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September 2024
Article

Activist Directors: Determinants and Consequences

By: Ian D. Gow, Sa-Pyung Sean Shin and Suraj Srinivasan

This paper examines determinants and consequences of hedge fund activism, focusing on activist directors, i.e., directors appointed in response to activist demands. Using a sample of 3,259 activism events from 2004 to 2016, we identify 1,623 activist directors.... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations

September 1984 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Higgins v. Commissioner

By: Henry B. Reiling

Discusses the issue of whether an activity is a trade or business. The Court held that the taxpayer's very substantial stock and bond portfolio management activities were not a trade or business, whereas the taxpayer's real estate activities did constitute a trade or... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Courts and Trials; Investment Portfolio; Property; United States

July 2008 (Revised August 2008)
Supplement

Fidelity Investments' Charitable Gift Fund (B)

By: Robert C. Pozen

The (B) case informs students of Fidelity's decision about pursuing a business process patent for its charitable gift fund and describes subsequent litigation and lawsuits filed by other companies over business process patent issues. View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business Processes

May 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Mortgage Backs at Ticonderoga

Ticonderoga is a small hedge fund that trades in mortgage-backed securities--securities created from pooled mortgage loans. They often appear as straightforward so-called "pass-throughs," but can also be pooled again to create collateral for a mortgage security known... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Mortgages; Investment Funds

July 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Supplement

Australia-Japan Cable: Structuring the Project Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty

Spreadsheet to (9-203-024). Download only. View Details

Keywords: Projects; Customers; System; Capital; Competition; Investment Return; Risk and Uncertainty; Telecommunications Industry; Australia; Japan

18 Feb 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Diagnostic Bubbles

Keywords: by Pedro Bordalo, Nicola Gennaioli, Spencer Yongwook Kwon, and Andrei Shleifer; Financial Services

August 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Teaching Note

Brooklyn Lodgers: 78 South Third St., Brooklyn, NY

By: Charles F. Wu and Arthur R. O. Sobral

Teaching Note for HBS No. 219-022. View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Property; Investment; Management; New York (city, NY); Brooklyn

Article

Lifetime Portfolio Selection under Uncertainty: The Continuous-Time Case

By: Robert C. Merton

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Investment

Article

Theory of Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance

By: André Perold and Fischer Black

Keywords: Theory; Insurance; Investment

March 2010 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Chile's Copper Surplus: The Road Not Taken (A)

By: Laura Alfaro, Dante Roscini and Renee Kim

In 2008, Andres Velasco, Chile's Finance Minister, was under mounting criticisms over his fiscal policy. As the world's largest copper producer, Chile was benefiting from the rise in copper prices, which had more than tripled since 2003. Copper revenues translated into... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Metals and Minerals; Investment Funds; Policy; State Ownership; Wealth; Chile

December 2008 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

By: David E. Bell and Brian Matthew Milder

In 2006, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation joined together to form a new organization, AGRA, to tackle the historic challenge of increasing agricultural production in Africa. Launched with much fanfare and led by former U.N.... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Investment Funds; Food; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Government Relations; Non-Governmental Organizations; Poverty; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa

May 1968 (Revised January 1992)
Case

Graybar Syndications

By: William J. Poorvu

A potential investor evaluates a proposed offering—a major office building in downtown Manhattan. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Investment; Construction; City; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; Construction Industry; New York (city, NY)

January 2011
Teaching Note

Ganeden Biotech, Inc. (TN)

By: Robert C. Pozen, Dale Alan Winger and Matthew Kenneth Ahlers

Teaching Note for 310073. View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Decisions; Investment; Intellectual Property; Strategy; Interests; Health Industry

April 2005
Case

Merrill Lynch in 2003: Sunny Skies Ahead?

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and David Kiron

Merrill Lynch (ML) is at a crossroads. Stan O'Neal became its CEO and implemented a radical cost-cutting program. In addition, the company dot-com continues to recover from the fallout from the Enron and dot-com scandals. What are the future prospects for ML? Can the... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Condition; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

October 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Chia Network: Reimagining Programmable Money

By: William A. Sahlman and George Gonzalez

Chia Network developed a novel blockchain platform that was more eco-friendly, decentralized, and scalable than Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other blockchains. Now, company leadership must decide how to scale the startup and prioritize various partnerships, use cases, and... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

October 2022 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Founders First Capital Partners: An Approach to Capital Access Equity

By: Brian Trelstad, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein

In June 2021, Kim T. Folsom, the founder and CEO of revenue-based financing firm Founders First Capital Partners (FFCP), must decide whether to issue another loan to OnShore Technology Group, an up-and-coming software validation company. FFCP provided revenue-based... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Financial Instruments; Financing and Loans; Interest Rates; Investment Return; Revenue; Capital; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States

May 2010 (Revised August 2013)
Case

Delta Electronics Hybrid Power Train

By: Willy C. Shih and Jyun-Cheng Wang

Delta Electronics, the world's largest manufacturer of switching power supplies, hoped to enter the market for gasoline-electric hybrid power trains for automobiles by being a major component and subsystem supplier. While most public awareness of hybrid vehicles fell... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Intellectual Property; Emerging Markets; Industry Clusters; Partners and Partnerships; Electronics Industry; China