Publications

November 2022 (Revised September 2023)
Technical Note

SAFE Notes: An Introduction

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui and Jo Tango

A SAFE ("Simple Agreement for Future Equity") is a security increasingly used in seed financings. Not equity or debt, SAFEs allow founders to "get capital now and sell equity later." This Technical Note covers: 1. What is a SAFE and why use one?, 2. The key concepts... View Details

Keywords: Seed Financing; Seed Investing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Financing and Loans

2013
Chapter

Behavioral Corporate Finance: A Current Survey

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

We survey the theory and evidence of behavioral corporate finance, which generally takes one of two approaches. The market timing and catering approach views managerial financing and investment decisions as rational managerial responses to securities mispricing. The... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Theory; Corporate Finance; Financial Management; Investment; Market Timing; Behavioral Finance; Prejudice and Bias; Economics; Forecasting and Prediction

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March 2004 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Salt Lake Organizing Committee, The: 2002 Olympics

By: H. Kent Bowen, Bryce LaPierre and Courtney Purrington

After two and a half years of effort, Fraser Bullock, COO of the 2002 Winter Olympics, faced projected deficits and post-9/11 security requirements only five months before the opening ceremony. Summarizes the organizational structure and processes put in place by... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Knowledge Dissemination; Business or Company Management; Managerial Roles; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Planning; Practice; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Sports; System

October 2000 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Harvard Management Company and Inflation-Protected Bonds, The

By: Luis M. Viceira

In March 2000, the board of The Harvard Management Co. (HMC) approved significant changes in the policy portfolio determining the long-run allocation policy of the Harvard University endowment. These changes included a sharp reduction of the allocation to U.S. equities... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Investment Portfolio; Investment Funds; Asset Management; Corporate Governance; Capital Markets; Financial Services Industry; United States

August 1996 (Revised January 1999)
Background Note

Achieving and Sustaining Superior Profits

A basic premise of strategy is that superior profits occur when a corporation secures favorable positions in attractive industries, and pursues economies of scope across business units. This note draws on research that documents the importance of industry, positioning,... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Profit

20 Mar 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Sell Side School Ties

Keywords: by Lauren H. Cohen, Andrea Frazzini & Christopher J. Malloy; Financial Services

October 2024
Case

NextGen CDR Facility: From Davos to Details

By: Peter Tufano, Emily A. Chien and Karina Val

Next Gen CDR is a startup that pools corporate commitments to purchase Tech CDR, which promises to permanently remove and store carbon from the atmosphere to combat climate change. A partnership between South Pole and Mitsubishi Corp., Next Gen has secured initial... View Details

November 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Hollywood in India: Protecting Intellectual Property (A)

By: Lakshmi Iyer and Namrata Arora

In January 2010, Fox Star Studios is preparing to release the Bollywood film My Name is Khan in Indian and international markets. What strategies should the company adopt to protect their intellectual property? How much should the company invest in anti-piracy... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Copyright; Lawsuits and Litigation; Emerging Markets; Business Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; India

September 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Bank Leu's Prima Cat Bond Fund

In 2001, Bank Leu, a Swiss private bank, is considering creating the world's first public fund for catastrophe bonds. Cat bonds are securities whose payments depend on the probability of a catastrophe occurring, such as an earthquake or hurricane. Cat bonds are... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Bonds; Natural Disasters; Insurance; Capital Markets; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Insurance Industry; Switzerland

23 Nov 2021
News

The Nasdaq Mandate Will Expand Diversity in Business—And That’s Good for Business

Article

Making Small Farms More Sustainable—and Profitable

By: Lino Dias, Robert S. Kaplan and Harmanpreet Singh

Smallholder farms provide a large proportion of food supply in developing economies, but 40% of these farmers live on less than U.S.$2/day and their deforestation produces environmental degradation. With a rapidly growing global population, it is imperative to improve... View Details

Keywords: Small Farms; Sustainable Agriculture; Agribusiness; Developing Countries and Economies; Environmental Sustainability

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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

Web

2+2 Program - MBA

admissions program provided me at a very uncertain point in my life, as a graduating undergrad. 2+2 Where Are They Now Spotlight: Smitha Das (MBA 2018) 16 MAR 2021 With the security of the 2+2 program, I was able to take more risks, forgo... View Details

2022
Article

Regulatory Treatment of Changes in Fair Value and the Composition of Banks' Investment Portfolios

By: Michael Iselin, Jung Koo Kang and Joshua Madsen

In their implementation of Basel III, U.S. bank regulators are again including changes in the fair value of available-for-sale (AFS) debt securities in Tier 1 capital, but only for the largest U.S. banks. This paper investigates a potential impact of expanding this... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; SFAS 115; Basel III; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Banks and Banking; Debt Securities; Credit; Risk and Uncertainty; Investment Portfolio; Decision Making; Banking Industry; United States

SSRN

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Teaching Interest

Overview

Professor Sherman was an assistant professor of the faculty at the MIT Sloan School of Management prior to joining Northeastern. He has been a visiting professor at INSEAD (France), the Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, CA), Technion (Israel), Univ. of Auckland, and... View Details

June 2024
Case

Accounting for Loans at SoFi Technologies

By: Joseph Pacelli and Michael Norris

At the release of its first quarter earnings report on May 1, 2023, digital bank SoFi beat its earnings guidance by 25%. On May 2, Wedbush Securities analyst David Chiaverini issued a report downgrading the stock. A second downgrade followed from Chiaverini on May 15.... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Valuation; Stocks; Banking Industry; United States

February 2023
Teaching Note

Bear to Bull? An Analyst’s Journey with Netflix

By: Aiyesha Dey and Joseph Pacelli

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 123-001. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said “hell freezing over” was more likely than him upgrading the “sell” rating he had maintained on movie and television streaming giant Netflix since 2011, despite meteoric subscriber... View Details

Keywords: Equity; Analysis; Stock Shares