Welcome to my website!
I am a financial economist studying non-bank financial intermediation and asset management. My research interests include institutional investors, financial advice, fintech wealth management and angel investing.
Publications
[1] “The Globalization of Angel Investments: Evidence Across Countries”
with Josh Lerner, Antoinette Schoar and Karen Wilson
Journal of Financial Economics (2018)
Across 21 countries, angel funding generates a positive impact on firm growth, performance, survival, and follow-on fundraising.
[2] “Regulating Commission-Based Financial Advice: Evidence from a Natural Experiment”
Online Appendix
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis (2022)
Limitations on commissions paid to financial advisers reduce prices of financial products and stimulate investment.
[3] “Paying for Beta: Leverage Demand and Asset Management Fees”
Online Appendix
with Steffen Hitzemann and Mingzhu Tai
Journal of Financial Economics (2022)
Mutual fund investors pay extra fees for leverage provided by funds. This finding explains how fees can be larger than fund risk-adjusted returns.
Working Papers
[4] “Strategic Borrowing from Passive Investors” (May, 2023)
with Darius Palia
We propose that short-sellers strategically borrow shares from passive investors to mitigate dynamic short-selling risks. This behavior drives up demand for stocks with high passive ownership, boosting short-selling activity. Our findings support this hypothesis, as these stocks exhibit enhanced price efficiency, higher lending fees, and increased short interest. Moreover, they demonstrate lower risks of unexpected fee hikes and loan recall, longer loan durations, and attract better informed short-sellers. These effects are concentrated in hard-to-borrow stocks where short-sale constraints are likely to be binding. Overall, our study suggests that passive investing alleviates short-sales constraints by reducing borrowing risks.
MEDIA: ETF.com
PRESENTATIONS: NYU Stern, UNC Kenan-Flagler, USC Marshall, IDC Summer Finance Conference 2019, Triple Crown Conference 2019, The CUHK International Finance Conference 2019, University of Oklahoma, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Miami, USCD
[5] “Robo Advice and Access to Wealth Management” (April, 2023)
with Michael Reher
We examine how access to robo advisors affects less-wealthy investors’ financial investment and welfare. We exploit a quasi-experiment in which a major U.S. robo advisor significantly reduces its account minimum. The reduction increases middle-class investors’ participation with the advisor but does not affect the poorest investors. A calibrated model implies that accessibility raises welfare by the equivalent of a 5% increase in permanent labor income. This effect reflects exposure to additional risk factors, glide-paths by both age and wealth, and better diversification. Our results suggest that robo advisors can benefit less-wealthy investors by expanding access to sophisticated wealth management.
PRESENTATIONS: California Corporate Finance Conference 2019, CAFR FinTechWorkshop 2020, NY Fed Fintech Conference 2020, The Paris Conference on FinTech and Cryptofinance 2020, Toronto Fintech Conference 2020, Georgetown Fintech Seminar Series 2020, UT Dallas Fall Finance Conference 2021, FINRA/NORC Access and Impact Conference 2021, FMA 2021, 5th Shanghai-Edinburgh-London Fintech Conference 2021, Jackson Hole Finance Group Conference 2022, Northeastern University Finance Conference 2022, University of Mannheim, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2022 CEAR-RSI Household Finance Workshop, UC Irvine Finance Conference 2023
[6] “Which Investors Drive Anomaly Returns and How?” (May, 2023)
with Yizhang Li and Andrea Tamoni
We investigate the sources of time-variation in returns on anomaly portfolios, specifically examining the role of different investor types and their trading motives. Our analysis reveals that 39% of the return variation can be attributed to changes in investor demand for common stock characteristics. Flow-induced trading explains an additional 12%, while the remainder is accounted for by random demand shocks. Notably, households and small non-13F institutions have the most significant impact, whereas large 13F institutions exhibit smaller effects. These findings provide strong support for theories that underscore the role of small non-professional investors in generating anomalies, thus challenging theories that prioritize flow-induced or discretionary trading by large institutional investors.
PRESENTATIONS: 11th MSUFCU Conference, Citi Quantitative Research Conference 2023, MFA 2023, Adam Smith Workshop Spring 2023, Esade Spring Workshop 2023, Tilburg Finance Summit 2023, Helsinki Finance Summit 2023
[7] “Production Complementarities in Asset Management” (February, 2022)
with Lu Han and Galit Ben Naim
Production complementarities arise in asset management because portfolio managers work in teams, and firms know more about managers’ investment skill than investors. Using unique data on compensation in the Israeli mutual fund industry, we find that managers assigned to more skilled teammates and receiving more advertising earn lower compensation today in return for higher expected productivity and future earnings. This tradeoff is stronger for more skilled and less visible managers. Thus, compensation depends not only on manager input but also on complementarities between firm resources and manager skills, suggesting an integral role firms play in ensuring incentive alignment for investors.
PRESENTATIONS: University of Wisconsin-Madison, UNC Kenan-Flagler , CICF 2022, FMA 2022
Stanislav Sokolinski 