 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2022.102335
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: MacGregor, B. D., Schulz, R. and Zhao, Y. (2021) Performance and market maturity in mutual funds: is real estate different? Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 63 (3). pp. 437-492. ISSN 1573-045X doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11146-020-09787-0
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: Schulz, R., Zhao, Y. and Zhou, S. (2019) Evaluation of fund manager performance. In: MacGregor, B. D., Schulz, R. and Green, R. K. (eds.) Routledge Companion to Real Estate Investment. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 300-318. ISBN 9781138020788 doi: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315775579
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: MacGregor, B. D., Schulz, R. and Zhao, Y. (2018) Pricing models. In: MacGregor, B. D., Schulz, R. and Green, R. K. (eds.) Routledge Companion to Real Estate Investment. Routledge, Abingdon, UK, pp. 215-231. ISBN 9781138020788 doi: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315775579
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: Ilbasmis, M., Gronwald, M. and Zhao, Y. (2018) Diversification power of real estate market securities: the role of financial crisis and dividend policy. CESifo Working Papers, 7015. pp. 1-48. ISSN 23641428 doi: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3200259
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: Zhao, Y. and Duncan, B. (2018) The impact of crypto-currency risks on the use of blockchain for cloud security and privacy. In: 2018 International Conference on High Performance Computing & Simulation (HPCS), 16-20 Jul 2018, Orleans, France, pp. 677-684. doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/HPCS.2018.00111
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: Duncan, B. and Zhao, Y. (2018) Risk management for cloud compliance with the EU general data protection regulation. In: 2018 International Conference on High Performance Computing & Simulation (HPCS), 16-20 Jul 2018, Orleans, France, pp. 664-671. doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/HPCS.2018.00109
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: Liu, N., Zhao, Y. and Ge, J. (2018) Do renters skimp on energy efficiency during economic recessions? Evidence from Northeast Scotland. Energy, 165 (Part A). pp. 164-175. ISSN 0360-5442 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.09.078
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao
Reference: Hutchison, N., Lizieri, C., MacGregor, B., Mansley, N., Portlock, R., Schulz, R. and Zhao, Y. , (2017) An investigation of hurdle rates in the real estate investment process. Report. Investment Property Forum pp64.
Henley faculty authors:
Yuan Zhao

Real Estate Funding

This module presents the main sources of funding available in real estate markets, presenting the implications on returns, ownership and cash flows....

Module code: REMF57

Real Estate Funding

The module reviews the main sources of debt and equity funding available in real estate investment markets, presenting the implications for ownership, cash flows and rates of return....

Module code: REMB38

Global Real Estate Markets and Investment

This module is designed to provide practical experience and insight into the subjects studied throughout the year and prepares students for the workplace....

Module code: REMF43

Property Research Trust: Occupier Profile and the ESG Agenda in Commercial Real Estate, 2022, with the University of Aberdeen

IPF Research Fund: An Investigation of Hurdle Rates in the Real Estate Investment Process, 2017, with the University of Aberdeen and the University of Cambridge