Business Commons^™

Exploring The Viability Of Gold Jewelry As A Diversifying And Safe-Haven Investment, Monica Pydipati

Honors Scholar Theses

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the potential benefits of the inclusion of gold jewelry in a traditional investment portfolio. A popular commodity investment choice, gold has been lauded for its various diversification and safe-haven characteristics. Popular investment forms include paper gold, gold bars and gold coins. However, gold jewelry, although officially categorized as a retail purchase, is often bought with the intention of investment as well. This paper examines the diversification benefits of gold jewelry by measuring the performance of a portfolio in which gold jewelry is present, using multiple performance measures to determine its risk and …

A Case For Improved Financial Literacy Education In The United States, Nicholas Kinsella

Honors Scholar Theses

The purpose of this paper was to analyze what financial literacy is and explain in detail the shortfalls that the United States is currently facing in their financial literacy education. This paper will lay out the movement of states and colleges including more personal finance curriculum in their graduation requirements, why a financial literate population is important to topics such as managing student loan debt, retirement planning, professional development, and mental health among others. It will then conclude covering ways to improve current financial literacy education strategies with technology, experiential learning, and transparency.

The Impact Of Crises On The Shift In Capital Flows From Active To Passive Investment Strategies, Jordan Wang

Honors Scholar Theses

The study investigates the plausibility of an active to passive transition, the impact of crises on the potential transition, and the performance-flow relationship of both active and passive investment products, which includes US equity, open-end and ETF, funds. The analysis compares active and passive funds through the lens of fund flows, absolute returns, and risk-adjusted returns. The study shows that there seemed to be an active to passive transition from 2007 – 2019 and that 2020 – 2021 exhibits measures that could describe changes in the active to passive narrative. A performance-flow relationship exists across both active and passive funds. …

Assessing Leadership In Business – Finance: A Critical Investigation Of Jamie Dimon, Kelly Finn

Honors Scholar Theses

Jamie Dimon became the CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase over a decade ago at age 49. Since, Jamie has earned his place as the world’s top, longest-reigning Wall Street leader. That said, Jamie Dimon was not always as successful as his title and reputation might suggest. In 1998, he was fired from his position as CEO of Citigroup by his own decade-long mentor, Sandy Weill (Dealbook, 2014). It is precisely Jamie’s ability to overcome this major career obstacle that threatened his reputation and career success. The way he handled his own firing with professionalism, strategy, and resiliency enabled his rebound …

Exploring An Alternative To Ipos: Special-Purpose Acquisition Companies (Spacs), Vaishali Kanamalla

Honors Scholar Theses

The purpose of this research paper is to provide an overview of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) which has gained popularity relatively recently. First, an introduction to SPACs will be provided including its historical roots, structure, and investment process. Thereafter, the paper will walk through the current landscape of SPACs, criticisms, and comparisons with traditional IPOs. The paper will conclude with discussions on the future outlook of the investment vehicle along with a study on SPAC returns vs. those of traditional IPOs.

An Analysis Of The Business Structures And Performance Of Traditional Vs. "Freemium" Applications, Daztar Pagdiwala

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis will examine the rationale and financial success of “freemium” applications versus traditional applications. I define what the “freemium” model is, and how it compares to the traditional (premium) and “free trial” models. In addition, I discuss the value proposition of the business structure, and how it is fully dependent on the consumer’s ability to perceive an increase in value through the purchase of additional features. I also analyze the major positive and negative aspects of the “freemium structure.

Overall trends that I note in the paper include a general shift towards “freemium” and “subscription” based products; within the …

My Experience With Fundamental Analysis, Nicolas Chapman

Honors Scholar Theses

In finance, there are several overarching schools of thought when viewing equity prices in the stock market, such as technical and fundamental analysis. I find the most enjoyment in quantitative matters, so naturally most of my experience with the stock market includes fundamental analysis. Proponents of this methodology purport that there is a true value of a security based on its financials, and that it will trade around that number eventually. Perhaps the most successful investor who uses fundamental analysis is Warren Buffett. Specifically, he believes in valuing a company’s equity by gauging their cash flows and projecting how they …

Investment Strategies Amongst Property And Casualty Insurance Companies, Ryan J. Conforti

Honors Scholar Theses

The purpose of this work is to take an in-depth look into the investment side of property and casualty insurance. Many P&C companies have thrived over the past century, and much of this success can be attributed to investment income. This thesis will examine how investment philosophy changes from firm to firm, while also looking at how strategies have changed over time. It will also look into the insurance “float,” and examine how investors such as Warren Buffett have utilized this instrument to their favor. Investing is a huge aspect of property and casualty insurance, and this piece will give …

Impact Of The Ceo Effect On Premiums In Mergers And Acquisitions, Caitlin Duncan

Honors Scholar Theses

The rationale behind a merger or acquisition is to improve the financial performance of the acquiring firm. Many factors go into the the valuation of a company and consequently the premium paid.

This paper will examine what impact upper management, specifically the CEO, has on the valuation of a company during mergers and acquisitions. This impact, called the CEO effect, will be central to the paper. Different valuation methods of this effect, as well as firm valuations, will be analyzed and considered. Specifically, how the CEO effect affects the premium paid by the acquiring firm will be the main focus. …

Usage Of Derivatives In Business Today, Duston J. Hodgkins

Honors Scholar Theses

Derivatives were created as a method of hedging risks. Yet in today's society, derivatives have taken on many new roles, and with it have systemically changed the way the financial industry operates. Warren Buffett called these powerful tools "financial weapons of mass destruction." No longer do these tools simply mitigate risks; instead, they are creating new and potentially lethal risks. How did their usage shift from risk management? This thesis delves into what actions occurred over the past half century that drove derivatives usage to what is facing the market today. Through the exploration of major successes and failures of …

The Financial Crisis Of 2008: The Greatest Downturn In The U.S. Economy Since The Great Depression, Eric Vaheb

Honors Scholar Theses

An in-depth look into the housing bubble and financial meltdown of the U.S. economy during the years from 2007-2009. This paper deep dives into the historical issues beneath the surface that helped exacerbate the market conditions during the late 2000s.

Examining Capm In Today's Markets, David R. Knox

Honors Scholar Theses

The purpose of this work is to empirically assess the validity of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) in terms of how can it model an equity’s return. The goal of this work is not to challenge the theory behind CAPM, nor compare it to alternatives, but simply to test whether or not it is applicable in the real world. This is an exploratory research study: rather than testing a specific hypothesis, my goal is to let the data speak for itself.

The main difficulty with assessing CAPM is that there is no consensus on how much data we ought …