Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,128)
- Faculty Publications (516)
- January 2009
- Case
Berkshire Hathaway
By: Bharat N. Anand and Samhita Patwardhan Jayanti
Berkshire Hathaway describes the history and strategy of one of the best known investment firms over the last forty years. The case describes the investment philosophy of Warren Buffett, its legendary chairman and CEO, the gradual diversification of its portfolio, its... View Details
- January 2009 (Revised May 2010)
- Case
Altoona State Investment Board: December 2008
By: Josh Lerner
Rod Calhoun, the head of the Altoona State Investment Board's private equity investment program, considered the communication he had just received. It was from Permira, the leading European buyout fund, and concerned its fourth fund, to which Altoona had made a £ 100... View Details
- Article
Investor Activism and Takeovers
By: Robin Greenwood and Michael Schor
Recent work documents large positive abnormal returns around the time that a hedge fund announces its activist intentions with a publicly listed firm. We show that these returns are largely explained by the ability of activists to force target firms into a takeover: In... View Details
- December 2008 (Revised October 2010)
- Case
Paul Capital Partners: Secondary Limited Partnership Investing
This case examines the proposed purchase by Paul Capital Partners of a limited partnership (LP) interest in a private equity fund. Paul Capital has a fund dedicated to buying these "secondary" LP interests. The case is intended as a vehicle for discussing the secondary... View Details
- December 2008
- Article
Style Investing and Institutional Investors
By: Kenneth A. Froot and Melvyn Teo
This paper explores institutional investors' trades in stocks grouped by style and the relationship of these trades with equity market returns. It aggregates transactions drawn from a large universe of approximately $6 trillion of institutional funds. To analyze style... View Details
- November 2008
- Journal Article
Financial Constraints and Growth: Multinational and Local Firm Responses to Currency Crises
By: Mihir A. Desai, C. Fritz Foley and Kristin Forbes
This paper examines how financial constraints and product market exposures determine the response of multinational and local firms to sharp depreciations. U.S. multinational affiliates increase sales, assets, and investment significantly more than local firms during,... View Details
- October 2008 (Revised November 2010)
- Case
NEC Electronics
By: C. Fritz Foley, Robin Greenwood and James Quinn
Why do shares in NEC Electronics, a publicly listed subsidiary of Japan conglomerate NEC, trade at a discount to their fundamental value? Can Perry Capital, a U.S. hedge fund, restructure this subsidiary and generate significant returns? This case provides students... View Details
- September 2008 (Revised September 2010)
- Case
Ithmar Capital
By: Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon
The founders of Ithmar Capital, a mid-market private equity fund targeting businesses in and addressing the Gulf Co-operation Council countries, are about to raise their third fund, targeting $1 billion. The firm's current strategy as demonstrated in Funds I ($70... View Details
- September 2008
- Supplement
Mr. Nelson Peltz, Founding Partner, Trian Partners. Interviewed by Professor John Quelch
By: John A. Quelch
Professor John Quelch interviewed Mr. Nelson Peitz, Founding Partner of Trian Partners on events and decisions leading up to the decision to acquire the Snapple brand and the results of that corporate decision. View Details
- August 2008 (Revised May 2009)
- Case
Kmart and ESL Investments (A)
By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah Abbott
A major bankrupt retailer is poised to emerge from Chapter 11. Two activist hedge funds ("vulture investors") will own over 50% of reorganized Kmart's common stock, based on prior investments in Kmart's debt claims, and an infusion of new equity financing. The Chapter... View Details
- August 2008
- Article
Economic Links and Predictable Returns
By: Lauren Cohen and Andrea Frazzini
This paper finds evidence of return predictability across economically linked firms. We test the hypothesis that in the presence of investors subject to attention constraints, stock prices do not promptly incorporate news about economically related firms, generating... View Details
- May 2008 (Revised March 2009)
- Case
SKS Microfinance
By: Shawn A. Cole and Theresa Chen
Vikram Akula, CEO of SKS Microfinance, seeks a venture capital investment to fund his firm. SKS, one of the largest and fastest growing microfinance institutions in India, is a profitable, for-profit institution with a social mission. In what is one of the first... View Details
- 2008
- Mimeo
Do Hedge Funds Profit from Mutual-Fund Distress?
By: Joseph Chen, Samuel G. Hanson, Harrison Hong and Jeremy C. Stein
This paper explores the question of whether hedge funds engage in frontrunning strategies that exploit the predictable trades of others. One potential opportunity for front-running arises when distressed mutual funds—those suffering large outflows of assets under... View Details
- March 2008 (Revised June 2009)
- Case
Actis: January 2008
By: Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon
Paul Feltcher, the CEO of Actis, a leading private equity investor in emerging markets, is preparing for an executive retreat at which the management team will consider how best to position the firm for the future. Actis could move in a number of different directions... View Details
- March 2008 (Revised May 2008)
- Case
The Blackstone Group's IPO
By: Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon
Steven Schwarzman, Chairman of the Blackstone Group, has just learned that an investment group associated with the government of China wants to buy the majority of Blackstone's leveraged IPO. As he considers how to respond to this offer, Schwarzman reviews the firm's... View Details
- February 2008 (Revised May 2008)
- Case
Tad O'Malley: The Investment Conundrum
By: Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon
Tad O'Malley has just started as an associate with Empire Investment Group. He must evaluate three investment opportunities facing the big leveraged buyout firm. All are global, but each pertains to different offices and each deal has different strengths and... View Details
- January 2008
- Background Note
Convertible Arbitrage
By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford
The goal of this simulation is to understand how convertible bonds can be viewed as a portfolio of simpler securities and to introduce an over-the-counter market. The convertible bonds that are available during the simulation are at-the-money and in-the-money so that... View Details
- January 2008
- Background Note
Equity Options
By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford
The goal of this simulation is to understand the reliance of option values on volatility. When an investor trades an option, they are essentially trading volatility. Therefore, much of the focus in this lesson is on forecasting volatility. Students are able to use two... View Details
- January 2008
- Background Note
Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs)
By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford
This lesson integrated Merton's (1974) contingent claims model of debt and equity claims with the CAPM, which allows us to examine the risks and pricing of credit portfolios and the derivative claims issued against them. In particular, this model is used to make... View Details
- January 2008
- Background Note
Valuing Risky Debt
By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford
This lesson develops the classical structural approach to pricing and hedging credit risk: Merton's (1974) contingent claims model of debt and equity claims. This model is used to make investment and risk management decisions in an over-the-counter (OTC) market for... View Details
Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Investment; Price; Risk Management; Mathematical Methods; Valuation