Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

Ai-Augmented Financial Advisors: Comparing Ai And Human Analyst Investment Recommendations In Agreement, Performance, And Firm Size Effects, Crystal Chen

Honors College Theses

This study examines the level of agreement and performance between artificial intelligence (AI) generated investment recommendations and human analyst recommendations across U.S. publicly traded firms. Using a sample of twelve companies categorized by firm size (large, mid, and small), the study collects buy, hold, or sell recommendations from generative AI systems and human analysts. Agreement between AI-to-AI and AI-to-human recommendations is measured using Cohen’s Kappa agreement. Portfolio performance is evaluated by constructing equal-weighted portfolios for each recommendation source and size category. Risk-adjusted returns are measured using the Sharpe ratio over 1-, 2-, and 3-month periods. Furthermore, the study tests whether …

Diving Into Commercial Banking: Internship Experience At Hilborn & Howell, Llc, Reid W. Finch

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper attempts to provide insight into the commercial banking industry through personal experience and the help of high-level lending professionals.

Expand Your Programs Through Collaboration, Bryan Brugger

Midwest Business Librarian Summit (MBLS)

It is possible to expand the reach of programming by collaborating with other libraries and community partners. Many business/finance/career development programs tend to pull small audiences. By working with other partners it is possible to offer more programs, typically virtual programs, with less effort for each library, and get a higher turnout at the same time. The Northbrook Library has engaged in 3 different partnerships since the pandemic began on a variety of topics and seen attendance reach numbers impossible for individual libraries to attain. This will look at these three partnerships and the results they have had.

Fixed Income Mathematics, Kenneth S. Bigel

Open Touro Created

2025

Bond Math is at the center of the functioning of the bond markets, yet this critical sub-finance discipline is usually not accessible to the typical investor. This is an approachable study of the mathematical theories underlying Fixed Income instruments. It is not a study of bonds per se or the bond markets. The text commences with a basic review of the time value of money, i.e., the theory of compound interest. It then proceeds to discuss how bond prices and yields are determined. Next, it covers the relationships between bond prices and general movements of interest rates in the …

Navigating Market Volatility: Risk And Return Insights From Indian Mutual Funds, Davinder K. Malhotra, Rahul Singh, L. Ramani

School of Business Faculty Papers

This study evaluates Indian mutual funds using a variety of criteria, demonstrating a historical tendency of lower monthly returns and volatility when compared to benchmark indexes. This positive risk profile implies that it will appeal to investors who want stability. Despite COVID-19-induced market volatility, mutual funds persistently outperform benchmark indices in terms of average return per unit of risk, highlighting their potential as a dependable investment option for stability seekers. Furthermore, Indian mutual funds routinely beat benchmark indexes in risk-adjusted terms. Despite having a positive alpha, it lacked statistical significance, indicating a possible reliance on market volatility rather than managerial …

Impact Of Esg Ratings On Company Stock Price Returns, Benjamin Mccormick

Honors College Theses

ESG, Environmental, Social, Governance, is a new business philosophy that asserts that businesses have a duty to the environment, their communities, and to act legally and ethically. ESG rating agencies are built around grading public companies on their fulfillment of these objectives. Critics of ESG cite that ESG dilutes the primary purpose of business, to create value for shareholders. This paper uses regression analysis to test whether these perspectives are mutually exclusive. With stock returns as the dependent variable and ESG ratings as the dependent variable of interest, this paper finds a slight correlation between lower returns and companies in …

Finance And Artificial Intelligence, Luke Schawang

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into finance represents a significant evolution in the industry, one that has been ongoing for years but is now accelerating rapidly. This paper explores the various forms and functions of AI, from reactive machines to the potential for superintelligence, and examines its impact on banking, business finance, and investing.

In banking, AI has bolstered cybersecurity and fraud detection, leveraging machine learning algorithms to continuously improve accuracy and efficiency. Similarly, in business finance, AI tools like chatbots and algorithms streamline processes, enhance productivity, and reduce costs. In investing, AI-driven solutions such as robo advisors offer …

The Hidden Scams In Business & Finance, Jake Patten, Carter Harrell, Claude Auguste, Sheldon Jerome Downing Ii

ENGL 1102 Showcase

For our research papers, we chose to look into different kinds of scams lurking in the business world, and how they can affect businesses and society as a whole. There are hundreds of different scams at any given time, but we decided to focus on lesser-known scams that the majority of people don't even think about. These scams include rigged casinos, charity fraud, business email compromise, and embezzlement within smaller businesses.

We chose this topic in an attempt to bring more attention to the criminal side of the business world that people otherwise see as harmless. Especially with the recent …

Corporate Finance, Kenneth S. Bigel

Open Touro Created

2023

Corporate Finance is a comprehensive guide covering the three fundamental topics in Corporate Finance, including Capital Budgeting under Certainty, Capital Structure Theory, and Short-term Financial Management and Operating Leverage. In-depth explanations of topics and terms are provided as well as key illustration in the manner of problem sets and solutions, tables, and diagrams. Review problems are also included so that students can conduct self-assessments. This text will be continually updated in order to provide novel information and enhance students’ experiences.

Sports Leagues And Organizations’ Financial Recovery From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Matthew Quackenbos

Senior Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused a global shutdown that immediately stopped all revenue of hosting sporting events for sports leagues. This resulted in a financial struggle for these leagues and organizations that they had to work to overcome. Using public access to financial statements and records, this report examines the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports leagues and organizations and how they were able to recover in the years following the pandemic.

The Dark Side Of Leadership: Mid-Level Managers And Their Experience With Hubristic Behaviors Of Executives, Leili Sadaghiani

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify the emotional reactions of mid-level managers to executives’ hubris behaviors in a corporate setting.

Methodology: This leadership study uses qualitative phenomenological methodology was executed to explore the lived experiences of mid-level managers with past executives who practiced hubristic behavior.

Findings: The findings of this research on the lived experiences of mid-level managers with hubristic behaviors of executives suggest that the lack of support lessens the mid-level manager’s confidence; with little support; the mid-level manager was either afraid to fight the executive or gave up trying; the mid-level manager faced stress even …

Support New Business To Solve Old Problems With Kentucky’S Keystone Waste From Bourbon & Brewing, Samuel C. Kessler

Commonwealth Policy Papers

Provided here is a policy solution from the backside of Kentucky bourbon and brewing to upcycle Kentucky’s “keystone” wastes and grow businesses in the process. Potential effects range from removing the bottleneck on bourbon production and producing GHG-friendly biogas to lowering the price of milk.This full whitepaper brief provides an incentive model for keystone wastes which have a provider and a use. It is equally applicable for policymakers or advocates wishing to place a policy incentive behind waste-to-product upcycling, businesses involved with methane sequestration & renewable biogas energy, and shifting regulatory and penalizing models of pollution into incentive model for …

Finance And Accounting Dual-Degree Proposal, Meghan Finley

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Financial Analysis, Kenneth S. Bigel

Open Touro Created

2022

This Open Textbook is a dynamic guide incorporating the essential skills needed to build a foundation in Financial Analysis. Students and readers will learn how to insightfully read a Financial Statement, utilize key financial ratios in order to derive forward-looking investment-related inferences from the accounting data, engage in elementary forecasting and modeling, master the theory of the Time Value of Money, and learn to price stocks and bonds in an environment in which interest rates constantly change. Ample problems and solutions, and review questions are provided to the student so that s/he can gauge his/her progress. This text will …

Redefining Banking Through Defi: A New Proposal For Free Banking Based On Blockchain Technology And Defi 2.0 Model, Francesco Spinoglio

Journal of New Finance

This article aims to offer a new free banking proposal with a 100% cash ratio that uses the DeFi 2.0 model. The current monetary system, based on Central Banking with fractional reserve, has created a huge debt spiral and has distorted the entire production system, which produces deep recurring socioeconomic crises that increasingly impoverish citizens. This paper presents an innovative proposal that aims to take advantage of blockchain technology using the Defi 2.0 model. It would be a first attempt to merge centralized finance with the DeFi world, laying the foundation for a fairer and more decentralized monetary society.

Navigating The Impact Of Covid-19 On Small Commercial Businesses And Insurance Companies, And A Call To Action For Future Communicable Disease Outbreaks, Natalie Peña

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

The short-term and long-term effects of Covid-19 have caused many small commercial businesses to face financial hardships, loss of employees, and even closures for entities that were already experiencing low profit margins. Distraught with their businesses suffering, owners turned to their primary insurance companies to receive compensation through their business interruption policies. However, most insureds were upset when they discovered that their insurance plans did not include communicable diseases and pandemics as a covered peril. This led to many small businesses battling these issues in the courts and fighting for insurance companies to provide financial assistance to them during this …

Bitcoin: The Pioneer Of Cryptocurrency With A Limited Dream, Anna M. Gellerman, Benjamin Zheng

Publications and Research

BitCoin is the most well known and adaptable cryptocurrency today. Due to the evolvement of the cryptocurrency market, many are thinking what this could mean for society; is the world ready for a new mainstream medium of exchange? This poster argues that although BitCoin is functional for small scale payments, it is inadaptable to become a payment tool comparable to cash and card.

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 …

Behavioral Finance For The Individual Investor, Drake Gens

Senior Honors Theses

The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) has been generally accepted in academia despite its well-researched flaws; by understanding how and when markets deviate from efficiency, investors have an opportunity to not only better understand their investing habits, but also possibly generate higher investment returns. Various market anomalies, such as the Value Effect (De Bondt & Thaler, 1985), the Monday Effect (French, 1980), and the January Effect (De Bondt and Thaler, 1958 & 1987), attest to the fact that markets experience periods of deviation from efficiency. Fiévet and Sornette (2016) finding that markets experience inefficiency during periods of significant volatility is confirmed …

Revitalizing The Street Of Dreams: A North 24th Street Case Study, Tiffany Hunter

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The purpose of this study is to analyze the North 24^th Street corridor in Omaha, Nebraska, to highlight the benefits of investing in commercial real estate development, propose tools for financing new development or redevelopment projects, and to suggest methods of building a coherent development plan to avoid gentrification. Commercial development provides the following: quality business space, accessible jobs for an underemployed populace, additional tax revenue, and a reduction in community detriments such as crime, empty lots, and low property values. The North 24^th Street corridor has economic potential, as it is less than one mile from downtown …

The Cfa Research Challenge, Kevin Grube

Honors Student Research

This paper explores the CFA Research Challenge, a financial analysis competition, and what it entails. The paper expands on a wide range of topics regarding the challenge, motivations of its competitors, class influences towards the challenge, and tips and tricks for future competitors. The paper includes my team's finalized research paper and includes our graded rubrics. It also discusses my opinions on the CFA as an organization, detailing my distaste with the professionalism I observed over the challenge.

Fraud In Small Businesses: A Preliminary Study, Esther Bunn, Jack Ethridge, Kaili Crow

Faculty Publications

This study investigates the attitudes small business owners and managers have towards fraud and internal controls. Commonly small businesses consist of long-term friends and relatives and tend to embody a culture of family, love, and trust. Four factors were identified that lend themselves to a lack of internal controls and a breeding ground for fraud. A survey was distributed to small business owners and management. The responses were analyzed and compared to the data in the 2016 American Certified Fraud Examiners Report to the Nations. Of the four expectations studied, only the anticipated results of Expectation 1 were confirmed.

The Impact Of Culture On Hispanic Entrepreneurs As Mediated By Motivation, Challenge, And Success, Valerie V. Ballesteros

Theses & Dissertations

In the modern economic environment, demographic shifts in U.S. population resulting from changing immigration, changing economic policies and environments, and growing socioeconomic disparity, scholarly research examining the business behavior of specific groups and the impact of behavior on the broader marketplace is valuable and necessary. Hispanic entrepreneurs, when compared to both minority and non-minority business-owners, started and flourished in successful business ownership at a greater growth rate than any other group (Davila, Mora, & Zeitlin, 2014). Since the beginning of the 21st century, Hispanic entrepreneurs have become a measurable economic force. The cultural experience of the Hispanic entrepreneur is important …

Death Spiral Convertible Bonds, Austin Dwyer

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Death spiral convertibles, are a type of loan lenders give to a firm in exchange for a right to convert into equity at below market prices. This differs from traditional convertibles because there is no fixed conversion price. Instead, the price can be reset lower if the firm's stock price falls below the conversion price at the time of issuance. As the process repeats itself the stock's price spirals downwards. This process benefits the bondholders at the cost of the shareholders. Based on a hand collected sample of 23 companies issuing a total of I 97 floating price convertibles, the …

Bridging The Gap Between Religion And Business: A Conversation, Michael E. Cafferky, Doug Jacobs

Faculty Works

This article explores some of the tensions that congregational pastors experience in terms of business and religion. It is a dialogue regarding the perceived gap between pastors and business professionals.

“Bridging the gap between religion and business: A conversation" by Michael Cafferky and Douglas Jacobs published in the December 2016 issue of Ministry,® International Journal for Pastors, www.MinistryMagazine.org. Used by permission.

A Strategic Marketing And Financial Analysis Of Toys R Us, Ethan S. Thomison

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

The following is a strategic marketing and financial analysis concerning the highly dynamic operations of Toys R Us.

Is America Still Free?, Connor P. Daigle

Senior Honors Projects

If we take a moment and observe our current societal landscape, we may be intrigued by what we find. If we paint a broad brush over the 21^st century, we are engaged in war in the Middle East, we have allowed our politicians to purchase their seats in office, and have overcome two large economic downturns. The economic issues are the collapse of Enron, the world’s largest energy supplier, and the housing market collapse of 2008. How many know what actually created the housing bubble? How many know about Enron? How many American Citizens understand how our current society …

Derivatives Pricing With Accelerated Trinomial Trees, Conall O'Sullivan, Stephen O'Sullivan

Articles

Accelerated Trinomial Trees (ATTs) are a derivatives pricing lattice method that circumvent the restrictive time step condition inherent in standard trinomial trees and explicit finite difference methods (FDMs) in which the time step must scale with the square of the spatial step. ATTs consist of L uniform supersteps each of which contains an inner lattice/trinomial tree with N non-uniform subtime steps. Similarly to implicit FDMs, the size of the superstep in ATTs, a function of N, are constrained primarily by accuracy demands. ATTs can price options up to N times faster than standard trinomial trees (explicit FDMs). ATTs can be …

Women Empowerment Through Social Initiatives: An Indian Story, Divya Singhal

DLSU Business & Economics Review

It is now proven that the relationship between business and society is integral in the success of any enterprise. With the growing role of business in society, organizations are becoming more “socially responsible” and engaging in various social initiatives. Organizations involve themselves in various kinds of initiatives generally targeted towards a selected underprivileged section of the society or a specific area like education, health, and environment. Women play an important role in building sustainable development. Promoting women empowerment and widening their contribution in decision-making roles are key strategies for sustainable development. The present paper is an attempt to highlight women …

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 …