Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

Trend Of The Future, Not Flavour Of The Month: The Changing Private Equity Industry In Emerging Markets, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

With memories of the recent global financial crisis still fresh in many people's minds, investors are shying away from anything that may sound too risky or complex. TPG Capital, on the other hand, is taking this opportunity to place their bets on the emerging markets. To secure its investments, Ashish Shastry, managing director and Southeast Asia head of this prominent private equity firm, recommended to the audiences at SMU's BNP Paribas Hedge Fund Centre, a road less travelled – engagement and consulting. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Common Economic Space For The West African Monetary Zone (Wamz): Imperatives For Financial Systems Development, A. O. Adenuga, K. K. Ogunjuiba, M. E. Obiechina

Bullion

The international financial turmoil of the 21 century has provoked much reflection and analysis within the international community on ways to strengthen the international financial architecture. It left behind important lessons, while exposing the limitations of individual country policy frameworks for preventing a systemic crisis. However, the issue of whether a common economic space is feasible within the West African Monetary Zone is still doubtful, given current efforts towards monetary union in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper adopts an empirical review approach, identifying benefits and key constraints to a common economic space in the WAMZ vis-à-vis macroeconomic development in the WAMZ, …

Executive Compensation: The Role Of Shari’A Compliance, William Martin, Karen Ahmed

College of Business Faculty and Staff Works

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illuminate issues surrounding executive compensation as it relates to current understandings of Islamic business law. Methodology We review the emerging bodies of literature in the fields of executive compensation and opinions of stock options under Shari’a law. Findings It appears that the trend in offering employee stock options as part of a Shari’a compliant compensation package is acceptable in most cases, yet because of its close association with the more problematic idea of derivative transactions, the company must be vigilant in obtaining the approval from its Shari’a Standards Board before offering …

Resume, Karen Ahmed

College of Business Faculty and Staff Works

No abstract provided.

A Divertissement On The Financial Crisis: We've Been Speculating, Stefano Harney

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We’ve been speculating. They say our speculation is going to make things worse. But we keep speculating. We’re on the porch, on the corner, in the bar, at the stove, speculating. We’re with others speculating. We’re in debt, bad debt, with others. We’re speculating on others and they’re speculating on us at the table, round the playground, on the bus. We’ve been speculating, banking on each other. We’ve been counting on others, speculating about them. We’re with them and they’re with us, speculating. Our speculation is scattered. Our speculation is scattered among others. Our speculation is valued among others, others …

Consolidating Information In Option Transactions, Richard Holowczak, Jianfeng Hu, Liuren Wu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Underlying each stock trades hundreds of options at different strike prices and maturities. The order flows from these option transactions reveal important information about the underlying stock price. How to aggregate the trade information of different option contracts underlying the same stock presents an interesting and important question for developing microstructure theories and price discovery mechanisms in the derivatives markets. This paper takes options on QQQQ, the Nasdaq 100 tracking stock, as an example and examines different order flow consolidation mechanisms in terms of their effectiveness in extracting information about the underlying stock price and volatility movements. The analysis leads …

Hedge Funds, Managerial Skill, And Macroeconomic Variables, Doron Avramov, Robert Kosowski, Narayan Y. Naik, Melvyn Teo

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper evaluates hedge fund performance through portfolio strategies that incorporate predictability based on macroeconomic variables. Incorporating predictability substantially improves out-of-sample performance for the entire universe of hedge funds as well as for various investment styles. While we also allow for predictability in fund risk loadings and benchmark returns, the major source of investment profitability is predictability in managerial skills. In particular, long-only strategies that incorporate predictability in managerial skills outperform their Fung and Hsieh (2004) benchmarks by over 17% per year. The economic value of predictability obtains for different rebalancing horizons and alternative benchmark models. It is also robust …

Pairwise Correlations, Tarun Chordia, Amit Goyal, Qing Tong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Pairwise stock correlations increase by 27% on average when stock returns are negative. It is trading activity in small stocks that leads to higher correlations when returns are negative. We provide evidence consistent with the hypothesis that co-ordinated selling by retail investors drives this asymmetry in correlations. The co-ordinated selling activity by retail investors is triggered by negative market returns.

The Unintended Effects Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Vidhi Chhaochharia, Clemens A. Otto, Vikrant Vig

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was passed in the wake of several scandals that rocked corporate America in 2001 and 2002. The objective behind SOX was to improve corporate governance by improving accounting disclosures. Compliance with Section 404 is considered by many to be the most costly requirement of SOX and has been argued to be a disproportionate burden for small firms. Consequently, firms with a public float below $75 million were granted several exemptions from compliance. We document an unintended effect of these exemptions: a weakening of corporate governance through a weakening of the market for corporate control.

Cash Flow Management For Sda Organizations, Annetta M. Gibson

Faculty Publications

A presentation on managing cash flow in SDA organizations. Given to the East Central Africa Division on March, 2011.

Red Lion Hotel Corporation, Yin-Chia Shao

MBA Student Scholarship

This paper is a strategy executing research project of Red Lion Hotels Corporation. The research content includes the nature of the business, environmental analysis, strategy position within the industry, competitive advantage, strategic history, evaluate strategy and a conclusion. The company grew from a focused differentiation strategy to a broad differentiation diversification. Examining the business environment analysis, the external environment has a moderately strong impact on the company and the internal environment has a moderately weak position. The inferior position is a disadvantage to the Red Lion Hotel Corporation's growth. In addition, compared the company with Choice International Hotels, Inc and …

Spring Clean Your Financial House, Ann House

All Current Publications

This publication suggests 5 simple steps to reviewing and improving your financial status.

Out-Of-Sample Industry Return Predictability: Evidence From A Large Number Of Predictors, David E. Rapach, Jack K. Strauss, Jun Tu, Guofu Zhou

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We uncover extensive evidence of out-of-sample return predictability for industry portfolios based on a principal component approach that incorporates information from a large number of predictors. Moreover, we find substantial differences in the degree of return predictability across industries. To understand these differences, we propose a decomposition of out-of-sample industry return predictability into beta and alpha shares, where the former corresponds to a conditional beta pricing model. A conditional version of the popular Fama-French three-factor model accounts for nearly all out-of-sample industry return predictability, with exposures to time-varying market and size risk premiums especially important for explaining differences in return …

Explosive Behavior In The 1990s Nasdaq: When Did Exuberance Escalate Asset Values?, Peter C. B. Phillips, Yangru Wu, Jun Yu

Research Collection School Of Economics

A recursive test procedure is suggested that provides a mechanism for testing explosive behavior, date stamping the origination and collapse of economic exuberance, and providing valid confidence intervals for explosive growth rates. The method involves the recursive implementation of a right-side unit root test and a sup test, both of which are easy to use in practical applications, and some new limit theory for mildly explosive processes. The test procedure is shown to have discriminatory power in detecting periodically collapsing bubbles, thereby overcoming a weakness in earlier applications of unit root tests for economic bubbles. An empirical application to the …

The Road To Retirement: Bumpy Or Smooth, Depends On Your Route, Anand Iyer, Madhusudan Subramanian, Vikash Punglia

WCBT Faculty Publications

Defined Contribution (DC) plans are rapidly becoming the primary retirement investment vehicle for a majority of employees across the US and other markets around the globe. Asset allocation for DC plans has to strike a balance between growth and protection assets over the savings lifecycle while protecting the long-term purchasing power of the nest egg. Due to the long duration of retirement investing and various risks associated with it, implementing the right asset allocation has become critical and challenging for DC plans. The unique Risk Focused methodology presented in this paper aims to address the shortcomings of conventional Target Date …

2011 Private Capital Markets Report, John K. Paglia

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 …

A Peer-Based Financial Planning And Education Service Program: An Innovative Pedagogic Approach, Joseph W. Goetz, Dorothy B. Durband, Ryan Halley, Kimberlee Davis

Faculty Publications - College of Business

This paper presents a peer-based financial planning and education program as a strategy to address the lack of financial literacy among college students and provide an experiential/earning opportunity for students majoring in financial planning or other financial services-related disciplines. Benefits of such programs to campus communities are addressed by illustrating the current trends regarding student debt and financial literacy. The paper provides a specific description of a successful peer-to-peer financial planning and education program and encourages its replication at other colleges and universities. Through the review of this program, other schools may emulate effective strategies to assist in the implementation …

A Survey Of Clergy Practices Associated With Premarital Financial Counseling, Ryan E. Halley, Dorothy B. Durband, William C. Bailey, A. William Gustafson

Faculty Publications - College of Business

The purpose of this exploratory study was to gain an understanding of the state of clergy-led premarital financial counseling. Clergy respondents (n =223) indicated that they often include a financial component in their formal premarital counseling. The most frequently discussed financial topics are budgeting, managing debt and credit, and saving. The most frequently cited obstacles to providing premarital financial counseling are lack of time and lack of subject matter expertise.

2010-2011 Financial Summary, Morehead State University. Budget & Financial Planning Office.

Morehead State University Financial Summaries Archive

2010-2011 Financial Summary of Morehead State University.

Mergers And Beliefs, Todd A. Brown, Thomas Zorn, Geoff Freissen

Faculty Publications

We study the combined effects of managerial optimism and market overvaluation on merger premiums and the chosen form of payment. Our empirical results are consistent with market overvaluation and the target manager‘s optimism as having the most influence on mergers. The observed form of payment corresponds to the acquiring manager‘s preferences, suggesting that the acquiring manager dictates the method of payment. Lastly, our model demonstrates why cash mergers are more likely to be hostile, and provides an explanation for why a combination of cash plus stock may be optimal.

Basic Concepts In Forest Valuation And Investment Analysis, Steven H. Bullard, Thomas J. Straka

eBooks

This book was originally intended to supplement lectures in forestry economics at the undergraduate level. It’s currently used for that purpose in ‘Forest Resource Economics’ courses at several universities. The book is also intended, however, to serve as a basic reference for foresters with experience in valuation and investment analysis concepts and methods. It has proven to be a valuable resource in forest valuation and investment analysis workshops for practicing foresters, landowners, and others interested in forestry investments.

Ideal for use in undergraduate and graduate forestry education programs, as well as in forest valuation workshops.

Restoring Transparency To Automated Authority, Frank Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

Leading finance, health care, and internet firms shroud key operations in secrecy. Our markets, research, and life online are increasingly mediated by institutions that suffer serious transparency deficits. When a private entity grows important enough, it should be subject to transparency requirements that reflect its centrality. The increasing intertwining of governmental, business, and academic entities should provide some leverage for public-spirited appropriators and policymakers to insist on more general openness.

However well an "invisible hand" coordinates economic activity generally, markets depend on reliable information about the practices of core firms that finance, rank, and rate entities in the rest of …

A Financial Impact Assessment Of Ld 1725: Stream Crossings Presentation, New England Environmental Finance Center

Economics and Finance

This report looks at the potential financial impact of LD 1725 on the estimated 30,000 stream crossings in the State of Maine that would be affected by the law. Our research for this report included the analysis of nearly 2000 stream crossings and the data collection necessary for the development of extensive stream crossing replacement cost models. We found that the 1.2 bankfull requirements in LD 1725 would result in a 75% ‐ 250% increase in structure widths for stream crossing projects across the state. An upsize of this magnitude would increase the cost of replacing stream crossings statewide by …

International Comparisons Of Bank Regulation, Liberalization, And Banking Crises, Puspa Amri, Apanard P. Angkinand, Clas Wihlborg

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose: The recurrence of banking crises throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and in the more recent 2008-09 global financial crisis, has led to an expanding empirical literature on crisis explanation and prediction. This paper provides an analytical review of proxies for and important determinants of banking crises − credit growth, financial liberalization, bank regulation and supervision.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The study surveys the banking crisis literature by comparing proxies for and measures of banking crises and policy-related variables in the literature. Advantages and disadvantages of different proxies are discussed.

Findings: Disagreements about determinants of banking crises are in part …

Indiana State University Financial Report 2011, Indiana State University

Financial Reports

No abstract provided.

Carnivorous Lions And Herbivorous Asians: How The Recession Has Made A Case For Leadership In Asia, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

It may seem as if the worse is over. Those oversights and indiscretions which led to the global financial crisis have been exposed and dealt with – or have they? According to Andrew Sheng, renowned economist and distinguished speaker at SMU's Ngee Ann Kongsi Annual Lecture Series, the severity of the crisis is far more extensive than most people believe. Compounding the problem are systemic complexities brought on by "shadow banking", "moral hazards", and the carnivorous lions of Wall Street.

Gold, Gas And Grains: Smartest Investment For The Coming Decade?, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

The disappointing performance of investments like stocks, bonds and real estate during the recent crisis, has only served to accentuate the attractiveness of investing in commodities. With finite supply and voracious demand from countries like China, it seems that the prices of oil, gold, iron and other natural resources could only rise. John Stephenson, of First Asset Investment Management Inc, tells us more in The Little Book of Commodity Investing, why investing in commodities is timely and smart.

Psychological Correlates Of Investor Risk, John Laurin Vaughn

Theses Digitization Project

The present study explores the efficacy of a standardized psychological test known as Rotter's Internal/External Locus of Control Scale in predicting investor's level of risk aversion.

Off The Rack Versus Savile Row: The Value Of Custom Tailoring For Equity Investors, Steven D. Dolvin, John Gonas

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

eparately managed accounts (SMAs) generally carry a higher fee structure than standard mutual funds, but managers tout the ability to customize accounts as being worthy of this higher cost. This customization may increase returns, or it may simply allow for more personalized tax management or control over other unique circumstances. • Very little research exists on the relative return benefit of SMAs compared with actively managed mutual funds. We fill this gap by examining firms that offer concurrently managed funds-SMAs as well as matching mutual funds run by the same manager(s) and following the same general strategy. • We find …

Jump Risk And Cross Section Of Stock Returns: Evidence From China's Stock Market, Haigang Zhou, John Qi Zhu

Business Faculty Publications

Various studies have confirmed the existence of jumps in different financial markets. However, there is sparse theoretical or empirical effort to examine the dynamic relation between jump risk and cross-sectional expected stock returns. We follow a stylized SDF-based diffusion-jump model to examine its testable implications about the relation between cross-section expected excess returns and variations in jump intensities across stocks. The zero-cost portfolio, exploiting the return spreads between the top and bottom decile portfolios formed on jump intensity, could earn an annualized return as high as 24% with an annualized Sharpe ratio of 1.67. A Fama-MacBeth test shows that stock …