School of Business Selected to Host 2013 Finance Cavalcade!

The University of Miami School of Business has been selected to host the 2013 SFS Finance Cavalcade conference. The conference is sponsored by the Society for Financial Studies, which publishes the Review of Financial Studies, the Review of Corporate Finance Studies, and the Review of Asset Pricing Studies. The five-day conference will cover all areas of finance. This will be the third SFS Finance Cavalcade. The 2012 conference was hosted by the University of Virginia, and the 2011 conference was hosted by the University of Michigan. The 2013 conference will be held during the week of May 13-17, with a more precise schedule still pending.

The Fourth Miami Behavioral Finance Conference, also hosted by the School of Business, will be held Dec. 13 - 15, 2013.

About the Department

The finance discipline is focused on two primary issues.  The first is determining value.  The second is making the best decisions with respect to value.  We study these issues in a variety of contexts and industries.  The three primary areas of finance are financial management, investments, and financial markets and intermediaries.

Financial management focuses on how an organization can accomplish its mission.  For example, a corporation seeks to create and maintain wealth, and a non-profit organization seeks to improve the world in some way.

All organizations want to achieve their mission to the greatest extent possible, and that requires making the best decisions with respect to value.  The area of investments studies the purchase and sale of financial securities, such as stocks, bonds, options, and futures.  Financial intermediaries sell claims on themselves to investors, such as stock, life insurance, or a bank deposit, and invest that money in such things as loans, real estate, or their financial securities.  Every organization and industry includes a finance function, although it appears to be prominent in some industries such as brokerage, banking, real estate, insurance, and major corporations.

Department of Finance Third Miami Behavioral Finance Conference December 15, 2012 From left to right: Campbell Harvey, Sandro Andrade, Thor Bruce, Tim Burch, Alok Kumar, Da Ke, Will Prahl, Doug Emery, Ryan Bubley, Brian Barrett, Michael Fuerst, Ricardo Rodriguez, Tie Su, Gennaro Bernile, Vidhi Chhaochharia, George Korniotis, Jawad Addoum, and Michelle Mederos (Not pictured: Andrea Heuson and Thomas Sanders)