Publications

Spring 2017
Comment

Commentary on Implied Cost of Equity Capital Estimates as Predictors of Accounting Returns and Stock Returns

By: Charles C.Y. Wang

October 2013
Case

Advantage Partners: Dia Kanri (A)

By: Paul A. Gompers, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

This case explores the opportunity to purchase the condominium management business of a distressed real estate developer by Advantage Partners, a leading Japanese private equity firm. The case explores investment structuring, bidding strategy, and the ability of... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; LBO; Roll-up; Investment; Financing; Condominium Management; Leveraged Buyouts; Asia

20 Oct 2021
Blog Post

Mobilizing Private Sector Action For Racial Equity in Milwaukee: SE Summer Fellow Zach Komes (MBA 2022)

historical barriers, has the highest economic disparities between White and Black/Latino residents among peer markets. Two years ago, regional CEOs came together to declare racial equity as the top threat and opportunity facing our... View Details

March 2016 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Tableau

By: Boris Vallee

Matrix Capital Management, a long-short equity hedge fund based in Waltham, Massachusetts, is assessing its investment in Tableau, a data visualization company. Tableau, which conducted an IPO a few years ago, has been experiencing substantial growth as it aims at... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Fund; Long-short Equity; Growth Investing; Growth and Development Strategy; Investment; Valuation; Technology; Technology Industry; Waltham

Article

Short-Termism and Capital Flows

By: Jesse M. Fried and Charles C.Y. Wang

During 2007–2016, S&P 500 firms distributed to shareholders $7 trillion via buybacks and dividends, over 96% of their aggregate net income, prompting claims that "short-termism" is impairing firms' ability to invest and innovate. We show that, when taking into account... View Details

Keywords: Short-termism; Quarterly Capitalism; Share Buybacks; Open Market Repurchases; Dividends; Equity Issuances; Seasoned Equity Offerings; Equity Compensastion; Acquisitions; Payout Policy; Capital Flows; Capital Distribution; Working Capital; Business and Shareholder Relations; Acquisition

Web

HBS Summer Fellows Focus on Racial Equity and Justice | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

18 May 2023
Video

Robin J. Ely and Lakshmi Ramarajan Deliver Opening Remarks at the 2023 Race, Gender & Equity at Work Symposium - Tools for Humanity: Rage and Love as Acts of Resistance and Renewal

November 26, 2019
Article

Tackling Diversity in Case Discussions: Advice for Creating a Culture of Dialogue and Equity in Business Classrooms

By: Colleen Ammerman, Zoe Kinias and Nien-hê Hsieh

July 2017
Case

Centerbridge Partners and Great Wolf Resorts: Buying from a Highly Regarded Competitor

By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal

The case examines the March 2015 Centerbridge Partners investment decision regarding whether to acquire Great Wolf Resorts, a North American family-oriented indoor water parks and hotel operator, from a private equity (PE) competitor, Apollo Global Management. The case... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity Financing; Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities; CMBS; Secondary Buyouts; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Cost; Cost of Capital; Equity; Private Equity; Financial Instruments; Debt Securities; Accommodations Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States

2020
Working Paper

Short-Termism, Shareholder Payouts, and Investment in the EU

By: Jesse M. Fried and Charles C.Y. Wang

Investor-driven “short-termism” is said to harm EU public firms' ability to invest for the long term, prompting calls for the EU to better insulate managers from shareholder pressure. But the evidence offered—in the form of rising levels of repurchases and dividends—is... View Details

Keywords: Short-termism; Quarterly Capitalism; EU; Dividends; Equity Issuances; Equity Compensastion; Capital Flows; Capital Distribution; R＆D; Innovation; Investment; Corporate Governance; Investment Return; Acquisition; European Union

SSRN

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Research Summary

Time Varying Expected Returns, Stochastic Dividend Yields, and Default Probabilities: Linking the Credit Risk and Equity Literature (with George Chacko and Jens Hilscher)

In standard structural bond pricing models, the firm defaults once the market value of assets has fallen below a threshold. Expected returns, or at least dividend yields, are assumed to be constant, which implies that any asset value movement is permanent and has the... View Details

March 2022 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Aldrich Capital Partners

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

By July 2016, the Aldrich Capital Partners team had spent over two years trying to raise their inaugural growth-equity fund. They had pitched to over 140 investors, but none had committed. Managing Partners Mirza Baig and Raz Zia each had extensive experience in the... View Details

Keywords: Growth Equity; Investment Evaluation; Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Investment; Strategy; Decision Making; United States

November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Constellation Brands' Investment in Canopy Growth: Aiming High

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2017, Constellation Brands, the U.S.-based beverage company, acquired a 9.9% equity interest in the Canadian marijuana company, Canopy Growth. In 2018, Constellation announced a subsequent investment in Canopy—taking its ownership interest to 37%. However, Canopy’s... View Details

Keywords: Equity Investment; Marijuana; Growth Investing; New Market Development; Beverage Industry; Equity; Investment; Strategy; Consulting Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada; United States

September 2010
Article

Lying to Level the Playing Field: Why People May Dishonestly Help or Hurt Others to Create Equity

By: F. Gino and L. Pierce

Keywords: Ethics

Find at Harvard

March 2014
Case

Transforming Tommy Hilfiger (A)

By: Raffaella Sadun, Hanoch Feit, Vaibhav Gujral and Gerard Zouein

At the end of 2005, Tommy Hilfiger is taken private by Apax Partners after years of disappointing performance and strategic impasse. Students are asked to evaluate alternative strategic options for the company, and to propose a concrete turnaround plan for the first... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Private Equity; Private Ownership; Diversification; Acquisition; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States; Europe

19 Sep 2023
News

How Companies Can Recommit to Their DEI Goals

Keywords: diversity; equity; inclusion

01 Jul 2022
Video

Live from Klarman Hall - 6/18/2022 - Using Our Business Leadership to Advance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

February 2001
Article

The Portfolio Flows of International Investors

By: K. A. Froot, P. O'Connell and M. Seasholes

Keywords: Asset Pricing; Equity Investment; Forecasting and Prediction; Behavioral Finance; Stocks; Investment Return; Market Transactions; Performance Expectations; Personal Characteristics; Financial Services Industry

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May 2022
Supplement

Third Point in 2020: Growth Is Where the Value Is? (B)

By: Robin Greenwood and Denise Han

In early May 2020, Daniel Loeb’s team at Third Point was evaluating a potential growth opportunity in the Walt Disney Company and whether investor activism might play a role. Battered by the effects of COVID-19, the company’s stock had initially tumbled to $86 and then... View Details

Keywords: Growth; Equity; Disney; Value; Economics; Finance; Investment; Strategy; Management; Investment Activism; Investment Return; Growth and Development; North America