Publications

SSRN

September 2003 (Revised January 2005)
Case

Emergence, Valhalla, and Orchid: Divergent Models for Venture Capital Funds

By: William A. Sahlman and Matthew Willis

Compares and contrasts three different venture capital funds from the perspective of a potential investor. The first fund has a technology-enabled services preference, the second a Mid-Atlantic region preference, and the third a seed round preference. Students are... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Entrepreneurship; Service Operations; Information Technology; Venture Capital

October 2012 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Altoona State Investment Board: July 2012

By: Josh Lerner and Nathaniel Burbank

Considers the decision faced by state pension fund manager Rod Calhoun as he decides whether to invest $200 million in Bain Capital's eleventh global buyout fund: Bain Capital Fund XI. For the fund, Bain was offering its limited partners a choice between three... View Details

Keywords: Management Fees; Bain Capital; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Banking Industry; Boston

06 Feb 2023
Blog Post

Meet the Black Investment Club

early-stage venture capital while at HBS, Coates is an active member of the Boston innovation ecosystem from the investor side as a Venture Fellow, now Managing Partner, at Rough Draft Ventures (student fund backed by General Catalyst)... View Details

Keywords: Investment Management / Hedge Fund; Investment Management / Hedge Fund; Investment Management / Hedge Fund

October 2003
Case

Financing Biodiversity Conservation by the Global Conservation Fund

By: Mihir A. Desai and Julia Stevens

The Global Conservation Fund is an international nonprofit organization with a $100 million endowment and an exclusive focus on land preservation. The fund and its director must decide which projects to fund over the next year and what financing mechanism to use.... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Protection; Project Evaluation; Environmental Sustainability; Projects; Finance; Decision Making; Financial Instruments; Nonprofit Organizations

2011
Other Teaching and Training Material

The Fund Industry: How Your Money Is Managed

By: Robert C. Pozen

This is the teaching manual for the third edition of the fund industry: how your money is managed. It contains review and discussion questions and answers for every chapter. It also contains business-school quality cases for most chapters, including assignment... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Investment Funds; Money; Financial Services Industry

September 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Acumen Fund: Measurement in Impact Investing (A)

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan

Acumen Fund is a global venture capital firm with a dual purpose: it looks for a return on its investments, and it also seeks entrepreneurial solutions to global poverty. This case examines Acumen's new projects in Kenya. The organization's investment committee and its... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Risk Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Social Enterprise; Financial Services Industry; Kenya

June 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Investment Policy at the Hewlett Foundation (2005)

By: Luis M. Viceira

In early January 2005, Laurance Hoagland Jr., VP and CIO of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (HF), and his investment team met to finish their recommendations to the HF Investment Committee for a new asset allocation policy for the foundation's investment... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Risk and Uncertainty; Public Equity; Globalization; Investment; Property; Risk Management; Asset Management; Financial Services Industry

Web

Additional Harvard Funding | MBA

Additional Harvard Funding We complement our need-based Harvard Business School (HBS) Scholarships with a small number of other awards for students with specific backgrounds and interests. The majority of these awards are available to... View Details

17 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Rating Fund Managers by the Company They Keep

Business. At its core, the new system compares a fund manager's investments with those of other successful fund managers, making past performance less important in the rating... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

June 2011
Case

Shelley Capital and the Hedge Fund Secondary Market

By: Luis Viceira, Elena Corsi and Ruth Dittrich

An advisory company has to decide how to sell their client's hedge fund holdings in the secondary market, and thinks about their future. Shelley Capital was a a European advisory company operating in the hedge fund secondary market, a market that boosted in 2008 with... View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment Funds; Marketing Strategy; Financial Crisis; Sales; Leadership Development; Financial Markets; Crisis Management; Business Processes; Risk and Uncertainty; Globalized Economies and Regions; Financial Services Industry; Service Industry; Europe

April 1993 (Revised May 1993)
Case

Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal

By: Robert J. Dolan

The business products division has developed a business proposal asking for $50 million to fund the creation of a new telephone system for the small business market. The company's last entry into this marketplace lost $70 million. The new product would face 100... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Communication Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment; Product Development; Telecommunications Industry; Canada

Find at Harvard

01 Jun 2017
News

Powered by the HBS Fund

alumni.hbs.edu/facultyresearch to watch: Professor Jan Rivkin talk about his passion for case writing and the origin of his case on LEGO’s return from bankruptcy. Associate Professor Raffaella Sadun discuss how she uses data to explore the impact of information... View Details

October 1996 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Schroder Ventures: Launch of the Euro Fund

By: Josh Lerner, Kate Bringham and Nick Ferguson

Schroder Ventures is considering launching a pan-European fund in response to investor demand. This will lead to changes in the interactions between the parent organization and the national affiliates. A related question is the extent to which the private equity model... View Details

Keywords: Change; Private Equity; Investment Funds; Multinational Firms and Management; Product Launch; Europe

19 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

Funding Innovation: Is Your Firm Doing it Wrong?

common struggle for firms to get innovation investments right, says Josh Lerner, the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School. On one hand, firms large enough to house their... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

01 Sep 2005
News

Gifts Create Frist Financial Aid Fund

TOMMY, JULIE, AND BILLY FRIST: New fund supports fellowships and innovation in financial aid. Photo Courtesy Frist family Financial aid at HBS has received a $10 million boost, thanks to a $9 million gift from the Thomas F. Frist Jr.... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

20 Aug 2019
News

Should a Pension Fund Try to Change the World?

June 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

The Vanguard Group, Inc. in 2006 and Target Retirement Funds

By: Luis M. Viceira

The Vanguard Group is one of the largest asset managers in the U.S., with over $1 trillion in assets, ninety percent of which are mutual fund assets, and more than 12,000 employees at year-end 2006. Vanguard has built a strong reputation as the manager of reference for... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Investment Funds; Personal Finance; Brands and Branding; Retirement; Trust; Financial Services Industry; United States

November 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Background Note

When Investing and Social Objectives Meet

By: Gregory S. Miller, Vincent Marie Dessain and Anders Sjoman

Introduces students to a group of investors and stakeholders who evaluate firms at least partially on factors other than eventual investment payoff. Focuses on investors who evaluate and attempt to impact firms' ethical, corporate governance, or other "societal"... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Investment; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations