Publications

13 Jun 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: A Startup Takes On the Credit Ratings Giants

to by assigning overly optimistic ratings to highly complex and opaque mortgage- and asset-backed securities. The high ratings signaled to investors that the financial instruments had little chance of default, but the burst of the... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Financial Services; Financial Services

Profile

Dave Vitello

“take the accounting and financial management base I built at Deloitte and pair it with the strategic thinking I gain at HBS.” The environment is perfectly suited to his ambition. “Each class, whether it is dedicated to View Details

Keywords: Financial Services

Profile

Farah Ahmed

a financial analyst,” says Farah, "so why did I do it? I wanted to gain an understanding of the industry I couldn't get in corporate headquarters." Farah acquired deeper knowledge of the oil industry—and of herself, as well.... View Details

Keywords: Financial Services; Financial Services

03 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

The Competitive Advantage of Global Finance

common mistakes made by international managers, and the development of his book for readers interested in "the opportunities of managing in a global setting." Sean Silverthorne: International Finance and its case studies explore various dimensions of View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

01 Jun 2006
News

Managing Family Assets

I feel extremely fortunate. I also feel I was handed a responsibility to be a steward of the wealth that was created by my great-grandfather and my grandfather and perpetuated by my father. Why is discussing financial matters difficult... View Details

Keywords: Lewis I. Rice; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles

September 1994
Case

BayFunds

By: Alvin J. Silk, Lisa Klein Pearo and Jamie Harper

In June, 1994, the Senior Vice President of BayBank's Investment Management Group is preparing a strategic plan for her organization's line of mutual funds. Sixteen months earlier, BayBank, Massachusetts's leading retail bank, had entered the mutual fund business by... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Investment Funds; Product Marketing; Integration; Financial Services Industry

Student-Profile

Sarah Wolfolds

of Governors where I jumped right into a section investigating Financial Stability and Regulation during the middle of the financial crisis. This time spent working made me realize that the goings on inside... View Details

15 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

Want Your Employees to Plan Better for Retirement? Don't Do This

financial decisions and how those decisions play out in the market. Noting the dramatic shift from DB to DC plans over the past few decades, Beshears and his coauthors hear frequent concerns over workers ill-equipped to make well-informed... View Details

Keywords: Re: John Beshears; Financial Services

01 Mar 2017
News

HBX: Reimagining HBS for the Digital Age

team built two platforms. The first platform, launched in 2014, houses HBX Credential of Readiness (CORe) and HBX Certificate Programs. CORe introduces students to business fundamentals through three courses — Business Analytics, Economics for Managers, and View Details

07 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Market Investors Pay More for Resilient Companies

The steep market drop in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis is being used as a laboratory to study the importance of companies investing in stakeholder relations with their employees, suppliers, and customers, and how those investments could be strategic resources... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Financial Services

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Five Questions for Stuart Gilson

that restructuring addresses is very large—in the billions of dollars possibly. My research at companies suggests there are three primary motivations for restructuring. The first is the need to address poor financial performance. Here,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

January 1998 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Morgan Stanley and S.G. Warburg: Investment Bank of the Future (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and David T. Kotchen

Describes secretive negotiations that took place between the top executives of Morgan Stanley and S.G. Warburg in the fall of 1994, when the two firms were contemplating a merger that would create one of the world's most powerful investment banks. By December, in order... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Investment Banking; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consolidation; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

April 2000
Case

Francisco Partners

By: Josh Lerner and David L. Gallo

Francisco Partners (which focuses on buyouts of high-technology firms) aims to be the largest first-time fund ever raised. The rationales for the fund, fundraising strategy, and partnership terms and conditions are among the topics explored. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry

01 Dec 2015
News

Complements to the Case Method

Coleman Professor of Financial Management. “We are surprised by how teams come in and say we talked to the CEO,” laughs Cohen. One of the key lessons in Cohen and Malloy’s field course, Stock Pitching, is that the market is almost always... View Details

November 2002 (Revised November 2006)
Case

Tax-Motivated Film Financing at Rexford Studios

By: Mihir A. Desai, Gabriel J. Loeb and Mark Veblen

The head of production for Rexford Studios must analyze the terms and value consequences of an international financing involving a German film fund. The financing involves a sale-leaseback structure where international tax rules give rise to a sizable economic pie that... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Financing and Loans; Taxation; Cash Flow; Financial Strategy; Financial Management; Competition; Film Entertainment; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Germany

01 Dec 2008
News

The CEO and the Functions of Leadership

a number of categories that will prove important when considering the CEO’s role: Direction: A core function of leadership is setting the strategy for the organization, and setting specific financial goals... View Details

01 Mar 2010
News

Faculty Books

Global Capital and National Institutions: Crisis and Choice in the International Financial Architecture by Laura Alfaro (World Scientific) This casebook has three main topics: the determinants and effects of international capital flows;... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management

March 2015
Background Note

Multi-Stage Financing of High-Potential Ventures

By: Ramana Nanda

Keywords: Finance; Entrepreneurial Finance; Financial Strategy

October 2001 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Acme Investment Trust: January 2001

By: Josh Lerner

The managers of a large corporate pension fund must decide whether to invest in a private equity fund that is offering a guaranteed rate of return of 20% on part of its portfolio. The background behind and implications of the guarantee are explored. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Private Equity; Motivation and Incentives; Asset Management; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Financial Services Industry