Publications

June 1995 (Revised May 1996)
Teaching Note

Investment Linked to Commodity Futures, An TN

By: Andre F. Perold and Wai Lee

Teaching Note for (9-293-017). View Details

Keywords: Futures and Commodity Futures

August 2017
Case

Investing in Commodities at Global Endowment Management

By: Adi Sunderam and Sara Fleiss

June 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Teaching Note

Investing in Commodities at Global Endowment Management

By: Adi Sunderam

Teaching Note for HBS No. 218-005. View Details

June 2009 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Australia: The Riches and Challenges of Commodities

By: Laura Alfaro and Renee Kim

Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd faced a daunting task that he never imagined he would have to face when he was elected two years ago. Australia at that time was poised to enter its 17th year of uninterrupted growth. Commodity exports were booming, largely driven... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Trade; Foreign Direct Investment; Policy; Crisis Management; China; Australia

14 Dec 2007
Op-Ed

When Your Product Becomes a Commodity

speed from launch to maturity is faster than ever before. Marketers can do three things to delay the inevitable forces of commoditization. Innovate. A new product that better meets consumer needs, even an upgrade of an existing product, can one-up competitors and force... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

Web

General Merchants to Commodities Brokers | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

Introduction 1840s – 1880s General Merchants to Commodities Brokers 1880s – 1920s Investment Banking & Securities Underwriting 1920s – 1960s Investing in Emerging Industries... View Details

17 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

The Investment Strategies of Sovereign Wealth Funds

Keywords: by Shai Bernstein, Josh Lerner & Antoinette Schoar; Financial Services

2010
Working Paper

Venture Capital Investment in the Clean Energy Sector

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Ramana Nanda

We examine the extent to which venture capital is adequately positioned for the rapid commercialization of clean energy technologies in the United States. While there are several startups in clean energy that are well-suited to the traditional venture capital... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Energy Generation; Venture Capital; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Technological Innovation; Competition; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States

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summer 1995
Article

Hedging Portfolios with Real Assets

By: K. A. Froot

Keywords: Institutional Investing; Market Efficiency; Behavioral Finance; Equities; Stock Market; Indexing; Hedging; Asset Allocation; Commodities; Commodity Investing; Real Estate; Financial Markets; Asset Pricing

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21 Jan 2022
Blog Post

Tipping Point: Investing in the Women of Kenya’s Coffee Farms

supply chain are the unseen farm laborers—most of them women—who tend the coffee trees each day on the hillsides of rural Kenya. Margaret Nyamumbo (MBA 2016) founded Kahawa 1893 in 2017 to shorten the distance between these Kenyan farmers and American coffee drinkers... View Details

2011
Other Unpublished Work

Do Public and Private Firms Behave Differently? An Examination of Investment in the Chemical Industry

By: Albert W. Sheen

I compare the capacity expansion decisions of U.S. public and private producers of seven commodity chemicals from 1989-2006. I find that private firms invest differently, and more efficiently, than public firms. Specifically, private firms are more likely than public... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Chemicals; Investment; Public Ownership; Chemical Industry; United States

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January 2013 (Revised April 2017)
Supplement

Maxum Petroleum, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester

Maxum seeks an oil-price hedging strategy that yields substantial cash during oil price spikes, is affordable under ordinary circumstances, and is easily managed. It is striving to avoid a repeat of the challenging situation encountered in 2008 when spiking oil prices... View Details

Keywords: Hedging; Options; Commodities; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Risk Management; Futures and Commodity Futures; Financial Strategy; Volatility

June 2013 (Revised June 2013)
Teaching Note

Brazil's Enigma: Sustaining Long-Term Growth & Currency Wars

By: Laura Alfaro and Hilary White

Over the past decade, Brazil's future as a leading world economic power appeared certain. An expanding middle class and commodity boom had fueled economic growth, with GDP growth hitting a peak of 7.5% in 2010. However, the high cost of conducting business in Brazil,... View Details

August 2022
Case

Southwick Social Ventures

By: Henry McGee, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein

In 2021, the HBS Impact Investment Fund student team had found a promising potential investment in Southwick Social Ventures (SSV), a worker and management-owned trouser manufacturer. With a 100% immigrant workforce, the co-operative was focused on reviving... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Investment; Goods and Commodities; Manufacturing Industry; United States; Massachusetts

Web

Investing in Emerging Industries | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

Introduction 1840s – 1880s General Merchants to Commodities Brokers 1880s – 1920s Investment Banking & Securities Underwriting 1920s – 1960s Investing in Emerging Industries... View Details

August 2022 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Sweet Teez Bakery: Projecting the Dough's Rise

By: Emily R. McComb, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein

In 2021, the HBS Impact Investment Fund student team met with entrepreneur Teresa Maynard, who had applied for a $25,000 impact investment loan. The students thought the former Harvard Data Scientist’s bakery business, Sweet Teez Bakery, showed promise. Maynard had... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investment; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Investment; Goods and Commodities; Financial Reporting; Small Business; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Massachusetts

August 2022
Supplement

Sweet Teez Bakery: Projecting the Dough’s Rise Financial Supplement

By: Emily R. McComb, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein

Abstract: In 2021, the HBS Impact Investment Fund student team met with entrepreneur Teresa Maynard, who had applied for a $25,000 impact investment loan. The students thought the former Harvard Data Scientist’s bakery business, Sweet Teez Bakery, showed promise.... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investment; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Investment; Goods and Commodities; Financial Reporting; Small Business; Food and Beverage Industry; Massachusetts; United States

September 2023
Case

Diamond Standard

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Zhaoheng Gong and Grace Headinger

Cormac Kinney, Founder and CEO of Diamond Standard, was on a mission to transform the U.S. diamond market through unlocking the precious gems as market-traded assets. As a serial FinTech entrepreneur, he hoped to add an additional service to his vault: Carats. The... View Details