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02 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Is 'Gut Feel' a Good Reason to Invest in a Startup?

risk-laden process, and they want to feel like they are guided by their expertise,” she says. Syncopated investors manage risk by feeling like they are willingly making the choice to invest. “They feel like this is a fun endeavor that... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

28 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 28, 2009

from the risk that they will live a long time. The funds that individuals contribute to a MIF are invested in a mutual fund. The proceeds from the fund's underlying assets are reinvested until the contributor dies or he turns an age... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

20 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 20

when the costs of financing a reorganization are greater than financing costs to a potential acquirer. Consistent with a senior creditor liquidation bias, the greater use of secured debt leads to more sales... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Oct 2013
Op-Ed

Response to Readers: Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking

with shale gas development can be incredibly disruptive locally, and fracking water usage clearly competes with local values and legacy uses. But shale gas production appears environmentally manageable, (including the risks from fugitive... View Details

Keywords: by Joe Lassiter; Energy; Utilities

29 Mar 2016
First Look

March 29, 2016

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/315074-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 216-041 The Galaxy Dividend Income Growth Fund's Option Investment Strategies This case is designed to provide an elementary introduction to options and option pricing for beginning... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 15, 2008

Market Authors:Lauren Cohen, Karl B. Diether, and Christopher J. Malloy Periodical:Journal of Finance 62, no. 5 (October 2007) Abstract Using proprietary data on stock loan fees and quantities from a large institutional investor, we... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 1994 (Revised July 2008)
Case

Banc One Corporation: Asset and Liability Management

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Peter Tufano and Jon Headley

Banc One's share price has been falling recently due to analyst and investor concern over the bank's heavy use of interest rate derivatives. Dick Lodge, chief investment officer in charge of the bank's investment and derivative portfolio, must recommend to the CEO a... View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Financial Management; Interest Rates; Investment Portfolio; Governance Controls; Risk Management; Banking Industry

23 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

Researchers Prove C-Suite Gender Gap—but Can’t Explain It

they are—unless they can figure out a way to thwart discrimination. That’s the frustrating takeaway of the new research paper “Equal Opportunity? Gender Gaps in CEO Appointments and Executive Pay,” written by Matti Keloharju, a visiting scholar at Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Danatbank

By: David A. Moss, Cole Bolton and Andrew Novo

In the summer of 1931, Germany was struggling with a deepening economic crisis. Production had fallen, unemployment was high, and bank deposits and gold were being withdrawn from the country at a rapid pace, threatening the value of the German mark. The country's third... View Details

Keywords: History; Risk Management; Business History; Capital Markets; Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; Germany

19 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Activist Board Members Increase Firm’s Market Value

possible that some activist hedge funds go through the trouble of taking concentrated risk for an extended time only when they believe they have good ideas for improving the firm's performance. If this is true, and if they are sometimes... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

06 Jan 2012
Op-Ed

Where Green Corporate Ratings Fail

News Corporation—a multinational media conglomerate that includes BSKYB, Dow Jones, Fox News, 20th Century Fox and Star, among other units—announced earlier this year that it has become climate neutral, meaning that its operations have no net impact on global climate... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Toffel & Auden Schendler; Information; Publishing

24 Mar 2002
Research & Ideas

The Trick of Balancing Business and Government

Moyo,International Finance Corporation Yet over the course of the hour-and-a-half long panel session, the conversation kept circling back to the question of true ownership: Who creates these institutions, and for whom? How can African... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2024
Case

Nomad: A License to Bank

By: Paul A. Gompers and Pedro Levindo

In late 2023, Lucas Vargas, CEO and co-founder of Nomad, a fintech that offered financial services in the United States for Brazilian residents, had to decide what to do to ensure the company’s continued expansion. Nomad launched its first product, a U.S. digital bank... View Details

April 1992 (Revised February 1996)
Case

CFM International, Inc.

In April 1987 the management team of CFM International, Inc. (CFMI) was considering developing a new jet engine for the Airbus A340. The withdrawal of a competitor's engine had created an unforeseen opportunity for CFMI to re-enter a competition it had apparently lost... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Partners and Partnerships; Investment; Globalized Markets and Industries; Manufacturing Industry; Air Transportation Industry

18 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 18, 2007

well as in the United States. Explores the costs and benefits of the company's choices about its vertical, horizontal, and geographical scope. Considers the risks of economic regulation, increasing concerns about environmental... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

10 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 10, 2009

previously lived outside India rely significantly more on diaspora networks for business leads and financing. This is especially true for entrepreneurs who are based outside software hubs—where getting leads to new businesses and accessing View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Background Note

Standard & Poor's Sovereign Credit Ratings: Scales and Process

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Christopher Bruner

Describes Standard & Poor's sovereign credit ratings scales and the credit rating process. In particular, describes the role and function of the rating committee and the analytical categories considered in arriving at a final sovereign credit rating. View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Credit; Bonds; Policy; Risk and Uncertainty; Measurement and Metrics; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Services Industry