Publications

A large share of dollar-denominated lending is done by non-U.S. banks, particularly European banks. We present a model in which such banks cut dollar lending more than euro lending in response to a shock to their credit quality. Because these banks rely on wholesale... View Details

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

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August 2021
Case

Andreessen Horowitz’s Cultural Leadership Fund (A)

By: Anita Elberse, Briana Richardson and Cydni Williams

In May 2020, Chris Lyons, a partner at leading venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz receives the news that his company has reached a verbal agreement with one of Silicon Valley’s hottest social-media startups to lead its ‘Series A’ funding round, in a deal that... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Talent Management; General Management; Inclusion; Talent and Talent Management; Diversity; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Networks; Nonprofit Organizations

December 2004 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Cheetah Conservation Fund Bush Project, The

Laurie Marker, head of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, is trying to form a for-profit institution, the Bush Project, to control the bush encroachment problem in Namibia. Bush encroachment not only destroys the general ecosystem, but it also has a harmful impact on the... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; For-Profit Firms; Emerging Markets; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Strategy; Africa

26 Mar 2018
News

Funding Climate Change Solutions

In this video, Ousseynou Nakoulima (MBA 2009), director of the Green Climate Fund, discusses why his organization employs a holistic strategy to its work in developing countries. “The Green Climate Fund is a... View Details

October 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Background Note

Note on Funding Deep Tech Startups

By: Karim Lakhani, Peter Barrett and Noubar Afeyan

This Background Note provides essential information on funding deep technologies—those technologies that were inherently capital intensive, time consuming, risky, and potentially disruptive. Both dilutive and non-dilutive sources of investment are highlighted, along... View Details

August 2020 (Revised November 2022)
Case

George Soros: The Stateless Statesman

By: Geoffrey Jones and Wendy Ying

This case traces the business career and philanthropic activities of George Soros. The Hungarian-born Soros made a fortune as a hedge fund investor after establishing Quantum Fund on the tax haven island of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles in 1973 where he was... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Fund; Philanthropy; Populism; Finance; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Political Elections; Personal Development and Career; Leadership Style; Financial Services Industry; Europe; Hungary; United Kingdom; North and Central America; United States

Web

Donor-Advised Fund - Alumni

charities whenever you wish. Benefits An immediate charitable tax deduction for the full amount of your gift Professional management services provided by Harvard Management Company (HMC) at no cost to you The opportunity to name your... View Details

November 1999 (Revised December 2009)
Case

The IBET Pension Fund

By: Arthur I Segel

Marisa Caris oversees real estate investments for the IBET Pension Fund. She must value each of the existing eight properties and determine a strategy for going forward. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Valuation; Real Estate Industry

September 2017 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Asset Allocation at the Cook County Pension Fund

By: Emil Siriwardane, Juliane Begenau and Yuval Gonczarowski

Nickol Hackett, chief investment officer of the Cook County Pension Fund, is responsible for investing the fund’s $9 billion worth of assets on behalf of the employees of Cook County, Illinois. Like many other defined-benefit pensions at the time, the Cook County... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions

22 Jun 2014
News

Pension funds urged to publish climate risks

January 2018
Case

Environmental Technology Fund Partners and E-Leather

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Aldo Sesia

It is 2014 and Environmental Technologies Fund (ETF) Partners, a UK-based venture capital firm, has an opportunity to invest in a privately held UK company that manufactured engineered composition leather extracted from waste leather using an environmentally friendly... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Venture Capital; Investment Strategy; Investment; Strategy; Ownership; Valuation; Energy Conservation; Equity; Technological Innovation; Environmental Sustainability; Performance Efficiency; Manufacturing Industry; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

29 Jul 2017
News

Fund managers challenged to confront lack of ethnic diversity

07 Sep 2011
News

Judging success in funding medical research

31 Oct 2017
News

Bertarelli Foundation Gift Names President’s Challenge Fund

2024
Working Paper

Private Equity Fund Valuation Management during Fundraising

By: Brian K. Baik

I investigate whether and how private equity fund managers (GPs) inflate their interim fund valuations (net asset values or NAVs) during fundraising periods. Specifically, I study the extent to which the GPs inflate NAVs by managing valuation assumptions (e.g.,... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Institutional Investors; Valuation Multiples; Earnings Management; Private Firms; Valuation; Investment Funds

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18 Aug 2015
News

New HBS Fund Chairs

Ashley Garrett and Alan K. “AJ” Jones’s term as HBS Fund Chairs began on July 1, 2015. The couple, who are both members of the MBA Class of 1987, are longtime Harvard... View Details

31 Oct 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Mutual Funds as Venture Capitalists? Evidence from Unicorns

Keywords: by Sergey Chernenko, Josh Lerner, and Yao Zeng; Financial Services; Banking

May 2021
Article

Mutual Funds as Venture Capitalists? Evidence from Unicorns

By: Josh Lerner, Sergey Chernenko and Yao Zeng

The past decade saw the rise of both “founder-friendly” venture financings and non-traditional investors, frequently with liquidity constraints. Using detailed contract data, we study open-end mutual funds investing in private venture-backed firms. We posit an... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Investment; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Governance