Business Commons^™

Esg Investing: From Fad To Force, Erin Cullen

Senior Theses

ESG Investing is the application of environmental, social, and governance factors to identify material investment risks and growth opportunities. Though traditionally viewed as non-financial factors, this paper asserts that ESG factors are indeed financially material. This work first surveys the current state of ESG Investing, its shortcomings, and its success despite these inherent issues. Section II adds a new perspective to ESG research by examining the applications of ESG scores in portfolio management. The study conducts t-tests to answer whether the typical holdings of an ESG mutual fund are more sustainable than those of traditional funds. The paper then focuses …

Yield Generation Using Decentralized Financial (Defi) Applications, Nathan Walton

Senior Theses

Decentralized financial (DeFi) applications are a new generation of financial service applications, composed of coded smart contracts, and deployed on a blockchain network. These applications offer several methods of generating yield on deposited funds, much like a traditional bank. In this paper I provide a definition of several key terms and a breakdown of the primary mechanisms through which yield is generated. Additionally, I examine three of the main types of DeFi applications, the services they provide, and how they execute these services. I then provide an overview of four strategies involving cash and leverage and estimate the potential benefits …

Contemporary Investment Strategies And Comparison Applications Of Bitcoin, William Gregg Vi, Thanh Nguyen

University of South Carolina Upstate Student Research Journal

Bitcoin is an effective component to any investor's portfolio. The purpose of this research paper was to study the capabilities Bitcoin has to investors and anyone interested in learning more about cryptocurrencies. What are the strategic applications of Bitcoin and why should it be used over other types of assets? Bitcoin offers diversification capabilities to commodities, equities, bonds, the U.S. dollar, and most stock market indices. It can offer hedging capabilities against the U.S. dollar, Ethereum, stock market indices, and commodity uncertainty. The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 (FTSE100) is an example of an index that Bitcoin can hedge against. …

Permanent Equity: Successfully Finding And Buying A Small Business, Lewis Wang

Senior Theses

This thesis aims to build off the existing research on the advantages of permanent equity within the micro-cap market space. This strategy combines many advantages from private equity, venture capital, small-cap, and value / quality investing in order to generate a differentiated return. While the pros and cons of these various strategies have been explored by previous academic research, not much has been written on the actual implementation and choices practitioners must make when they decide how to deploy capital. In order to dive deeper into implementation, this thesis presents several anecdotes of various firms that invest in this space …

The Adoption Of Cryptocurrency Technology Into The Us Banking Infrastructure, Trevor Melito

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the possibility of using Blockchain technology to permanently change the payment structure of the US banking system. First, I examine the current technology that dominates the banking sector. I introduce the most frequently used payments methods including Automatic Clearing House transfers and wire transfers, both domestically and internationally. In addition, I highlight the major players controlling these transactions. Under the current system, frictions between senders and receivers cause billions of dollars in losses each year.

Next, I examine Blockchain’s roots along with some similar cryptocurrency technology, namely Distributed Ledger Technology and Smart Contracts. The transparency, security, and …

Inked With Debt: An Overview Of The Student Debt Market And A Potential For Change, Brian Alexander Kean

Senior Theses

In a world of rapidly escalating amounts of student debt, the current system harms college stakeholders. Whether governments (state or federal), students, universities, or the economy, all parties are suffering in the current student debt market. At this point in time, student loans have become a sizeable debt vehicle second only to mortgage debt in the United States. A majority of students use loans to attend school, which often become a major decision in post-graduation plans. In addition, it is the only form of debt not dischargeable in bankruptcy. Due to this, an alarming amount of Americans have become ensnared …

Three Essays In Banking: Corporate Governance, Internationalization, And Government Bailouts, Raluca A. Roman

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation extends a growing literature on banking and finance by investigating bank corporate governance, internationalization, and bailouts. The first essay conducts the first assessment of shareholder activism in banking and its effects on risk and performance. Activism can create value and be an effective monitoring mechanism for banks, but it may also be a destabilizing mechanism, as maximizing shareholder value may cause financial instability. We focus on the conflicts among bank shareholders, managers, and creditors (e.g., regulators, deposit insurers, taxpayers, depositors). We find activism may generally be a destabilizing force, increasing bank risk-taking, but creating market value for shareholders, …

The Macroeconomic News Cycle And Uncertainty Resolution, Arjun Chatrath, Rohan Christie-David, William T. Moore

Faculty Publications

We examine the behavior of return volatility and trading at 5-minute intervals in the treasury bond futures market in the context of the monthly macroeconomic news cycle. We advance and confirm the hypothesis that volatility and trading activity are higher in the first half of the month. The data indicate that these patterns arise from at least two sources: (1) a higher level of uncertainty regarding the value of news in announcements in the first half of the month, and (2) improvement in efficiency of macroeconomic forecasts from the first to the second half of the month.

Strategic Considerations In The Financial Services Industry: Does Strategic Consistency Influence Performance?, Larry P. Pleshko, Richard A. Heiens

Faculty Publications

This paper suggests that the consistency of strategic leadership decisions is relevant to the performance of a firm. An organization with consistency in decision making across six relevant marketing strategy variables (promotion, price, channels, products, markets, and technology) is described as exhibiting "purity-of-form". An empirical examination is performed in the financial services industry investigating the relationship of strategic consistency to both profitability and market share while controlling for the firm's environment, structure, and size.

The findings indicate that a consistent strategy may have a positive effect on share performance, with high-levels of strategic leadership observed in the better-performing group. The …

The Value Of Open Market Repurchases Of Closed-End Fund Shares, Gary E. Porter, Rodney L. Roenfeldt, Neil W. Sicherman

Faculty Publications

The authors illustrate the value to shareholders when closed-end funds repurchase shares at a discount from net asset value. Repurchases increase share price even when there is no asymmetric information concerning the value of the underlying assets and the percentage discount remains unchanged following the repurchase. Expected gains to shareholders are derived from capturing the discount on the assets associated with the shares repurchased. In an analysis of 27 open market repurchase announcements by closed-end funds, the regression coefficient estimate that measures the association between the actual excess return and the expected increase in share price is essentially 1.0.

On The Information Content Of Calls Of Convertible Securities, Anthony K. Byrd, William T. Moore

Faculty Publications

Negative stock price reactions to conversion-forcing calls of convertible bonds and preferred stocks are reexamined, and most of the sample firms are shown to exhibit full price recovery by the end of the conversion period. In addition, analysts' earnings forecasts, both short-term and long-term, are found to be revised upward following call announcements for convertible bonds and preferred stocks. The combined findings cast doubt on the established belief that such capital structure decisions signal negative information about firm value.

Liquidity Costs And Stock Price Response To Convertible Security Calls, Michael A. Mazzeo, William T. Moore

Faculty Publications

Firms' announcements to call in-the-money convertible securities for redemption essentially force their conversion into common stock, and such announcements are generally met with significant reductions in the calling firms' equity values. An explanation based on liquidity costs is advanced and tested. The explanation implies that investors who choose to sell their shares early in the conversion period bear liquidity costs by selling at reduced prices. Consistent with the explanation, the average share price decline is short-lived, lasting most of the conversion period. Thus, a component of the call announcement effect appears to be due to liquidity costs.

Interdependence Of Market Risk Measures, Philip L. Cooley, Rodney L. Roenfeldt, Naval K. Modani

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.