Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management

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.

Since 2000, the U.S. has experienced a decline in the number of publicly traded companies, a trend that comes with significant economic risks and implications. Proponents of deregulation cite increased disclosure and regulatory burdens placed on public companies as the cause. Is that indeed the case? Award-winning research examines the issue.

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.

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.

What can we expect across global financial markets following the COVID-19 crisis? UVA Darden Professor Marc Lipson and guest Cornell S.C. Johnson Professor Andrew Karolyi discuss international and domestic listings, financial versus real business cycles, and both short-term and long-term implications of de-risking.

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.

Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management Director Aaron Fernstrom (GEMBA ’15) explores the rapidly growing — and essentially unregulated — shadow banking market.

Another global financial crisis will come eventually, although when and why the next downturn will begin remains an unknown. So far, regulatory efforts have not eliminated the sources of financial instability.

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."