Jules H. van Binsbergen
- The Nippon Life Professor in Finance, Professor of Finance
- Anthony L. Davis Director of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute for Management and International Studies & Lauder Chair
Contact Information
- Primary Email:
julesv@wharton.upenn.edu - Office Phone:
(215) 573-3106
- office Address:
2460 Steinberg-Dietrich Hall
3620 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Research Interests: asset pricing, institutional investors, investments
Links: CV, Personal Website
Overview
Jules van Binsbergen conducts theoretical and empirical research in finance. His current work focuses on asset pricing, in particular the relationship between financial markets and the macro economy, and the organization, skill and performance of financial intermediaries. Some of his recent research focuses on the influence of financial market anomalies on real economic activity, measuring the skill of mutual fund managers and the term structure of cash flow growth and stock return predictability. Professor van Binsbergen’s research has appeared in leading academic journals, such as the American Economic Review, the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics and the Journal of Monetary Economics. He received his PhD from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. After obtaining his PhD in 2008, he joined the faculty at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, where he got tenure in 2014. He joined the Wharton School in 2014.
Research
Jules van Binsbergen, Sophia Hua, Jonas Peeters, Jessica Wachter, Is the United States a lucky survivor? A hierarchical Bayesian approach.
Jonathan Berk, Jules van Binsbergen, Maxwell Miller (2020), Mutual Funds: Skill and Performance, The Journal of Portfolio Management. https://doi.org/10.3905/jpm.2020.1.143
Abstract: The authors summarize the recent literature on mutual fund manager skill and performance. They discuss the latest contributions in the field and reinterpret them through the lens of the rational expectations framework (efficient market hypothesis). They further discuss the importance of (1) the choice of benchmark model and (2) the time-series and cross-sectional sample selected in performance studies. The article has three main conclusions. First, although net alpha is a measure of the abnormal return of an extra dollar invested in a particular fund (i.e., performance), it does not measure mutual fund manager skill. To measure the latter, the product of gross alpha and the size of the fund—value added—is needed. Second, the set of real-time available index funds is the relevant counterfactual to use when assessing the skill and performance of investment managers. Nontradable factors that are constructed with the benefit of hindsight are not a realistic benchmark. Third, the authors can think of no good reason to exclude high-quality mutual fund data either in the cross section or time series when making inferences regarding skill and performance.
Jules van Binsbergen and Christian Opp (Working), Granular Economies.
Jules van Binsbergen, William Diamond, Marco Grotteria (2018), Risk Free Interest Rates (Journal of Financial Economics, Jan 2022), Journal of Financial Economics.
Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen (Working), Regulating Charlatans in High-Skill Professions.
Jules van Binsbergen and Christian Opp (2018), Real Anomalies, Journal of Finance, forthcoming.
Abstract: We examine the importance of cross-sectional asset pricing anomalies (alphas) for the real economy. We develop a novel quantitative model of the cross-section of firms that features lumpy investment and informational inefficiencies, while yielding distributions in closed form. Our findings indicate that anomalies can cause material real inefficiencies, raising the possibility that agents that help to eliminate them add significant value to the economy. The framework reveals that the magnitude of alphas alone is a poor indicator of real implications, and highlights the importance of alpha persistence, the amount of mispriced capital, and the Tobin's q of firms affected.
Jules van Binsbergen (2017), Mutual Funds in Equilibrium, Annual Review of Financial Economics.
Jules van Binsbergen and Jonathan Berk (2017), How Do Investors Compute the Discount Rate? They Use the CAPM, Financial Analyst Journal, 73 (), pp. 25-32.
Jonathan Berk, Jules van Binsbergen, binying liu (2016), Matching Capital and Labor, Journal of Finance.
Jules van Binsbergen (2016), How Do Investors Measure Risk?, Financial Analyst Journal.
Teaching
Finance 611: Corporate Finance (Core)
Current Courses (Fall 2024)
FNCE2050 - Investment Management
This course studies the concepts and evidence relevant to the management of investment portfolios. Topics include diversification, asset allocation, portfolio optimization, factor models, the relation between risk and return, trading, passive (e.g., index-fund) and active (e.g., hedge-fund, long-short) strategies, mutual funds, performance evaluation, long-horizon investing and simulation. The course deals very little with individual security valuation and discretionary investing (i.e., "equity research" or "stock picking"). In addition to course prerequisites, STAT 1020 may be taken concurrently.
FNCE2050401 ( Syllabus )
FNCE7050 - Investment Management
This course studies the concepts and evidence relevant to the management of investment portfolios. Topics include diversification, asset allocation, portfolio optimization, factor models, the relation between risk and return, trading, passive (e.g., index-fund) and active (e.g., hedge-fund, long-short) strategies, mutual funds, performance evaluation, long-horizon investing and simulation. The course deals very little with individual security valuation and discretionary investing (i.e., "equity research" or "stock picking").
FNCE7050001 ( Syllabus )
FNCE7050401 ( Syllabus )
FNCE9230 - Fin Econ Under Imp Info
This course covers general equilibrium and rational expectations, foundations of the theory of information; learning from prices in rational expectations equilibrium models, moral hazard, adverse selection, and signaling bidding theories.
FNCE9230001 ( Syllabus )
All Courses
FNCE2050 - Investment Management
This course studies the concepts and evidence relevant to the management of investment portfolios. Topics include diversification, asset allocation, portfolio optimization, factor models, the relation between risk and return, trading, passive (e.g., index-fund) and active (e.g., hedge-fund, long-short) strategies, mutual funds, performance evaluation, long-horizon investing and simulation. The course deals very little with individual security valuation and discretionary investing (i.e., "equity research" or "stock picking"). In addition to course prerequisites, STAT 1020 may be taken concurrently.
FNCE3990 - Independent Study
Integrates the work of the various courses and familiarizes the student with the tools and techniques of research.
FNCE6110 - Corporate Finance
This course serves as an introduction to business finance (corporate financial management and investments) for both non-majors and majors preparing for upper-level course work. The primary objective is to provide the framework, concepts, and tools for analyzing financial decisions based on fundamental principles of modern financial theory. The approach is rigorous and analytical. Topics covered include discounted cash flow techniques; corporate capital budgeting and valuation; investment decisions under uncertainty; capital asset pricing; options; and market efficiency. The course will also analyze corporate financial policy, including capital structure, cost of capital, dividend policy, and related issues. Additional topics will differ according to individual instructors.
FNCE6210 - Corporate Finance (Half CU)
This half-semester course serves as an introduction to corporate investments for non-majors. The primary objective is to provide a framework, concepts, and tools for analyzing financial decisions based on fundamental principles of modern financial theory. Topics covered include discounted cash flow techniques, corporate capital budgeting and valuation, investment decisions under uncertainty, and capital asset pricing. The approach is rigorous and analytical but the course will not cover several topics included in the full semester Corporate Finance course, including: market efficiency, corporate financial policy (including capital structure, cost of capital, dividend policy, and related issues), and options.
FNCE7050 - Investment Management
This course studies the concepts and evidence relevant to the management of investment portfolios. Topics include diversification, asset allocation, portfolio optimization, factor models, the relation between risk and return, trading, passive (e.g., index-fund) and active (e.g., hedge-fund, long-short) strategies, mutual funds, performance evaluation, long-horizon investing and simulation. The course deals very little with individual security valuation and discretionary investing (i.e., "equity research" or "stock picking").
FNCE7070 - Valuation
The focus of this course is on the valuation of companies. The course covers current conceptual and theoretical valuation frameworks and translates those frameworks into practical approaches for valuing companies. The relevant accounting topics and the appropriate finance theory are integrated to show how to implement the valuation frameworks discussed on a step-by-step basis. The course teaches how to develop the required information for valuing companies from financial statements and other information sources in a real-world setting. Topics covered in depth include discounted cash flow techniques and price multiples. In addition, the course covers other valuation techniques such as leveraged buyout analysis.
FNCE8950 - Global Business Week
The Global Business Week (GBW) is set of classes offered annually to WEMBA second years. They are often repeated, but try to accommodate student interest along with faculty expertise and willingness, so can change with some regularity.
FNCE8990 - Independent Study
Independent Study Projects require extensive independent work and a considerable amount of writing. ISP in Finance are intended to give students the opportunity to study a particular topic in Finance in greater depth than is covered in the curriculum. The application for ISP's should outline a plan of study that requires at least as much work as a typical course in the Finance Department that meets twice a week. Applications for FNCE 8990 ISP's will not be accepted after the THIRD WEEK OF THE SEMESTER. ISP's must be supervised by a Standing Faculty member of the Finance Department.
FNCE9230 - Fin Econ Under Imp Info
This course covers general equilibrium and rational expectations, foundations of the theory of information; learning from prices in rational expectations equilibrium models, moral hazard, adverse selection, and signaling bidding theories.
FNCE9250 - Topics in Asset Pricing
This course exposes student to recent development in the asset pricing literature. The starting point for the course is the standard neo-classical rational expectations framework. We will then investigate where this frameworkhas succeeded and where it has not. Recently documented deviations from the framework in the literature are discussed and placed in context. The course will also focus on hypothesis development, recent research methods, and research writing. The ultimate objective is for students to develop their own hyoptheses and research ideas, resulting in a paper.
Awards and Honors
- DFA Distinguished Paper Prize in the Journal of Finance for Real Anomalies, 2019
- Jacobs-Levy Equity Management Outstanding Paper Award, 2018
- Helen Kardon Moss Anvil Award Nominee for outstanding teaching, 2018
- “Tough but we will thank you in five years” Core Curriculum Teaching Award, 2018
- “Goes above and beyond” Core Curriculum Teaching Award, 2017
- Helen Kardon Moss Anvil Award Nominee for outstanding teaching, 2017
- “Goes above and beyond” Core Curriculum Teaching Award, 2016
- “Tough but we will thank you in five years” Core Curriculum Teaching Award, 2016
- Helen Kardon Moss Anvil Award Nominee for outstanding teaching, 2016
- Poets and Quants: Best 40 under 40 Business School Professors, 2015
- Marshall E. Blume Prize (Honorable Mention) for “Measuring Skill in the Mutual Fund Industry”, 2014
- Spence Faculty Scholar, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, 2013-2014
- Finalist AQR Insight Award for “Measuring Skill in the Mutual Fund Industry”, 2013
- Faculty impact award for excellence in teaching, Student Association Kellogg School of Management, 2012
- Chair’s award for excellence in teaching in the core, Kellogg School of Management, 2011
- Swiss Finance Institute Outstanding Paper Award for “On the Timing and Pricing of Dividends”, 2010
- Goldman Sachs Asset Management Award (WFA) for “Predictive Regressions a Present-Value Approach”, 2008
In the News
Knowledge at Wharton
- How to Bring More Predictive Power to Economic Forecasts, Knowledge at Wharton - 5/9/2023
- Corporate Good vs. Social Good: Can Investors Have Both?, Knowledge at Wharton - 7/18/2022
- How Regulating Charlatans Could Hurt Consumers, Knowledge at Wharton - 4/25/2022
- Why Investor Engagement with ‘Dirty’ Companies Is Better Than Divestment, Knowledge at Wharton - 11/8/2021
- What Wall Street’s ‘Short Squeeze’ Means for Investors and Regulators, Knowledge at Wharton - 1/29/2021
- How to Beat Analysts and the Stock Market with Machine Learning, Knowledge at Wharton - 10/13/2020
- How Fixed-income Portfolios Match or Beat Stocks in the Long Run, Knowledge at Wharton - 8/11/2020
- Why Flu Vaccinations Will Matter Even More During the Pandemic, Knowledge at Wharton - 6/22/2020
Activity
Latest Research
In the News
How to Bring More Predictive Power to Economic ForecastsA new study co-authored by Wharton’s Jules van Binsbergen uses a machine learning algorithm to produce more accurate and granular forecasts for GDP growth, employment, and interest-rate decisions.…Read More
Knowledge at Wharton - 5/9/2023