Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

The Implementation Of Eportfolios As A High Impact Practice In The Real Estate Practice Class, Yu Liu

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

I would like to implement the ePortfolio to my Fin 481 Real Estate Practice course. Real Estate Practice course introduces students to a broad spectrum of practical issues and activities in real estate markets. It provides the opportunity for the students to get an in-depth understanding of the real estate business. Subjects include Understand Real Estate Market; Math for Real Estate; Buying Real Estate, Mortgage, Escrow, Title Company, Inspection, Home Insurance Company; Selling Real Estate, Repairing, Brokerage, Staging; Comparative Market Analysis; Brokerage and Marketing Strategies; Investing in Real Estate Market, Debt Utilization; Flipping and Wholesaling; Construction Fundamentals; Legal Protection and …

A Case Study On Whether A Business Should Own Or Lease Its Real Estate, Benjamin Cooper

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

Businesses are continually faced with many difficult decisions to make daily that can have a significant impact on their success. Whether it is if they should adopt a new accounting practice, work with a new supplier, or push into a new consumer sector, these decisions will affect their operations and long-term plans. One of these major decisions that a business has to make is whether they should own or lease their real estate. Depending on the size, type, and scope of a business this decision could be made differently but for certain companies there is definitely a correct answer. Buying …

Using Buy And Rent Discrepancies To Predict Real Estate Bubbles, Jonathan K. Niehaus

Honors Theses

The cost of housing is one of the biggest recurring expenses Americans face. Real estate is also one of the largest asset classes of investments today. The decision of whether or not it is the right time to purchase a piece of residential real estate can be difficult for the everyday person as well as professionals. With the recent downturn of 2008, many people are reminded that the price of houses can spiral upward, and if one bought at the wrong time, their house could lose a tremendous portion of its value. This study focuses on looking at different economic …

Equity Crowdfunding In The United States: Evolution, Determinants And Performance, Kenny Ozuna

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, equity crowdfunding has developed into an alternative form of early stage financing for startup firms. The main purpose of this dissertation is to understand the evolution, process and regulation of equity crowdfunding in the United States as well as assess the determinants of a successful campaign and whether this capital market lead to an enduring business.

The first essay examines the evolution, process and regulation surrounding equity crowdfunding. I establish a clear definition of crowdfunding and its restructuring of the music industry to establishing an alternative form of raising capital for nascent firms via equity crowdfunding. I …

Fintech Regulations In The United States Compared To Regulations In Europe And Asia, Victoria Williams

Honors College Theses

Fintech, or financial technology, is an up and coming industry and yet at the same time has been around since the 1950s. In Europe and Asia, there has been a lot of innovation, and lawmakers have been forced to keep up with regulating the rapidly growing industry. However, the United States has not risen to the occasion of properly regulating this industry and can learn from countries in Europe and Asia on how to effectively regulate fintech. This essay explains generally what fintech is, why it must be properly regulated, how countries in Europe and Asia regulate it, and how …

Black Women In Finance, Skylar R. Frankiewicz

Student Publications

The concept of gender has long played a role in United States’ history, greatly impacting and restructuring our economy. The push for gender equality in America has altered how organizations operate across different occupational fields. While the 2020 Equal Rights Amendment has yet to pass, many organizations are still motivated to reach total gender equality and balance within their firms. While there is a fight for feminism and gender equality, it is not a racially inclusive one. Black women face the most discrimination both in the workplace, and in social settings. Misogynoir is defined as prejudice against Black women, highlighting …

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 …

Understanding Cryptocurrencies, Wolfgang Karl Hardle, Campbell R. Harvey, Raphael C. G. Ruele

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

Cryptocurrency refers to a type of digital asset that uses distributed ledger, or blockchain, technology to enable a secure transaction. Although the technology is widely misunderstood, many central banks are considering launching their own national cryptocurrency. In contrast to most data in financial economics, detailed data on the history of every transaction in the cryptocurrency complex are freely available. Furthermore, empirically oriented research is only now beginning, presenting an extraordinary research opportunity for academia. We provide some insights into the mechanics of cryptocurrencies, describing summary statistics and focusing on potential future research avenues in financial economics.

Mad-Lib Style Game Sheet For Calculating Returns, Brett Whysel

Open Educational Resources

A short activity in which students pair up, fill in blanks with nouns, numbers, etc., creating their own practice problems to calculate returns.

Preferences Of Institutional Investors: Evidence From The Arab Region, Mohamed Ahmed Magdy Elsayed

Theses and Dissertations

In this research, we examine the preferences of institutional investors in the Arab region. Institutional investors’ investment decisions are based on various factors or measures that are used in assessing the worthiness of a company for investment. The research uses measures for stock risk and return, financial leverage, profitability, ownership concentration and trading activity, as well as measures for company size, value, sector, and country as predictor variables for the rate of institutional ownership and analyzes the impact of these variables. Using a cross-sectional model, the research gathers evidence from the Arab region’s leading stock markets by market capitalization for …

Portfolio Insurance Strategies. Parameter Optimization And Comparison Study, Olga Biedova

2020

Portfolio insurance strategies are very popular investment solutions that provide an investor with capital protection as well as allow for an equity market participation.

This dissertation focuses on two portfolio insurance strategies: Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance (CPPI), one of the most popular strategies, and Volatility Target Portfolio Insurance (VTPI), a modified version of an Option Based Portfolio Insurance (OBPI). This dissertation follows a three-paper model.

In paper one, we propose a two-step approach to the numerical optimization of the CPPI main parameter, multiplier. First, we identify an admissible range of the multiplier values by controlling the shortfall probability (chosen as …

The Effect Of Gender On Ethical Investing, Delaney J. Housley

Honors Theses and Capstones

Prior literature related to gender and risk propensity would suggest that females are risk-averse, compassionate, and value ethics over return. This ideology of traditional gender norms stereotypically implies that females may be more likely to engage in ethical investing, as there is inherently less risk in investing in companies with strong corporate social responsibility. On the other hand, males are often portrayed as risk-seeking, competitively motivated, and valuing profits over principle, thus may be more willing to compromise ethics if the ends justify the means. The following paper seeks to investigate this relationship between gender and ethical investing, as examined …

The Future Of Actively Managed Funds, Oliver M. Botthof

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study analyzes the relationship between actively managed U.S. equity funds and passively managed U.S. equity funds over the past 20 years. This study concludes with a prediction as to where these markets are headed based off related literature and regression based tests run a a sample of funds.

Newman/Martoma: The Insider Trading Law's Impasse And The Promise Of Congressional Action, Tai H. Park

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

The prohibition against insider trading is a judge-made law that has evolved for over fifty years, and has reached a critical impasse in two recent decisions in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals: United States v. Newman and United States v. Martoma. Judges of the Second Circuit are sharply divided over what conduct constitutes improper trading on material nonpublic information (“MNPI”), leaving the law in profound disarray. At bottom, the disagreement stems from a decades-old split within the judiciary about how to (1) ensure a fair securities marketplace, while (2) enabling institutional analysts to probe for corporate information in furtherance …

The Layers Of Digital Financial Innovation: Charting A Regulatory Response, Teresa Rodriguez De Las Heras Ballell

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

The increasing penetration of digital technologies in financial markets is evidenced by promising adoption rates among users, expanding presence of fintech firms and bigtech providing techfin services, and the growing use of fintech solutions by incumbents. The increasingly popular term "fintech" captures the accelerated transformation of contemporary financial markets driven and enabled by technology, and encapsulates its multifarious potential impact on services, market structures, and business models. This Article first aims to devise and propose an analytical framework to understand the digital challenges to financial regulation based on the "layers of digital financial innovation" theory. Accordingly, digital innovation (fintech) is …

How Access To Finances Affects Gender Inequality Across Cultures, Allison Muntin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

While many studies of financial inclusion have been undertaken, very few discuss the inclusion of women. Financial inclusion plays a large role in unlocking resources for the disadvantaged, resulting in higher economic growth and development. The economic opportunity allows individuals and businesses to have a greater contribution to society as a whole, enhancing all aspects of the economy. This paper furthers the conversation of women’s access to financial institution accounts across cultures and what underlying factors play a key role. The results indicate that the female demographic has fewer financial institution accounts in comparison to men when: (i) a country’s …

Review: Personal Finance (Saylor Foundation), Aaron Henrichsen

Open Textbooks & Reviews

Review of the textbook Personal Finance originally posted on Open Textbook Library (https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/personal-finance).

Irrational Exuberance: Panic Rooms And Flutters In Financial Markets, Vijay Fafat

Asian Management Insights

As the memory of the 2008 financial crash fades, there are cautionary thoughts on why we tend to overshoot in our optimism, and why even genius comes to grief in the face of capricious, mercurial capital markets.

From Bitcoin To Blockchain, And Back Again, Danielle Szetho, Rene Michau

Asian Management Insights

In the context of the current FinTech revolution, it remains to be seen how the wealth of knowledge on new technologies and business models in the area of finance can effectively and efficiently drive change and seize the new opportunities being created in the vast and fast-paced world of digital and crypto-assets.

Research Project In Finance: Target Corporation, Saba Ajmal

Student Scholarship

Target Corporation was founded in Minnesota and is currently the eight-largest retailer in the US. Target Corp. stock is a part of the S&P500 index. Target’s primary business focus is on selling customers everyday essentials that are on the trendier side at a reasonable price (Form 10- k). Target Corp. has designed a system to provide customers with a unique shopping experience that is well integrated in stores and online via Target.com. According to the firm’s 10-k report, “Our ability to deliver a preferred shopping experience to our guests is supported by our supply chain and technology, our devotion to …

Research Project In Finance: Six Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, Keagan Parsons

Student Scholarship

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is a theme park company that offers guests thrill rides, water attractions, and other themed events. Six Flags currently operates 25 parks, with 22 parks in the United States, 2 parks Mexico and one in Montreal, Canada. These 25 parks span over 5,900 acres of land and the company has an additional 800 acres of available land yet to be used. In 2018, Six Flags had an aggregate of 920 rides being offered, with the largest segment being their 150 roller coasters.

Six Flags holds exclusive licensing, through Warner Bros and DC Comics, of the theme …

Reliability Of Technical Stock Price Pattern Predictability, Matthew Lutey

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Academic research has shown throughout the years the ability of technical indicators to convey predictive value, informational content, and practical use. The popularity of such studies goes in and out over the years and today is being recognized widely by behavioral economists. Automated technical analysis is said to detect geometric and nonlinear shapes in prices which ordinary time series methods would be unable to detect. Previous papers use smoothing estimators to detect such patterns. Our paper uses local polynomial regressions, digital image processing, and state of the art machine learning tools to detect the patterns. Our results show that they …

The Fintech Revolution, Robert J. Kauffman

MITB Thought Leadership Series

The traditional dominance of established big-hitters in financial services is at an end. The market for many types of financial transaction is being disrupted by small businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurs. They are quicker off the mark in both spotting gaps in the market and developing state-of-the-art systems to respond to customer needs.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Fin 4093 (Corporate Credit Risk), Michele Costello

Open Educational Resources

The course will provide students with an overview of key concepts in corporate credit risk through the lens of a commercial banking risk analyst. Students will be assigned a company to follow throughout the semester and will be required to use the tools of the course to build their own credit rating analysis in a term paper due at the end of the semester. Topics including country risk, industry risk, market risk, business risk (financial and management), and structure risk will be explored through lectures, industry publications, and access to industry analysis and tools. Upon completion of this course, students …

Evaluating An Mlb General Manager’S Bang For Their Buck, Devin Mathura

Honors College Theses

With my passion for baseball, I decided to calculate the value of each player on an MLB active roster and determine whether they are underpaid or overpaid. I then used that information to evaluate and rank how efficient each MLB general manager utilizes their money on players. With the luxury tax becoming more of an issue for teams with high payrolls, there has been an emphasis on general managers to construct a team that will be highly competitive at a reasonably low price. In my report, I imported data that reflected the position for each player as well as their …

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 …

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.

Research Project In Finance: Kinder Morgan Inc. (Kmi), Christopher Holmes

Student Scholarship

KMI is a buy because the market is currently mispricing the company due to fears over their CO2 segment and their debt level.

First, it is currently being rumored that management is considering the sale of its CO2 business. This would be a positive because it would take away the concerns regarding CO2 and could help lead to a higher multiple. Additionally, the company’s backlog would become much more concentrated in higher growth areas if this segment is sold.

Second, the debt picture is misunderstood. The company currently has an investment grade rating from the rating agencies and currently has …

Clarity For Due Diligence In 401(K) Qualified Retirement Plans, Erin O'Reilly

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

My focus for this project is to educate myself and my peers on the process of analyzing a 401(k) plan, specifically the due diligence that should be performed when analyzing a retirement plan. Specific aspects of this project will involve: (1) explaining the different roles needed to administer a 401(k) plan; (2) discussing an advisor's role in a 401(k) plan; (3) analyzing fiduciary duty levels; (4) reviewing the appropriate types of investments to include in a 401(k) plan; (5) providing suggestions for financial wellness programs; and (6) discerning the appropriate level of fees for each service. I seek to provide …