Publications

September 2004 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Catastrophe Bonds at Swiss Re

In 2002, Swiss Re, the world's second--largest insurance company, is considering securitizing parts of its risk portfolio in the capital markets. This would be a first for the company that, until then, had never transferred risk off its balance sheet. Peter Giessmann,... View Details

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

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

14 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

The Surprising Connection between 1930s Weather and Today's Labor Unions

detailed in Cohen’s new working paper, The Impact of Forced Migration on Modern Cities: Evidence from 1930s Crop Failures, co-written by HBS finance professor Christopher J. Malloy and Quoc Nguyen, an assistant View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Web

Rock 100: The Summit - Entrepreneurship

Wasserman Early Stage Financing Compilation of posts on funding , Tom Eisenmann Mastering the VC Game , Jeffrey Bussgang Startup Investing Trends , Paul Graham Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist , Brad Feld... View Details

01 Jun 2024
News

Crash Pad

of these buildings are functionally obsolete,” says John Macomber, a senior lecturer in finance at HBS and the coauthor of Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Can Make You Sick—or Keep You Well. The former chairman and CEO of a large... View Details

Keywords: Amy Crawford; illustrations by Kathleen Fu; building coversion; housing crisis; innovation; real estate; Real Estate

26 Nov 2018
News

New York Alumni Explore Risks and Opportunities in Climate Change

strategies prompted by a changing climate with the help of a panel of four HBS alumni with expertise in finance and energy, including Hui Wen Chan (MBA 2010), Vice President, Corporate Sustainability, Citigroup; Michael Ellis (MBA 2008),... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley; clubs; alumni clubs

01 Oct 2002
News

Banishing Balkan Ghosts

It's past midnight and the Minister of Finance and Economy is home early from work, fumbling around in the kitchen of his spartan apartment, trying to find something to eat. He's two years into the job, but meals and sleep still occur... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

13 Nov 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, November 13, 2018

forthcoming Journal of Finance Brokers and Order Flow Leakage: Evidence from Fire Sales By: Barbon, Andrea, Marco Di Maggio, Francesco Franzoni, and Augustin Landier Abstract—Using trade-level data, we study whether brokers play a role in... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

23 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 23

leads the loan syndicate (parent-financed deals). Bank-affiliated deals are similar in characteristics and financing to stand-alone deals but have worse outcomes if consummated during the peaks of the credit market. Parent-financed deals... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

1990
Chapter

Rediscovering Functions in the MNC: The Role of Expertise in Firms' Response to Shifting Exchange Rates

By: D. Lessard and N. Nohria

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; International Finance

February 1986 (Revised March 1989)
Background Note

Note on Foreign Exchange

Describes the operation of foreign exchange markets, including bid-offer spreads, cross rates, reciprocal rates, and forward rates. Provides several examples to demonstrate calculation of outright forward rates using discount and premium points quoted in the London... View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Capital Markets

2023
Working Paper

The Value of Professional Ties in B2B Markets

By: Navid Mojir and Sriya Anbil

We study how a particular form of social ties (i.e., professional ties proxied by past employment) aﬀects price and proﬁtability in business-to-business (B2B) markets. While most of the work on social ties focuses on information diﬀusion in business-to-consumer... View Details

Keywords: Professional Ties; Social Ties; Business-to-business Marketing; B2B Marketing; Repo; Individual Connections; B2B Pricing; Pricing; Decision-making In Financial Markets; Marketing; Relationships; Price; Financial Markets; Decision Making

SSRN

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February 2018
Case

Root Capital and the Efficient Impact Frontier

By: Shawn Cole and Caitlin Reimers Brumme

In 2015 Root Capital, a pioneer in the impact investing space, began to explore how to more systematically integrate impact and financial management. After much deliberation, Root Capital landed on ex-ante rating system for any potential investment that produced a... View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Investment; Finance; Performance Efficiency; Boston

May 2015 (Revised December 2016)
Supplement

Generating Higher Value at IBM (B)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Keywords: Dividends; Share Repurchases; Earnings Guidance; Financial Statement Analysis; Financial Ratios; Payout Policy; Earnings Per Share (EPS); Value Creation; Financial Statements; Corporate Finance; Computer Industry

Article

How will Emerging Markets Shape the Alternative Assets Arena?

By: Roberto Charvel

This article looks at the growth of pensions in Latin America and its future impact in local alternative assets' investments locally and in the developed world. View Details

Keywords: Emerging Economies; Emerging Markets; Pension; Institutional Investments; Alternative Assets; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Entrepreneurship; Financial Services Industry; Latin America

2013
Working Paper

Asset Price Dynamics with Limited Attention

By: Mark Seasholes, Terrence Hendershott, Sunny X. Li and Albert J. Menkveld

This paper studies the role that limited attention and inefficient risk sharing play in stock price deviations from the efficient prices at horizons from one day to one month. We expand the Due (2010) slow-moving capital model to analyze multiple groups of investors... View Details

Keywords: Transitory Volatility; Limited Attention; Individuals; Market Makers; Asset Pricing; Financial Markets; Volatility

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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