Asset Management and Investment

No matter how one refers to it — “ESG” (environmental, social and governance), “responsible” or “sustainable” investing — the world is paying increased attention to investment decisions that include nonfinancial factors. Research examines if investment managers invest their clients’ capital as responsibly as they pledge to.

Conventional wisdom is that active-fund managers are paid to be contrarians; they take risks and go against trends. But new research shows that sometimes they’re the herd: In the bear market of February and March 2020, institutional investors amplified price crashes and volatility by fire-selling, and they focused on cash rather than ESG metrics.

Darden Professor Rich Evans recently published study of mutual fund managers’ performance which demonstrates that significantly different outcomes occur when employees get paid to compete against each other — versus when they are compensated for cooperating.

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) have grown in popularity as a tool for targeting specific groups of investments. How do they affect the market? Darden Professor Rich Evans and Maureen O’Hara of Cornell’s S.C. Johnson College of Business discuss industry ETFs and their influence on market efficiency.

The importance of a culture that respects different perspectives: What does political ideology have to do with mutual funds? Profit. Darden Professor Rich Evans’ research shows that funds managed by teams with diverse political views perform better than those with similar political beliefs. Here, he elaborates on the study and an important caveat.

Darden Professor Dan Murphy believes that, in a recession, pro-savings policies should in fact be turned upside down — just for a time — to account for the macroeconomic situation.

Nick Sargen, a Darden lecturer and chief economist at Fort Washington Investment Advisors, published Global Shocks: An Investment Guide for Turbulent Markets, a book that offered advice on managing investments through periods of unexpected turmoil.

Are the fees for actively managed mutual funds worth the cost? Although that debate is far from settled, the consensus seems to be “it depends."

In a world of increased financial globalization, foreign investors have a bad reputation in some circles, sometimes being labeled “locusts” for what’s been seen as their plaguing effect on local companies and economies. But new research by Darden School of Business Professor Pedro Matos and three colleagues may soon turn that idea on its head.

Research by Darden Professor Samuel E. Bodily suggests several new ways to encourage entrepreneurs teetering on the edge of launching a high potential startup but fearful of the financial risks involved.