A CEO's Playbook for Creating Long‐Term Value: Ten Essential Resource Allocation Practices

A former CEO of a large and successful public company teams up with a former chief investment strategist and a well‐known academic to suggest ten practices for public companies intent on creating long‐run value:

1. Establish long‐term value creation as the company's governing objective.
2. Ensure that annual plans are consistent with the company's long‐term strategic plan.
3. Understand the expectations embedded in today's stock price.
4. Conduct a “premortem”—and so gain a solid understanding of what can go wrong—before making any large capital allocation decisions.
5. Incorporate the “outside view” in the strategic planning process.
6. Reallocate capital to its highest‐valued use, selling corporate assets that are worth more to or in the hands of others.
7. Prioritize strategies rather than individual projects.
8. Avoid public commitments, such as earnings guidance, that can compromise a company's capital allocation flexibility.
9. Apply best private equity practices to public companies.
10. CEOs should work closely with their boards of directors to set clear expectations for creating long‐term value.

These practices, as the authors note in closing, “are meant to provide a starting point for public companies in carrying out their mission of creating long‐run value—and in a way that earns the respect, if not the admiration and support, of all its important stakeholders.”     

Long‐Term Evidence on the Effect of Aggregate Earnings on Prices

We examine the time‐series properties and determinants of the relation between aggregate earnings information and stock prices (aggregate earnings response coefficient or AERC) employing return decompositions with data since 1871. We confirm that AERC is negative even though firms respond positively to individual firm earnings information, but we also find that AERC is time varying. Furthermore, we show that AERC components based on expected earnings, cash flows, and discount rates are also time varying and differ in relative importance.     

A Fireside Chat with Raj Gupta: What It Takes to Create Long‐Term Value

The chairman of two public companies (and former chair and CEO of Rohm and Haas) draws on his experience as a director of five private and 15 public companies in discussing the challenges and opportunities facing today's corporate boards. Perhaps the most formidable challenge is the pace of technological change, which is making business models ‘in all industries and countries’ obsolete and forcing companies to adapt much more quickly than in the past. Along with the risk of obsolescence is the increase in ‘reputational risk’ associated with an ‘information age’ in which companies are forced to monitor the nearly continuous flow of fact, hearsay, and outright fabrication. The author recommends that public company boards adopt a new ‘partnership’ model. Besides ensuring an ‘ethical tone at the top,’ corporate directors should aim to become partners with the senior management team by playing more active roles in strategic planning, risk management, and the design of performance evaluation and incentive pay systems. In the most striking departure from current practice, the author urges directors to seize the opportunity created by the ‘reconcentration’ of ownership of U.S. public companies by actively engaging large institutional investors in a strategic dialogue about the companies' strengths and vulnerabilities. In so doing, proactive directors can help their management teams preempt shareholder activists and create long‐run value by creating a more effective two‐way channel of communication, one with the potential to give management more confidence when undertaking large strategic investments with longer‐run payoffs.     

Seasonality in Fund Performance: An Examination of the Portfolio Holdings and Trades of Investment Managers

Abstract:  This study examines the extent to which seasonal variation arises across calendar months in the performance of active Australian equity managers. While it is well documented that there is seasonality in equity market returns, it is unknown whether calendar month variation in managed fund performance exists. Employing a unique database of monthly stock holdings, we find evidence consistent with systematic variation in the risk-adjusted performance of active investment managers over the calendar year. Specifically, we find fund performance is higher in the months when corporate earnings are announced. We also document that the performance of fund managers is lower in the months preceding the tax year-end. Finally, we report evidence that investment manager performance is greater than normal in December, possibly due to both window dressing and the Christmas holiday effect. These findings have important implications for investors attempting to exploit anomalies in fund returns by timing their entry and exit points from active equity funds.     

Private Equity and Long‐Run Investment: The Case of Innovation

A long‐standing controversy is whether leveraged buyouts (LBOs) relieve managers from short‐term pressures from public shareholders, or whether LBO funds themselves sacrifice long‐term growth to boost short‐term performance. We examine one form of long‐run activity, namely, investments in innovation as measured by patenting activity. Based on 472 LBO transactions, we find no evidence that LBOs sacrifice long‐term investments. LBO firm patents are more cited (a proxy for economic importance), show no shifts in the fundamental nature of the research, and become more concentrated in important areas of companies' innovative portfolios.     

基本养老保险缴费机制对基金长期收支平衡的影响研究

养老保障在国家治理体系和治理能力中既具有"稳定器和安全网"作用,也可能成为国家治理能力的阻碍或绊脚石,中国基本养老保险制度的可持续性正面临着严峻的考验。本文基于中国现行基本养老保险缴费机制,从高收入群体收入水平、高收入群体规模和预期寿命三个维度,依据CHIP项目调查数据和世界银行相关统计数据,运用社会保险精算模型实证分析其对基本养老保险基金长期收支平衡的影响,以期通过客观的分析结果为我国基本养老保险制度的改革和完善提供有益的借鉴。     

The Leveraging of Corporate America: A Long‐Run Perspective on Changes in Capital Structure

In a study published recently in the Journal of Financial Economics, the authors of this article documented a substantial increase in the use of debt financing by U.S. companies over the past century. From 1920 until the mid‐1940s, the aggregate leverage of unregulated U.S. companies was low and stable, with the average debt‐to‐capital ratio staying within the narrow range of 10% to 15%. But during the next 25 years, the use of debt by U.S. companies more than doubled, rising to 35% of total capital. And since 1970, aggregate leverage has remained above 35%, peaking at 47% in 1992. Moreover, this pattern has been observed in companies of all sizes and operating in all unregulated sectors. Changes in the characteristics of U.S. public companies during this period provide little help in explaining the increase in corporate leverage. For example, the displacement of tangible by intangible assets in many sectors of the U.S. economy during the past 50 years would have led most economists to predict, holding all other things equal, a reduction rather than an increase in aggregate corporate leverage. Instead, according to the authors' findings, the main contributors to the increases in U.S. corporate leverage since the 1940s have been external changes, including increases in corporate income tax rates, the development of financial markets and intermediaries, and the reduction in government borrowing in the decades following World War II. The authors' analysis also identifies these last two changes—the development of financial markets, including the rise of institutional investors and shareholder activism, and the post‐War reduction in government debt—as having played the biggest roles in the leveraging of corporate America.     

Investor Protection,Investment Efficiency and Value: The Case of Cross‐Listed Firms

We examine the impact of improved investor protection due to cross‐listing on foreign firms’ investment decisions and firm value. While we find that cross‐listing increases firms’ capital expenditures and mergers and acquisitions activities, cross‐listed firms also invest more in research and development, make better acquisition decisions, and have higher profitability compared to non‐cross‐listed firms. Moreover, cross‐listing is associated with better cash utilization by foreign firms for investments. These improvements in investments and cash utilization are more pronounced for firms cross‐listed on US exchanges and for firms from countries with weak investor protection laws.     

价值溢价和后见之明——基于会计业绩的价值投资策略实证研究

本文从后见之明心理角度对价值溢价的原因进行了解释,并相应设计了基于上年财务报告所反映会计业绩的反应过度和反应不足价值选股模型.对两个新构建价值组合投资业绩的检验表明,在1999年～2009年的投资区间里,反应不足模型(近期会计业绩表现良好的价值股组合)获得了显著的超额报酬,反应过度模型则只在2005年以后才连续战胜市场.     

The Response of Equity Prices to Movements in Long‐Term Interest Rates Associated with Monetary Policy Statements: Before and After the Zero Lower Bound

Monetary policy actions since 2008 have influenced long‐term interest rates through forward guidance and quantitative easing. I propose a strategy to identify the comovement between interest rate and equity price movements induced by monetary policy when an observable representing policy changes is not available. A decline in long‐term interest rates induced by monetary policy statements has a larger positive effect on equity prices prior to 2009 than in the subsequent period. This change appears to reflect the impact of the zero lower bound on short‐term interest rates.     

基金投资风格理论演进透视及引入分形理论的研究探索

随着证券投资基金的不断创新发行,投资风格已逐渐成为基金产品设计与投资者选择基金品种时考虑的主要因素之一.本文通过对国内外学者在基金投资风格方面的系统梳理,分析了有效市场理论线性研究范式下的基金投资风格理论的演进历程,从投资风格的概念厘定、投资风格的识别方法及改进、投资风格漂移成因分析及其对基金业绩的影响等4个方面作了相应的评述.然后针对有效市场理论的严格假设不足与我国基金市场呈分形特征的现实背景下,提出有必要引入分形理论非线性科学来对基金投资风格理论体系进行修正探索,最后从7个方面为学术界与基金界提出了对现有基金投资风格理论体系修正的研究方向.     

基于规模与风格的证券投资基金最优组合构建研究

本文选择中国2004年10月1日前成立的8种投资风格共133只证券投资基金,根据其在2005年1月1日-2008年3月31日共161周的数据,依照非回置等权抽样方法构建基金组合。在研究了基金组合规模与组合风险和绩效关系的基础上,着重探讨了基金组合所含风格类型以及基金组合风格丰富化指标与组合风险和绩效的关系。在上述研究的基础上,论文提出了综合规模和风格双因素的基金最优组合构建原则,并得出了最适度风格类型模型和最适度风格丰富化指标模型。     

基于规模与风格的证券投资基金最优组合构建研究

本文选择中国2004年10月1日前成立的8种投资风格共133只证券投资基金。根据其在2005年1月1日-2008年3月31日共161周的数据,依照非回置等权抽样方法构建基金组合。在研究了基金组合规模与组合风险和绩效关系的基础上,着重探讨了基金组合所含风格类型以及基金组合风格丰富化指标与组合风险和绩效的关系。在上述研究的基础上,论文提出了综合规模和风格双因素的基金最优组合构建原则,并得出了最适度风格类型模型和最适度风格丰富化指标模型。     

The Performance of the Foreign‐Owned Sector of UK Manufacturing: Some Evidence and Implications for UK Inward Investment Policy

This paper analyses the reported performance of foreign‐owned manufacturing subsidiaries in the UK between 1994 and 1998. The paper is set in the context of uncertainty about the performance of some foreign‐owned sectors of UK manufacturing and the implications of this performance for the beneficial spillover effects sought by policy‐makers from foreign‐owned capital. Japanese‐owned subsidiaries are the focus of particular attention, with reported profits and tax liabilities significantly below those of subsidiaries from other national sources. The wider ramifications of this finding are analysed for the UK case, particularly in terms of the need to take into account the wider exchequer effects of inward investment in the general evaluation of the financial assistance provided to foreign firms.     

Firm Investment and Stakeholder Choices: A Top‐Down Theory of Capital Budgeting

This paper develops a top‐down model of capital budgeting in which privately informed executives make investment choices that convey information to the firm's stakeholders (e.g., employees). Favorable information in this setting encourages stakeholders to take actions that positively contribute to the firm's success (e.g., employees work harder). Within this framework we examine how firms may distort their investment choices to influence the information conveyed to stakeholders and show that investment rigidities and overinvestment can arise as optimal investment distortions. We also examine investment distortions in multi‐divisional firms and compare such distortions to those in single‐division firms.     

开放式基金锚定启发式偏差对其绩效的影响——基于行业超额收益率的视角

本文利用最小二乘法对我国开放式基金的投资看涨情绪变动指标与行业超额收益率的相关关系进行了检验,考察开放式基金作为一个整体在各个行业上是否存在锚定启发式偏差,并进一步设计指标衡量单只开放式基金的锚定启发式偏差程度,利用BB动态面板模型考察了锚定启发式偏差对基金绩效的影响,发现基于行业当期超额收益率的锚定启发式偏差显著利于提高投资绩效,而基于行业历史超额收益率的反转启发式偏差对投资绩效的影响不大.     

Accounting Students’ Planning,Writing, and Performance on a Time‐Constrained Case Analysis: Effects of Self‐Talk and Prior Achievement

When writing a case analysis, most students first allocate time to plan the content and structure of their response, and then proceed to write with differing degrees of urgency, the outcomes of which are case responses of differing quality. This study examines the extent to which planning time influences writing urgency and, ultimately, the quality of case responses in a time‐constrained setting. It also investigates whether these behaviors and outcomes depend on students’ frame of mind, by experimentally inducing differing types of pre‐examination self‐talk. Analyses show that planning time was negatively associated with writing urgency; students who spent more time planning subsequently wrote with less urgency. Writing urgency was positively associated with case response quality and, after controlling for differences in writing urgency, planning time was positively associated with response quality. Results indicate that different planning and writing behaviors can be induced by different forms of self‐talk prior to the writing task. Relative to interrogative self‐talk (“Will I …?”), exclamatory self‐talk (“I will …!”) caused higher‐achieving students to spend more time planning, but then write with less urgency and subsequently produce lower‐quality case responses. Conversely, after engaging in exclamatory rather than interrogative self‐talk, lower‐achieving students spent less time planning but then wrote with greater urgency and produced higher‐quality responses. These results indicate that (i) planning significantly affects writing and performance, (ii) students can influence their own planning behavior through pre‐task self‐talk, but (iii) pre‐task self‐talk can be beneficial or detrimental depending on students’ prior achievement.     

内部控制、EVA考核对非效率投资的综合治理效应研究——来自国有控股上市公司的经验证据

非效率投资尤其是过度投资一直是困扰我国国有企业的顽疾,不仅损害企业的可持续增长,更成为阻碍我国当前经济转型的重要因素之一。因此,非效率投资的治理备受理论界和实务界的关注,然而已有的研究存在系统性不足问题,即在研究中往往只侧重于某一方面,这显然不利于非效率投资的综合治理。为此,本文分析了内部控制与EVA考核对非效率投资的综合治理机理,并构建了非效率投资的综合治理理论框架,在此基础上,以2010-2013年国有控股上市公司为样本,检验了内部控制和EVA考核对非效率投资的综合治理效应,一方面以期为从根本上解决非效率投资问题提供新的研究视角和经验证据,另一方面为促进制度制定的协调性与制度实施的系统性提供有益启示。     

我国开放式基金绩效及选股和择时能力研究

近年来,开放式基金逐渐成为我国基金市场的绝对主体。开放式基金能否取得较好的绩效受到市场的普遍关注。本文选取了资金管理规模前20位的公司,并从中随机挑选1只基金,运用詹森指数、特雷诺比率、夏普指数和信息比率等单因素模型和Fama-French三因素模型对开放式基金的绩效进行分析,并使用T-M模型、H-M模型、C-L模型对基金经理人股票选股与择时能力进行分析。结果发现:第一,我国开放式基金经理的选股能力存在时变性,在上升期具备选股能力,在下跌期不具备选股能力,而无论是在上升期还是下跌期,基金经理普遍不具备择时能力。第二,在市场上升期基金经理比较注意对风险的把控,系统性风险较小,而在下跌期基金投资组合的系统性风险明显上升,基金经理冒险意愿上升,当市场出现大幅度下跌时,其不理性行为会加剧市场的波动。本文的研究结论有利于提升投资者的风险意识和理性意识、促进外部监管部门的精准监管审查,并能够激励基金经理人提高自身风险管控的能力。