Publications

October 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Grosvenor Group Limited

By: Andre F. Perold, Arthur I Segel, Oliver Corlette and Soyoun Song

A global real estate investment firm is trying to decide whether to enter into a property-derivative transaction to help it effect a change in asset allocation. The market for real estate derivatives is beginning to grow quite rapidly and the firm is trying to... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Financial Instruments; Financial Markets; Business or Company Management; Property; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

20 Dec 2018
Cold Call Podcast

Using Fintech to Disrupt Eastern Bank from Within

Keywords: Re: Karen Mills; Financial Services; Financial Services

January 1995
Case

Keller Fund's Option Investment Strategies, The

By: W. Carl Kester

A closed-end mutual fund's decision to study option trading provides an opportunity to study the profit profile and pricing of multiple option investment strategies (e.g., buy a call, buy a put, write a call, buy stock-write call, etc.). This case is designed to... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Stock Options; Profit; Price; Strategy; Financial Services Industry

March 2005 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Morgan Stanley and TRAC-X: The Battle for the CDS Indexes Market

Morgan Stanley's credit derivatives business, specifically its collateralized debt obligation (CDO) business, has been hugely successful. One of its leading offerings is the TRAC-X product, jointly created and marketed by Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan. However, a new... View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Product; Competition; Capital Markets; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

October 1993
Supplement

The Analyst's Dilemma (B)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Ethics; Risk and Uncertainty; Problems and Challenges; Financial Services Industry

Profile

Dave Vitello

“take the accounting and financial management base I built at Deloitte and pair it with the strategic thinking I gain at HBS.” The environment is perfectly suited to his ambition. “Each class, whether it is dedicated to strategy or not,... View Details

Keywords: Financial Services

January 2023
Case

The Ford Motor Company Green Bond

By: Vikram S Gandhi and James Barnett

In November 2021, Ford Motor Company offered a $2.5 billion green bond to finance investments in electrification. Issuance of green bonds significantly increased into the 2020s, and to date, the Ford Motor Company green bond was the largest such bond offered by a... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Bonds; Green Technology; Financial Services Industry; Auto Industry; United States

May 2010 (Revised July 2010)
Supplement

Bank of America Acquires Merrill Lynch (B)

By: Robert C. Pozen and Charles E. Beresford

Supplements to HBS no. 310-092. View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Acquisition; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

January 2011
Supplement

Matrix Capital Management (B)

By: Malcolm P. Baker and David Lane

Ben Balbale, a partner at hedge fund Matrix Capital, must decide whether to exit their investment in Rovi Corporation, a company with a diverse portfolio of patents used primarily for digital interactive guides. Rovi's shares are up over 50% from the time Balbale... View Details

Keywords: Public Ownership; Cash Flow; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Valuation; Partners and Partnerships; Markets; Performance Efficiency; Patents; Stock Shares; Decisions; Financial Services Industry

October 2022 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Founders First Capital Partners: An Approach to Capital Access Equity

By: Brian Trelstad, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein

In June 2021, Kim T. Folsom, the founder and CEO of revenue-based financing firm Founders First Capital Partners (FFCP), must decide whether to issue another loan to OnShore Technology Group, an up-and-coming software validation company. FFCP provided revenue-based... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Financial Instruments; Financing and Loans; Interest Rates; Investment Return; Revenue; Capital; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States

2008
Working Paper

How Did Increased Competition Affect Credit Ratings?

The credit rating industry has historically been dominated by just two agencies, Moody's and S&P, leading to longstanding legislative and regulatory calls for increased competition. The material entry of a third rating agency (Fitch) to the competitive landscape offers... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Financial Markets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Quality; Reputation; Competition; Financial Services Industry

Read Now

19 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

Doomsday Coming for Catastrophic Risk Insurers?

Kenneth A. Froot spends more time thinking about natural disasters than the average business school professor. In addition to the rise and fall of the Dow and the long-term implications of the financial crisis in Greece, he has natural... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Financial Services

August 1995
Teaching Note

State Street Boston Corporation: Leading with Information Technology TN

By: Richard L. Nolan, Donna B. Stoddard and Chiara Francalanci

Teaching Note (5-196-058). View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Financial Institutions; Transformation; Technology Adoption; Information Management; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry

January 2011
Supplement

Matrix Capital Management (C)

By: Malcolm P. Baker and David Lane

Ben Balbale, a partner at hedge fund Matrix Capital, must decide whether to exit their investment in Rovi Corporation, a company with a diverse portfolio of patents used primarily for digital interactive guides. Rovi's shares are up over 50% from the time Balbale... View Details

Keywords: Public Ownership; Cash Flow; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Valuation; Partners and Partnerships; Markets; Performance Efficiency; Patents; Stock Shares; Decisions; Financial Services Industry

March 2011 (Revised December 2017)
Background Note

The IMF: The Washington Consensus, the Critics, and the New Challenges as China Rises

By: Rafael M. Di Tella, Natalie Kindred and Monica Baraldi

How the International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines and carries out its mandate has evolved considerably since 1944, when it was founded to serve a vital but narrow function in maintaining the global foreign exchange system and thus enabling international trade. This... View Details

Keywords: History; International Finance; Globalized Economies and Regions; Trade; Financial Institutions; Macroeconomics; Financial Services Industry

June 2001 (Revised December 2006)
Case

Role of Capital Market Intermediaries in the Dot-Com Crash of 2000, The

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Gillian D Elcock

Set in the context of the rise and fall of the Internet stocks in the United States. View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Price Bubble; Capital Markets; Investment Banking; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

September 2010
Case

Freddie Mac: Managing in Conservatorship

By: Robert Steven Kaplan, Nitin Nohria and Ben Creo

Ed Haldeman has recently become CEO of Freddie Mac, one of three major government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) charged with supporting U.S. residential mortgage finance. The company was placed into conservatorship by the U.S. treasury on September 7, 2008.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Financial Crisis; Mortgages; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry; United States