Publications

30 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Vanguard, Trian And The Problem With 'Passive' Index Funds

questions about the future of dispersed ownership and the separation between management and ownership,” says Viceira. “The way we answer these questions may literally determine the future of capitalism.” Related Reading: Why Millennials Flock to Fintech for View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

March 2009
Article

Loyalty-Based Portfolio Choice

By: Lauren Cohen

I evaluate the effect of loyalty on individuals' portfolio choice using a unique dataset of retirement contributions. I exploit the statutory difference that in 401(k) plans stand alone employees can invest directly in their division, while conglomerate employees must... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Retirement; Decisions; Employees; Performance Evaluation; Business Conglomerates; Compensation and Benefits

Find at Harvard

Read Now

February 2023 (Revised May 2023)
Case

CalPERS Private Equity 2.0

By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Alys Ferragamo

Yup Kim, the Head of Investments, Private Equity at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), reflected on the pension fund’s private equity strategy. In July of 2022, the fund was in the midst of a multi-year turnaround strategy with the goal to... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment Portfolio; Retirement; Leadership; Strategy; Public Sector

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

A Survey-Based Procedure for Measuring Uncertainty or Heterogeneous Preferences in Markets

Keywords: by Pai-Ling Yin; Technology; Web Services

November 2009
Case

The HLB Turnaround

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Bhaskar Chakravorti and Laura Winig

Ford Pearson has recently taken over as CEO of HLB, a Chicago-based product design and development firm (and once one of the largest in the business), to help turn it around after a series of crises that had seriously threatened its survival. Pearson has personally... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Business or Company Management; Private Equity; Restructuring; Product Design; Corporate Finance

Teaching Interest

Doing Business in Africa

By: John D. Macomber

This course introduces frameworks and models for smart and focused investing and operations across sectors, nations, industries, and time frames in Africa. Students will learn tools and skills to help navigate the business landscape of Africa in terms of selection... View Details

Keywords: Africa

04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

businesses have led the venture capital model to adapt in fundamental ways over the prior decade. We both document and provide a framework to understand the changes in the investment strategy of VCs in recent years—an increased prevalence... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1994
Case

Spectrum Equity Investors, L.P.

Brion Applegate and Bill Collatos had already started a fund-raising campaign for their new venture-capital fund when the principals of a prestigious Wall Street investment bank asked them to become the two senior partners of an in-house $150 million fund. The case... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship

23 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

In Venture Capital, Birds of a Feather Lose Money Together

few key questions: What specific characteristics influence individuals' desire to work together on an investment deal? And given that influence, how does affinity affect investment performance? Do common... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

02 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

The Most Popular Stories and Research Papers of 2017

George Serafeim from more than 400 senior investment professionals provides insights into why and how investors use environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information as well as the challenges in using this information. Reinventing... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

16 Jul 2024
Op-Ed

Corporate Boards Are Failing in Their No. 1 Duty

by passively while these great companies imploded? Why did they fail to select CEOs who could run these vaunted companies more successfully? Choosing the right person for the job Before examining the root causes of these succession... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

August 1997 (Revised September 1997)
Case

GMIMCo Venture Capital: September 1996

By: Josh Lerner, Peter Wendell and Catherine M. Conneely

Kathryn Stokel must choose between three venture capital groups (if any) in which to invest the pension fund of General Motors Corp. Each has distinct strengths and weaknesses. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Asset Management; Retirement; Investment Funds; Venture Capital; Financial Services Industry

16 Aug 2024
In Practice

Election 2024: What's at Stake for Business and the Workplace?

incentives make a difference in whether global warming and its fallout are contained. A growing number of climate solution startups count on government spending to give their customers purchasing power and a reason to buy. State and local leaders count on the federal... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

10 Jan 2005
What Do You Think?

Public Pension Reform: Does Mexico Have the Answer?

certainly fail for lack of adequate education and reflection. Responses ranged from those suggesting that the reform should be labeled a tax and approached head-on, to those proposing that it be regarded as an investment program. Typical... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

February 2022
Case

NFX Capital and Moov Technologies

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Nicole Tempest Keller

In July 2019, James Currier, a general partner at San Francisco-based NFX Ventures, was considering a seed stage investment of $1.5 million in Moov Technologies, a B2B marketplace for used industrial equipment. NFX was a venture capital firm focused on seed-stage... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Network Effects; Marketplace Matching; Digital Platforms; Market Design; Applications and Software; Semiconductor Industry; Financial Services Industry; San Francisco

July 2018
Teaching Plan

Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism

By: Geoffrey Jones and Valeria Giacomin

This Teaching Plan accompanies the case HBS No. 317-028, “Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism.” It provides guidelines for class discussion, as well as a board plan. The case traces the origins of sustainable finance and investor activism through the career... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Social Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career

12 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 12, 2017

a bid to save the planet. The narrative then reaches back to each person’s childhood and shows the individual growing—step by step—into the person he or she will ultimately become. Significantly, as we follow each leader’s... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2014
Article

Smart Money? The Effect of Education on Financial Outcomes

By: Shawn A. Cole, Anna Paulson and Gauri Kartini Shastry

Household financial decisions are important for household welfare, economic growth and financial stability. Yet, our understanding of the determinants of financial decision-making is limited. Exploiting exogenous variation in state compulsory schooling laws in both... View Details

Keywords: Personal Finance; Investment; Decisions; Behavior; Financial Condition