Publications

September 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Pershing Square 2.0

By: Robin Greenwood, Samuel Hanson and David Biery

In June 2015 William A. Ackman, the CEO and founder of New York hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, reflects on the success of the fund he has spent over a decade building. Since its inception in 2004, Pershing Square's assets under management had grown from $500... View Details

Keywords: Activism; Value Investing; Portfolio Management; Management; Investment Portfolio; Investment Activism

February 2018 (Revised August 2019)
Case

The Rise Fund: TPG Bets Big on Impact

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, Caitlin Reimers Brumme and Sarah Mehta

It is March 2017, and TPG, a global alternative investment firm with $74 billion assets under management, has recently launched its inaugural impact-investing fund—the $2 billion Rise Fund. In an effort to “take the religion out of impact investing,” Maya Chorengel,... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Impact Measurement; Equity; Investment; Measurement and Metrics; Financial Services Industry; California; San Francisco

March 2021
Case

Litigation Finance 2.0: LexShares

By: Lauren Cohen, Spencer C. N. Hagist and Yago Zavalia Gahan

Litigation finance—also referred to as third party litigation funding—was in its relative infancy as an asset class when Jay Greenberg and Max Volsky made a platform-play in the space. Seven years later, the market was far from "mainstream," but nonetheless had grown... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; United States

April 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Furman Selz LLC (A): A Tale of Two Acquisitions

By: Nancy D. Beaulieu, Boris Groysberg and Kyle Doherty

Profiles a firm that was reacquired by two companies with different degrees of success. Highlights integration challenges present in acquisition deals when the primary assets of the target are human capital. Focuses on Furman Selz's acquisition by Xerox in 1987; its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Transition; Valuation; Human Capital; Compensation and Benefits; Integration; Organizational Culture; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

06 May 2016
Blog Post

Make Social Media Work For You Abroad

Looking to move to a new country? An international job search can be difficult after years of working in a different country. Your contacts can be your biggest asset when you’re looking to make a move, and you should use your network,... View Details

2024
Working Paper

What Drives Variation in Investor Portfolios? Estimating the Roles of Beliefs and Risk Preferences

By: Mark Egan, Alexander MacKay and Hanbin Yang

We present an empirical model of portfolio choice that allows for the nonparametric estimation of investors' (subjective) expectations and risk preferences. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset of 401(k) plans from 2009 through 2019, we explore heterogeneity in asset... View Details

Keywords: Stock Market Expectations; Demand Estimation; Retirement Planning; Defined Contribution Retirement Plan; 401 (K); Finance; Investment Portfolio; Investment; Retirement; Behavioral Finance; Financial Services Industry; United States

SSRN

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November 2016
Article

Corporate Sustainability: First Evidence on Materiality

By: Mozaffar Khan, George Serafeim and Aaron Yoon

Using newly available materiality classifications of sustainability topics, we develop a novel dataset by hand-mapping sustainability investments classified as material for each industry into firm-specific sustainability ratings. This allows us to present new evidence... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Investments; Corporate Social Responsibility; Accounting; Corporate Reporting; Regulation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Investment; Corporate Governance

11 Jul 2016
Blog Post

Career Resources to Consider Before You Arrive at HBS

As you consider embarking on an MBA Program at HBS or elsewhere, it is important to become familiar with the resources that will be beneficial to a successful job search. Even before you get access to the plethora of resources available on campus, you can spend time... View Details

22 Aug 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Investors as Stewards of the Commons?

Keywords: by George Serafeim

March 1994
Case

Fremont Financial Corporation (B)

Fremont has a third option to finance its loan portfolio, which involves securitizing and selling the small-business loans into the capital markets. Emphasizes asymmetric information and moral hazard problems involved in designing an asset securitization. When used in... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Financial Markets; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry

January 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Supplement

Food for Thought: Exiting Russia? (B)

By: Clayton S. Rose, Hugo Etchegoyhen and Lena Duchene

The (B) case examines the actions of Bonduelle and Danone as they responded to ongoing pressure to reevaluate their presence in Russia. While the (A) case explored the ethical and strategic dilemmas both companies faced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the (B) case... View Details

Keywords: Public Opinion; Ethics; War; Food and Beverage Industry; Europe; France; Russia

17 Sep 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Secrets of the Academy: The Drivers of University Endowment Success

Keywords: by Josh Lerner, Antoinette Schoar & Jialan Wang; Education

Working Paper

Diversification as an Adaptive Learning Process: An Empirical Study of General-Purpose and Market-Specific Technological Know-How in New Market Entry

By: Dominika Kinga Randle and Gary P. Pisano

An enduring trait of modern corporations is their propensity to diversify into multiple lines of business. Penrosian theories conceptualize diversification as a strategy to exploit a firm’s fungible, yet “untradeable,” resources and point to redeployment of... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Adoption; Diversification; Market Entry and Exit; Transformation

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October 2019
Teaching Note

Granite Equity Partners

By: Victoria Ivashina and Terrence Shu

This teaching note accompanies HBS case 219-040, “Granite Equity Partners,” which follows the private equity firm as it evaluates the potential acquisition of Tyrell Corp., a Minnesota-based quality control biomaterials company. Granite Equity’s fund was different from... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity Exit; Investing; Fund Exit; Fund Management; Wealth Management; Liquidity; Buyout; Exit Strategy; Preferred Shares; Convertible Notes; Finance; Private Equity; Investment; Asset Management; Wealth; Management; Financial Liquidity; Minnesota; United States