Finance & accounting

It’s not uncommon for incoming CEOs to hire new senior staff when they join companies. But when they hire new CFOs, might those CFOs be pressured to manage earnings in a way that benefits the CEOs’ pay? New research examines these C-suite relationships and what they might mean for the long-term health of a company.

Opportunity zones offer investors the chance to reduce capital gains taxes by investing in areas high in poverty. But the legislation came with a small window of opportunity, and critics see a lack of visible development thus far. What’s the greatest chance of success for residents and investors? How can the challenges be overcome?

Benchmarks are critical to decision-making. It stands to reason, then, that an investment decision should have its own benchmark: the cost of capital. Here, Darden Professor Michael Schill offers four principles to guide the investor in measuring risk and expected return to estimate the cost of capital.
Collection: Investing Insights

After misstating earnings, which companies come clean? In the aftermath of major corporate scandal, Professor Justin Hopkins takes stock of employee stock option misreporting, disincentives to investigate misbehavior and constraints to integrity.

The proliferation of high frequency and algorithmic trading began in the late 1990s, ushering in a revolution in equity market microstructure. In a world where small nuances create multibillion dollar opportunities, new markets and market structures are emerging to ensure the playing field remains level.

Professor Tomio looks at how bond purchases by the European Central Bank created a large mispricing between the market for German and Italian government bonds and their respective futures contracts.

What is socially responsible investing? Is its increasing momentum sustainable? And are international commitments to ESG practices making an impact? Darden Professors Mary Margaret Frank and Pedro Matos discuss issues related to this popular phenomenon.

Legislation on “opportunity zones” is intended to encourage investment in economically distressed communities by providing significant tax incentives to investors. Professor Mary Margaret Frank and alumnus Ben Cullop (MBA ’11) explain how this new program works and what its repercussions may be.