Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

Investing In The Land Of O.Z.: The Promise Of Qualified Opportunity Zone Investing In Ameliorating Urban Blight, Lukas John Foy

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In 2017, President Trump’s landmark Tax Cuts and Jobs Act introduced one of the most prolific federal incentives for real estate development in decades. In an effort to stimulate investment in neglected neighborhoods across all 50 states and five territories, the Federal Government authorized the designation of almost 9,000 blighted census tracts across the country as eligible for tax incentives. Investment in these tracts, deemed Qualified Opportunity Zones, allow investors to receive substantial capital gains deferral and possible capital gains exclusion at the end of the designated holding period, assuming they comply with the regulations of the program. While designed …

Observation Status Stays May Result In Financial Losses For Children’S Hospitals, David C. Synhorst

Research Days

No abstract provided.

Beyond A Tube Of Red Lipstick: An Economic Valuation Of Estee Lauder And The Beauty Industry, Aisea Odencrantz, David Offenberg

Honors Thesis

The current valuation of the beauty industry is approximately $532 billion, yet this industry is not commonly suggested by investment professionals as a way to add diversification into their investors’ portfolios. The current craze of the market is technology and fossil fuels, but the beauty industry has remained a major player in consumer spending patterns throughout time. Through examining the historical financial statements of the publicly-traded cosmetic conglomerate Estēe Lauder, as well as several of its competitors, I modeled the future valuation of Estēe Lauder using the Discounted Free Cash Flow and Comparable Firm Multiples models. This analysis demonstrated how …

Financial Reporting Principles And Accounting Concepts: A Collection Of Case Studies, Caroline Mcleod

Honors Theses

The following thesis is a collection of solutions to case studies related to various financial accounting and reporting standards in agreement with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles as set forth by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. In alignment with the topics learned in Intermediate Financial Accounting, each case focuses on a unique area of financial reporting along with application relevant to real world companies. The thesis demonstrates an understanding of accounting principles, financial statement preparation and analysis, and current accountancy topics. The case studies were completed under the direction of Dr. Victoria Dickinson in fulfillment of the requirements for the University …

A Tale Of Two Cities, Maybe Three A Look At Financial Literacy And Economic Development In Three Mississippi Cities: Fulton, Clarksdale, And Oxford, Kellie Reed Cleveland

Honors Theses

This paper explores the backbones of economic growth and how the backbones influence economic development in three cities in Mississippi. It further seeks to promote education in financial literacy throughout the state to create a base for individuals to further their financial education, create small businesses, or to simply be a knowledgeable citizen. The research sifts through backbones such as population health and small & big business influence, to explore how financial literacy influences daily life and the catalyst for businesses to start and grow. The Mississippi cities Fulton, Clarksdale, and Oxford are studied more in-depth through photos of the …

Research Project In Finance: Nve Corporation (Nvec), Houston Little

Student Scholarship

This project gives an overview of the well-being of the economy as a whole and also does a deep dive into the historical performance of the company while projecting future growth. Each of the future estimations are subject to change, based on numerous factors including but not limited to, US economic growth, international market development, management at NVE, and product innovation. There are many moving parts, but as an analyst, I will use the historical patterns, future expectations, and current financial well-being of NVE Corporation to decide whether this would be a good place for investors to rest their hard-earned …

2020 Private Capital Markets Report, Craig R. Everett

Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Report

The Pepperdine private cost of capital survey was originally launched in 2007 and is the first comprehensive and simultaneous investigation of the major private capital market segments. This year’s survey specifically examined the behavior of senior lenders, asset‐based lenders, mezzanine funds, private equity groups, venture capital firms, angel investors, privately‐held businesses, investment bankers, business brokers, limited partners, and business appraisers. The Pepperdine survey investigated, for each private capital market segment, the important benchmarks that must be met in order to qualify for capital, how much capital is typically accessible, what the required returns are for extending capital in today’s economic …

The Implementation Of Eportfolios As A High Impact Practice In The Real Estate Practice Class, Yu Liu

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

I would like to implement the ePortfolio to my Fin 481 Real Estate Practice course. Real Estate Practice course introduces students to a broad spectrum of practical issues and activities in real estate markets. It provides the opportunity for the students to get an in-depth understanding of the real estate business. Subjects include Understand Real Estate Market; Math for Real Estate; Buying Real Estate, Mortgage, Escrow, Title Company, Inspection, Home Insurance Company; Selling Real Estate, Repairing, Brokerage, Staging; Comparative Market Analysis; Brokerage and Marketing Strategies; Investing in Real Estate Market, Debt Utilization; Flipping and Wholesaling; Construction Fundamentals; Legal Protection and …

The Influence Of News Sentiment On Common Asset Pricing Models, Liam Mahler

Honors Projects in Finance

This paper aims to explore the influence of daily news article sentiment as a predictor of the returns on an investment. A daily sentiment score is developed and it is used to augment five commonly researched models, CAPM, Fama & French Three Factor, Carhart Four Factor, Fama & French Five Factor, and Fama & French Five Factor with Momentum. This study looks at six different securities over a five-year period. Along with this, two different variations of the factor are looked at, one of which is a simple factor that scores days without an article as zero and another that …

A Stochastic Approach To Portfolio Optimization Using Competing Risk Metrics, Juan Gonzalez

Honors Projects in Finance

This thesis presentation presents a stochastic approach to portfolio construction using various risk metrics as underlying models for portfolio optimization. The risk models utilized in this thesis include Mean-Variance, Minimum-Variance, Value-at-Risk (VaR), Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR). To evaluate the efficiency and overall performance of these models, historical data for 30 specific stocks was selected. The stock selection process focused on the selecting stocks that are highly volatile and correlated with one another. Empirical results reveal that portfolio optimization strategies outperform the benchmark. Additionally, results showed that the Minimum-Variance model constructed the best portfolio for the predetermined backtesting time period.

A Tale Of Two Smips: Equity And Fixed Income, Thomas S. Howe, Vladimir Kotomin, Min-Yu (Stella) Liao, Abhishek Varma

Faculty Publications – Finance, Insurance, and Law

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to document and compare the characteristics of two student-managed investment funds at the University.

Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a case study approach to achieve this purpose.

Findings – Consistent with other studies, this study finds considerable differences in funding, oversight and the structure of the courses in which the students manage the portfolios. This is the case even though the portfolios are managed by students in courses offered by the same department at the same university.

Originality/value – This study presents different possible ways of obtaining funds and structuring courses in …

Rational Expectations Or Behaviorally Inefficient Markets, Arati Devendra Kale

Finance and Real Estate Dissertations - Archive

In this dissertation, I examine the rational investment hypothesis, postulated by classical theories, in mutual fund and portfolio management settings. My first two essays focus on mutual fund investors. I study whether mutual fund investors display racial or ethnic prejudices, which can be observed by mutual fund flows. I hand-collect data on characteristics of mutual fund managers in addition to their names and photographs. I use machine learning algorithms from computer science literature to calculate the probabilistic race from photographs and the probabilistic ethnicity from names. In my third essay, I construct a portfolio comprising of the small growth firms …

Do Firms Adapt To Climate Change? Evidence From Establishment-Level Data, Frank Weikai Li, Yupeng Lin, Zuben Jin, Zilong Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper examines firms’ adaptation to long-term changes in climatic conditions. Using detailed information of establishments owned by U.S. public firms from 1990 to 2012, we show that higher abnormal temperatures over the previous five years in a county lead to a significant reduction in local employment and the number of establishments. Further tests suggest that the decline in employment and establishments is largely due to a decline in local consumer demand rather than lower labor productivity. We also find that firms more likely take adaptive actions when their managers are more likely to believe in, or are concerned about, …

Go Big With Economic Push To Fight Covid-19, David Fernandez

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Economic policymakers need to focus on taking bold and immediate action in order to tackle the pandemic crisis.

A Case Study On Whether A Business Should Own Or Lease Its Real Estate, Benjamin Cooper

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

Businesses are continually faced with many difficult decisions to make daily that can have a significant impact on their success. Whether it is if they should adopt a new accounting practice, work with a new supplier, or push into a new consumer sector, these decisions will affect their operations and long-term plans. One of these major decisions that a business has to make is whether they should own or lease their real estate. Depending on the size, type, and scope of a business this decision could be made differently but for certain companies there is definitely a correct answer. Buying …

Fintech Regulations In The United States Compared To Regulations In Europe And Asia, Victoria Williams

Honors College Theses

Fintech, or financial technology, is an up and coming industry and yet at the same time has been around since the 1950s. In Europe and Asia, there has been a lot of innovation, and lawmakers have been forced to keep up with regulating the rapidly growing industry. However, the United States has not risen to the occasion of properly regulating this industry and can learn from countries in Europe and Asia on how to effectively regulate fintech. This essay explains generally what fintech is, why it must be properly regulated, how countries in Europe and Asia regulate it, and how …

Sloth Speed: Finance Classes Slow To Incorporate Important Research, Ellis Pristash

Honors College Theses

Traditional finance contains many models which misrepresent human behavior. In order to mathematicise the field and make it more like hard sciences, economics in the 20th century presupposed that people act “rationally.” In economics, rationality means adherence to the neoclassical model, which presents persons as utility maximizers. This presupposition was useful for certain applications but dominated the academic landscape. Later, the Chicago School of Economics built on the rationality premise, advocating less regulation in favor of the free market. The Efficient Markets Hypothesis was built on these same ideas and argued that markets have a wisdom that individuals do not. …

The Equifax Hack Revisited And Repurposed, Hal Berghel

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Reports on the recent indictments against Chinese hackers regarding Equifax.

Derivatives Use And Risk Taking: Evidence From Alternative Mutual Funds, Alyse Mcalpine

Financial Analyst

I provide new empirical evidence on the effect of derivatives usage on the risk and performance of a group of mutual funds mimicking hedge fund strategies, namely alternative mutual funds (AMFs). Using data on a sample of 914 AMFs from Morningstar during 2002-2017, I show that while the use of derivatives does impact the performance of AMFs, it significantly increases AMFs’ total and idiosyncratic volatilities, even after we control for various fund characteristics. This positive relation between the use of derivatives and the risk-taking of AMFs is particularly strong during the crisis period, and Bear Market, Long-Short Credit, Managed Futures, …

Corporate Decision-Making In The Presence Of Political Uncertainty: The Case Of Corporate Cash Holdings, William B. Hankins, Anna-Leigh Stone, Chak Hung Jack Cheng, Ching-Wai (Jeremy) Chiu

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Using a quarterly panel of U.S. corporations over the period 1985 – 2014 we show that corporate managers respond to political uncertainty and economic policy uncertainty shocks in different ways. We proxy for political uncertainty using the Partisan Conflict Index and employ a prevalent empirical macroeconomic methodology to construct structural shocks that are orthogonal to shocks captured by the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index. Following a political uncertainty shock, corporations increase cash but do not adjust investment. Alternatively, following an economic policy uncertainty shock, firms appear to draw on cash and reduce capital spending to increase R&D spending.