Business Commons^™

The Rescue Of American International Group Module B: The Securities Borrowing Facility, Lily S. Engbith, Alec Buchholtz, Devyn Jeffereis

Journal of Financial Crises

In 2008, American International Group (AIG) was among the largest insurance corporations in the world and maintained a profitable securities lending program. However, AIG invested much of the cash collateral received from counterparties in residential mortgage-backed securities, whose value began to collapse rapidly and unexpectedly, creating liquidity strain for AIG when borrowers returned their securities. Because of these strains, credit downgrades, and losses, in September, the company sought assistance from the Federal Reserve which, on October 6, 2008, approved the establishment of the Securities Borrowing Facility by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY). The FRBNY agreed to loan …

The Rescue Of American International Group Module A: The Revolving Credit Facility, Alec Buchholtz, Aidan Lawson

Journal of Financial Crises

On September 15, 2008, the big three rating agencies downgraded AIG’s credit ratings multiple levels, exacerbating liquidity strains that the company was experiencing due to increasing cash demands by securities borrowers and collateral calls by credit default swap (CDS) customers. To prevent AIG from filing for bankruptcy, the Federal Reserve (the Fed) announced on the following day that, pursuant to its emergency powers, it would provide the company with an $85 billion Revolving Credit Facility (RCF). The RCF was secured by AIG assets and interests in its subsidiaries and required AIG to grant the US Department of the Treasury a …

The Distribution Trends Of Labor Cost In A Government Organization, Robert Carlos

Public Administration ETDs

This study will research growth in the cost of support personnel in a government organization. It will provide a comprehensive, six-year comparison of costs from Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 to 2020. Furthermore, the study will analyze trends, and provide recommendations for best practices and optimum resource allocation.

Significant management concern has arisen due to the recent trend in rising indirect labor costs. A comparison of indirect and overhead to direct labor costs details a growth trend illustrating the uneven development and inefficiencies in the distribution of labor cost in the directorate.

The cost of labor is rising faster than the …

A Commonly Forgotten Tool In Retirement Planning: Health Savings Accounts, Austin Duerfeldt

Cornhusker Economics

Many individuals are aware of IRAs, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, and others when starting to build their retirement portfolio. These plans all have their benefits and drawbacks that need to be accounted for. What surprises many is there is another tool that you may be qualified for and are underutilizing. A Health Savings Accounts commonly referred to as an HSA, has some interesting possibilities that could be useful. An HSA is a type of savings account that lets you set aside money on a pre-tax basis to pay for qualifying medical expenses. While you cannot generally use this money saved …

Sfa Application On Islamic Economics And Finance Research, Aam Slamet Rusydiana, Lina Nugraha Rani, Rosadiro Cahyono

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study aims to determine the map of SFA research on Islamic economics and finance (IEF). SFA or Stochastic Frontier Approach is one method for parametric efficiency measurement. The data analyzed were in the form of publication of the SFA application research on IEF, totaling 109 articles. Map of the development of SFA field research is obtained through the export process into the .txt file format. The export data is then processed and analyzed using the VOSviewer application program to determine the SFA development’s bibliometric map in Islamic finance application research. The results showed that the number of publications on …

The Financial Impact Of Covid-19 On Nonprofit Organizations, Dr. Charles Harrington

SC Upstate Research Symposium

Abstract — Scholars and practitioners have argued that effective financial management, particularly the development of operating reserves, can help nonprofits survive economic shocks. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a significant impact on the nonprofit sector, provides an opportunity to test whether nonprofits have followed that recommendation, and if so, whether nonprofits with operating reserves were better prepared for the pandemic. Using data from an original survey of more than 600 nonprofit human service and arts organizations, administered when most states had stay-at-home restrictions, we show that most nonprofits experienced an immediate impact on their programs and financing. Yet, those …

Combination Of Time Series Analysis And Sentiment Analysis For Stock Market Forecasting, Hsiao-Chuan Chou

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to build a model to predict trend of financial asset price using sentiment from news headlines and financial indicators of the asset. Objective of the model is to conclude good results but also to minimize the difference between predicted values and actual values. Unlike previous approaches where the sentiments are usually calculated into score, we focus on combination of word embedding of news and financial indicators due to nonavailability of sentiment lexicon.

One idea is that the sentiment of news headline should have impact on financial asset val- ues. In other words, it would …

Impacts Of Combined Assurance On Integrated, Sustainability And Financial Reporting Qualities: Evidence From Listed Companies In South Africa, Augustine Donkor, Hadrian Geri Djajadikerta, Saiyidi Mat Roni

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study assesses the impacts of combined assurance (CA) quality on external reporting qualities (i.e., integrated, sustainability and financial reports). Data from listed firms on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa are used in this study. JSE is the largest stock exchange in Africa and, currently, the only capital market that mandates integrated reporting (IR) practice. This study uses content analysis to produce IR and CA quality data from IR reports and collects financial and sustainability quality data from the Bloomberg database. Ordinary least square (OLS) regression is used to test the models, together with a set of …

Essays On Ceo Personal Characteristics And Corporate Outcomes: Athlete Ceos And Foreign Ceos, Kirill Pervun

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contains two essays that explore the effect of top managers’ background in competitive sports and foreign nationality on the organizational outcomes. In the first essay I document that one in four chief executive officers of large American companies (S&P 1500) have background in competitive sports developed during youth or adult years (Athlete CEOs). Using novel hand-collected data from detailed biographies of top executives I find strong evidence that Athlete-CEO-run firms are more profitable and invest more in long-term projects. Additionally, firms managed by CEOs with background in individual sports, but not in team sports, are more debt-averse and …

Stay At Home: Flight-To-Safety And Home Bias In U.S. Etfs During Covid-19 Pandemic, Hamed Yousefi, Mohammad Najand

College of Business (Strome) Posters

We examine the relations between dollar flows of U.S. traded ETFs with exposure to the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world during the COVID-19 crisis utilizing a Markov Switching Model (MSVAR). We find convincing evidence that investors use ETFs to gain exposure to foreign markets. This study differs from the new stream of research on the effects of COVID-19 on financial markets and investors’ reactions in two major ways. First, we follow the money by using actual dollars of fund flows, whereas previous studies use returns. Second, we investigate the existence of two distinct regimes during this …

The Ursinus College Investment Management Company Newsletter, Spring 2021, Scott Deacle, George Psaradakis, Jacob Kang, Kareem Elghawy, Wendy Luo

Investment Management Company Newsletter

Inside this issue:

Letter from Kareem Elghawy '22

Letter from Wendy Luo '21

At a Glance

Investment Strategies

Endowment at Work

UCIMCO Updates

Fall Semester Investment Performance

Endowment Outlook

Stock Selection Picks

Women's Fund Picks

Our Team

Supporters

How to Contribute

The True Cost Of College: The Impact Of Student Loan Debt On Academic Performance, Marykate Marshall

Honors Projects in Finance

The cost of college has increased disproportionately compared to wages over the last several decades and as a result, student debt has become more prominent. This study aims to identify and examine the relationship between student loan debt and academic performance. Using an online survey, Bryant Alumni and current juniors and seniors were asked questions pertaining to cumulative GPA at graduation, their financial stress level, demographics, student information, personal finances (including family background), and further education. GPA serves as the dependent variable and factors such as gender, race/ethnicity, the amount of debt, and siblings served as independent variables. The results …

Non-Traditional Alternative Investments, Michael Alfieri

Honors Projects in Finance

This paper investigates the feasibility of non-traditional alternative investments in portfolios. Non-traditional alternative investments are defined by this paper as collectibles, such as classic cars, art, and wine. Some of these assets have been around for decades and are increasingly becoming more available to investors. This asset class is grouped with assets that are not easily tradable like traditional equities and bonds and do not generate cash flows. This makes valuing the intrinsic value of collectibles difficult. However, academic research has shown that non-traditional alternative investments do have a track record worth investing in. Parts of the market are becoming …

Student Loans And Their Effects On Postgraduate Life, Joseph Bartucca

Honors Projects in Finance

College tuition has been steadily increasing in America throughout the past two decades as demand for a higher education has continued to rise. A college education is invaluable and is inevitably essential in obtaining a successful career. As a result, more and more students have been depending on student loans to finance their way through college. The average college student loan debt has reached about $30,000 per student upon graduation nowadays. Because of these skyrocketing debt amounts, several life goals and aspirations have been impacted, including future employment, further enrollment, family formation, homeownership, and net worth. The objective of this …

Millennials' Retirement Struggle: The Interaction Between Student Loans, Financial Decisions, And Financial Literacy., Rebecca Michaud

Honors Projects in Finance

As millennials grow older and begin their careers in the workforce, saving for retirement begins to become an important part of spending. This paper analyzes a variety of factors and challenges that impact an individual’s retirement savings. This thesis ultimately looks to determine whether the driving force for the general inadequacy of retirement savings is student loan debt, financial decision making, or both. Through both research and survey responses, this thesis will also look at whether a public policy that removes a certain percentage of student loan repayment obligations will have any impact on the amount that young workers are …

Analyst Talent, Information, And Investment Strategies, Zhichuan Li, Stephen R. Foerster, Zhenyang Tang, Chongyu Dang

Business Publications

Analyst talent, rather than the number of analysts following a firm, matters most to investors. We find: 1) Analysts with greater “natural” forecasting talent—controlling for experience, brokerage affiliation, and task complexity—contribute relatively more firm-specific rather than industry or market information; 2) Earnings forecasts by low-talent analysts may lead to substantial mispricing; 3) When earnings surprises are large, post-earnings-announcement drift is more prominent among firms covered by low-talent analysts; 4) Firms with low-talent analysts have significantly more insider trading prior to positive earnings news; and 5) Investing following insider trading is more profitable in stocks followed by low-talent analysts.

The Budding Disruption Of Blockchain Technology Upon The Current Structure Of The Music Industry, Bradley Rauman

Senior Theses

One of the most pertinent opportunities within the music industry, and many other industries as well, stems from the use of blockchain technology. Blockchain’s core technology, which enables smart contracts and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), could be used to restructure and decentralize the music industry to be in alignment with the best interests of artists - the individuals responsible for driving the success of this industry.

The current system is outmoded. It evinces a disparity in the level of information held by artists and intermediaries (i.e. labels, publishers, and streaming services) and this disparity enables intermediaries to deduct egregious fees that …

The Impact Of Subreddit Comments On Daily Return And Volume, Joey Wong

Honors College Theses

This paper examines the subreddit WallStreetBets and its online weekday posts discussing stock market trades. By collecting data from the subreddit and Yahoo Finance, linear regression models are done using Rstudio to determine the relationship and impact that the number of comments has on percentage change in return and volume. This study concludes that when it comes to the relationship between returns and the number of comments, it is insignificant. However, we find that trading volume is positively and significantly related to the number of comments.

Auditor Response To Changing Risk: Money Market Funds During The Financial Crisis, Kyle D. Allen, Drew B. Winters

Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

Audits provide monitoring for investors. The collapse of markets across the financial crisis made assets more difficult to value, which increased risk for auditors. The money markets were at the center of the financial crisis increasing audit engagement risk on money market funds, which at the time of the crisis were highly opaque. Measuring the response to increased engagement risk with audit fees, this study finds that auditors increase their fees for the riskiest class of funds. However, no evidence was found that audit fees increased as funds increased their holdings in the riskiest class of securities.

Happy Analysts, Ole-Kristian Hope, Congcong Li, An-Ping Lin, Maryjane Rabier

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper is the first to investigate the role of work-life balance in financial analysts' performance and career advancement. Using a large sample of Glassdoor reviews by financial analysts, we find a significant non-linear relation between perceived work-life balance and analyst performance and analyst career advancement. Specifically, when perceived work-life balance is relatively low, an increase in work-life balance is associated with better analyst performance and career advancement; however, when perceived work-life balance is already high, a further increase in work-life balance is associated with worse analyst performance and career advancement.

Impact Assessment And Measurement With Sustainable Development Goals, Hao Liang, David Fernandez, Mikkel Larsen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

With the rapid growth of sustainable and responsible investment and widespread adoption of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting and integration by organizations, how to assess and measure ESG impact has become a critical issue. Although the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a useful framework for investors and organizations globally to align their standards, the SDGs are vague on how to implement them at an organizational or activity level. Current practice relies heavily on third-party ESG rating providers, whose scores mostly apply to public equities only. They also suffer from biases, inconsistencies, and a lack of sufficient disclosure. …

Marriage Of Unequals? Investment Quality Heterogeneity, Market Heat, And The Formation Of Status-Asymmetric Ties In The Venture Capital Industry, Pavel I. Zhelyazkov, Adam Tatarynowicz

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this study, we investigate the emergence of status-asymmetric ties among venture capital firms. In particular, we highlight the venture's performance trajectory as a powerful antecedent of upward-status asymmetries (in which a lower-status actor brings a higher-status alter into a venture) as well as downward-status asymmetries (in which a higher-status actor brings in a lower-status alter). We hypothesize that lower-status firms tend to bring higher-status alters into ventures on a better performance trajectory, whereas higher-status firms tend to bring lower-status alters into poorly performing ventures. Furthermore, we argue that these effects will be moderated by market heat, which affects whether …

Option Trading And Reit Returns, George D. Cashman, David M. Harrison, Hainan Sheng

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

This article examines the relation between option trading volume and real estate investment trust (REIT) market performance. Specifically, we find that option volume increases are followed by decreases in returns. Furthermore, the portion of option volume that is orthogonal to REIT characteristics drives the observed return predictability relation, thereby suggesting that the return predictability of option trading is (at least partially) attributable to information-based explanations. Finally, consistent with informed traders favoring option market activities due to short-sale costs and/or constraints, we find option based return predictability is more evident within REITs than non-REITs, even though firms within this industry are …

Mathematical Modeling In Finance, Owen Sweeney

Honors Projects

Financial tools play an integral role in the day-to-day lives of individuals and businesses. Many of these tools use predefined formulas to calculate items such as loan payments, interest and capital structure components. These tools do not usually provide the flexibility needed when new parameters are introduced. By utilizing mathematical modeling, these standard formulas can be derived and even improved to provide the needed flexibility.

Biblioshiny R Application On Islamic Microfinance Research, Popon Srisusilawati, Aam Slamet Rusydiana, Yulizar Djamaluddin Sanrego, Naelati Tubastuvi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study aims to determine the development of Islamic microfinance research trends published by leading journals on Islamic economics and finance. The data analyzed consisted of 441 indexed research publications. The data is then processed and analyzed using the R Bibliometric application to find out the bibliometric map of the development of Islamic economics and finance on Islamic microfinance. The results showed that the number of publications on the development of Islamic economic and financial research had increased significantly. Then, most types of documents that analyze Islamic microfinance are journaled articles. The most popular author is Kassim S, and the …

Earnings Momentum Meets Short-Term Return Reversal, Zhaobo Zhu, Licheng Sun, Jun Tu, Jun Tu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a joint strategy that exploits fundamental-based momentum and return-based reversal anomalies. This joint strategy is motivated by two considerations. First, reversal can serve as a natural hedge to momentum. Second, both fundamental and price-related information can contribute to stock return predictability. Consequently, we propose a new joint strategy that synthesises both earnings momentum and short-term reversal. We find that this joint strategy generates considerable economic gains and outperforms the sum of profits from two individual anomalies. Moreover, the proposed strategy appears to be quite robust, generating stable and persistent profits across different market conditions.

Digital Sustainability And Its Implications For Finance And Climate Change, Gerard George, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

As the pandemic forced the entire world to a virtual standstill, nature revived a little. The US emitted 10.3% less CO2 in 2020 than in 2019 and other regions similarly experienced emission declines. Depending on the source, global carbon emissions were down between 4 and 8% in 2020.2 Consumers globally have expressed more concern about sustainability, an observation confirmed by large survey research by Accenture, Kantar, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Ipsos.3 In its latest Emissions Gap Report4 , the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) explicitly connected the pandemic to climate change, nature loss, and pollution. Besides the acceleration of business …

Financial News And Cds Spreads, Paresh Kumar Narayan, Deepa Bannigidadmath

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This paper examines whether financial news moves CDS spreads for a large number of U.S. stocks sorted into 19 panels consisting of sectors, sizes and credit quality. Using a unique financial news data set, we discover that while both positive and negative news predicts CDS spread changes in most of the panels, annualised mean–variance profits and utility gains are dominated by forecasting models that use positive news as a predictor. At best, risk factors only account for around 31% of observed profits.

Value Creation By Private Equity Firms: A Resource-Based View, Kei Pang

Dissertations

Despite the growing importance of the private equity (PE) industry in the United States, it is unclear how PE firms create value. This study contributes to the PE literature and strategic management research by examining PE firm resources and competencies that drive the success of equity-backed management buyout deals. Specifically, my work proposes a framework to describe the key value creation drivers and sub-drivers that position PE firms for success in all four stages of the PE value chain: Fund Raising, Deal Sourcing, Governing/Managing, and Exiting. I utilize Porter’s (1985) value chain analysis (VCA) and the resource-based view (RBV) to …

Mining Open Government Data For Business Intelligence Using Data Visualization: A Two-Industry Case Study, Anne Gottfried, Caroline Hartmann, Donald Yates

Faculty Publications

The business intelligence (BI) market has grown at a tremendous rate in the past decade due to technological advancements, big data and the availability of open source content. Despite this growth, the use of open government data (OGD) as a source of information is very limited among the private sector due to a lack of knowledge as to its benefits. Scant evidence on the use of OGD by private organizations suggests that it can lead to the creation of innovative ideas as well as assist in making better informed decisions. Given the benefits but lack of use of OGD to …