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Scholarly Pursuits: Business Insights From Driehaus Faculty Research

Business Exchange

Lessons in Marketing from the "Obama Model"; Lack of Self-Awareness at Work Hurts Team Performance; Award-Winning Research Sheds Light on Shareholder Activism

Essays On International Risk-Return Trade-Off Relations, Liang Meng

Finance Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two essays on the international risk-return trade-off relations. The first essay is titled “The Role of the US Market on International Risk-Return Trade-Off Relations” and the second essay is titled “The Role of Investor Sentiment on International Risk-Return Trade-Off Relations”.

In our first essay, we study the intertemporal risk-return trade-off relations based on returns from 18 international markets. Our main contribution is that we find the US market plays an important role affecting the international risk-return trade-off. We present striking new empirical evidence that the inclusion of US market variables significantly changes the estimated risk-return trade-off …

Finding A Financial Planner, Emily G. Brown Jd

Pension Action Center Publications

This fact sheet provides information on how to find the right financial planner to help you meet your retirement planning goals. This fact sheet suggests things to consider prior to picking a financial planner and answers questions like:

• What do financial planners do?
• How do you know if you need a financial planner?
• How do you find the right financial planner?
• What type of professional title does a financial planner have?

What Happens When A Stock Is Added To The Nasdaq-100 Index? What Doesn’T Happen?, Susana Yu, Gwendolyn Webb, Kishore Tandon

Department of Accounting and Finance Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose – Prior research on additions to the S&P 500 and the smaller MidCap 400 and SmallCap 600 indexes reach different conclusions regarding the key variables that explain the cross-section of announcement period abnormal returns. Most notable in this regard is that liquidity measures, long thought to be of importance, do not appear to explain abnormal returns of the S&P 500 when other factors are controlled for. By contrast, they do appear to matter for additions to the smaller stock indexes. To explore this difference, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the abnormal returns upon announcement that a …

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 …

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 …

E-Finance In Asean, David Kuo Chuen Lee

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of Income Characteristics: Analyzing Targets And Acquirers In Banking Mergers And Acquisitions, Stephanie S. Simpson

Honors College Theses

With the large number of bank mergers occurring from 1990 to 2007, it is useful to know why acquirers chose to merge with these targeted entities. This research analyzes the income characteristics of targets and acquirers for this period to determine any indicators that distinguish an acquirer’s income structure from a target’s. To do this, income statement items from these banking entities are examined using factors such as size, serial or nonserial classification, and (for the targets only) public or private status. The research concludes that acquirers and targets indeed attain different income, cost, and efficiency characteristics.

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 …

Relationship Between Bootstrap Financing, Number Of Employees, And Small Business Success, Robin Marie Schofield

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business entrepreneurs face high failure rates, yet the success of local, state, and national economies relies on the success of small business. With a lack of capital commonly cited as a reason for failure, entrepreneurs must find ways to predict business survival. Grounded in pecking order and enactment theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the efficacy of bootstrap financing and numbers of employees in predicting business survival, measured by the business age. The research question was answered by using a predictive correlational quantitative research method with a cross-sectional survey design. The central question was whether …

Investcorp, Jeremy Kappes, Haynes King, Jamie Mattioli, Prasad Vaze, Timothy Kyle Benusa, Sam Gottwald, Thomas Arnold, Jeffrey S. Harrison

Robins Case Network

Investcorp is a publicly traded global alternative asset management company headquartered in Manama, Bahrain. It manages a huge hedge fund, along with other assets. The case describes Investcorp’s history, investment strategies, and major competitors. The company has a highly aggressive growth strategy, but it is also facing the retirement of its CEO.

One-Step Bond Pricing, Tom Arnold

Finance Faculty Publications

This paper re-works the traditional formula for pricing a bond with a present value annuity and a single discounted cash flow into a "one-step' bond pricing formula. The new derivation allows for a clear presentation of the relationship between a bond's coupon yield and its yield to maturity and a quick means for pricing a bond.

Why Cash Flow Is More Important Than Profit, Aretha Boex

White Papers

While profits are good, they do not adequately represent the financial standing of a firm. It is quite possible for a company to report profits but be unable to grow, secure financing or attract investors.

The Effect Of Ceo Gender, Age, And Salary On Firm Value, Brandon H. D'Ewart

CMC Senior Theses

This paper investigates the academic conclusions on how CEO gender and salary affect firm value, while at the same time adding data on how CEO age affects firm value. Via an event study of S&P 500 CEO changes from 2000 to 2006 I confirm the current academic findings and discover that CEOs promoted during their 40s negatively influence firm value, while CEOs in older age brackets show a positive abnormal return on firm value. With this validation and addition to the existing data, firms and investors can more effectively assess proper candidates for the position of CEO and allocate resources …

A Closer Look At The Impact Of Quantitative Easing On The Capital Markets: Garch Analysis Of The Exchange Traded Funds Market, Nicholas R. Duafala

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper analyzes the effects of quantitative easing (QE) on the capital markets by modeling exchange traded funds (ETFs) returns using a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) methodology. The results show that the 10-Year Treasury yields are significant in the returns of some sectors of the economy more so than others, and the Federal Funds Futures trading volume is significant in all ETFs return volatility. The implications of these results not only provide information about the reaction of the ETF market and QE, but also provide insight for developing investment strategies.

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 …

Financial Institutions And The Taxi-Cab Industry: An Exploratory Study In Canada, John D. Obradovich, Amarjit Gill, Nahum Biger, Leo-Paul Dana, Canadian Western Bank

Faculty Publications and Presentations

A current challenge taxicab owner/operators face in Canada is the lack of financing for taxicabs. This article examines business opportunities and lending risk; it also provides risk management strategies for financial institutions to manage the risk of lending to the taxi-cab industry. Members of the boards of directors and shareholders from the Canadian taxicab industry, and lenders from financial institutions that do not provide financing to taxicab owner/operators, were interviewed. Board members and shareholders were asked about their perceptions regarding business opportunity, risk, and their willingness to provide collateral for taxicab loans. Lenders of financial institutions were asked about their …

A Stochastic Volatility Model With Leverage Effect And Regime Switching, Hong Jiang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Modeling the volatility of asset returns is a very important study in financial economics. Among the time-varying volatility models, the Stochastic Volatility (SV) models are argued to have advantages over the autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH) models. The purpose of this article is to put forward a generalized and flexible Stochastic Volatility model, the Stochastic Volatility Model with Leverage Effect and Regime Switching (SVLR model), which could capture the complex features of financial time series to the most extent.

Financial Literacy In Retirement Planning, Jennifer Potts

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Studying finance, I have been exposed to the retirement plan options and how they work in most of my classes. But when I would talk to my family and friends about what I was learning, I quickly discovered that many people simply had no interest or understanding about the subject. I believe everyone needs to have a basic understanding of where income will come from once they retire. This realization pushed me to study the level of financial literacy about retirement and plan options of adults in the working world and determine how I could bring information about this topic …

Efinancial Health Synergy And Prevention Science, Nan Taylor

Cornerstone 1 Reports : Expansion and Enhancements of the Thinkfinity Platform

No abstract provided.

Singapore Management University Launches Financial It Academy @Smu To Train It Professionals In The Financial Services Industry, Singapore Management University

SMU Press Releases and News

Singapore Management University (SMU) has launched the first-of-its-kind academy in Singapore to provide training programmes targeted at the financial services IT segment. The Financial IT Academy @SMU (FITA) will equip financial sector IT professionals with enhanced IT capabilities that are critical to the growth of banking and financial services in Singapore, and also with the essential knowledge of the business needs and processes of financial institutions so that business and IT initiatives can be more effectively integrated for competitive advantage.

Two Essays On Ceo Inside Debt Compensation, Nilakshi Borah

Doctoral Dissertations

In the first chapter, I examine the effect CEO inside debt holdings on firm cash holdings, as measured by the ratio of cash and marketable securities to net assets using a sample of EXECUCOMP firms over the period of 2006 to 2008. Following prior literature on CEO inside debt holdings (Cassell et al., 2012), I use the following two measures as proxies for CEO inside debt compensation: (1) the CEO to firm debt/equity ratio, which is calculated as the CEO's debt/equity ratio scaled by the firm's debt to equity ratio and 2) an indicator variable equal to one when the …

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.

Finances & Algebra Too!, Anne J. Catlla, Jonathan Foster, Charlene Frazier

Arthur Vining Davis High Impact Fellows Projects

The focus of this project is to provide an application-based approach to teaching algebra 2. Students will study algebraic concepts and functions through the lens of personal finance. After each unit of study, students will complete a financial application project that will go into each student’s “financial” portfolio.

Further Evidence On The Ability Of Fifo And Lifo Earnings To Predict Operating Cash Flows: An Industry Specific Analysis, Brock Murdoch, Bruce Dehning, Paul Krause

Accounting Faculty Articles and Research

The continuing convergence of U.S. GAAP with International Accounting Standards has brought into question the future use of the LIFO inventory method in the U.S. Since the Financial Accounting Standards Board (2010) has stipulated that earnings should aid investors and creditors in their quest to forecast future cash flows to the enterprise, this research examines whether FIFO earnings or LIFO earnings is preferable, for this purpose, as an aid to ex ante operating cash flow itself,over a three-year forecast horizon. We conclude that ex ante operating cash flows are quite useful in forecasting operating cash flows across industries for up …

Social Entrepreneurship And Wealth-Building Plans: Creative Strategies For Working Class Americans, Wayne R. Curtis

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study investigated how the elements of social entrepreneurship with wealth-building strategies can advance the creation of wealth and serve as a mechanism for social change. This research takes a modest first step toward demystifying social entrepreneurship, better understanding the phenomenon, and exploring the relevance of wealth-building in social entrepreneurial activity. Specifically, this exploratory study used a multiple case study design to understand how existing social entrepreneurial ventures include wealth-building strategies, such as employee stock ownership plans for working class Americans. The concept of social entrepreneurship is relatively new. There is general agreement that the concept combines a passion for …

Critique Of Microcredit As A Development Model, Grace Levin

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

The field of microcredit (otherwise known as microfinance, microlending, or microcapital) has expanded rapidly since the 1980s as an economic means of lifting people out of poverty. Generally, microcredit has been accepted as an effective method for empowering both individuals and communities. In recent years, however, critics have brought to light some of the problems associated with microlending, such as the complex socioeconomic factors that can cause loan programs to fail. These problems stem from the basic tenet of microfinance: the need for lending programs to be managed locally in order to understand the needs of a community and assess …

Financial Services Innovation: Local Strategy, Management, And Change – A Field Investigation, Ann-Catherine Nave

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This study examines the innovation sources and processes of regional financial services firms through inductive field research. Innovation in these firms, and presumably other financial services firms and other smaller organizations, originate primarily out of three sources, the drive for efficiency, the external environment, and strategic, ambidextrous management. Successfully innovative firms balance the short-term need for efficiency improvements with the long-term desire to grow primarily through visionary, yet adaptive, leadership.