Why Active Managers Have Trouble Keeping Up with the Pack
There is no shortage of money managers who claim they can beat market benchmarks, some with impressive track records. And one stream of research suggests that some people can identify and profit from mispriced securities in the stock market. Chicago Booth Professor Lubos Pastor believes that money managers are not only skilled, but becoming ever more skilled over time. So should you dump your index … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Ronald Fink | Source: Capital Ideas | Subjects: Economics, Finance
Ten Ways to Improve Inventory Management
There’s more to streamlining inventory levels than the standard advice, repeated ad infinitum, of applying “just-in-time” techniques.
Content: Article | Authors: Pratap Mukharji, Ronald Fink, Sam Israelit | Source: Bain & Company | Subject: Operations
Capital Choices: The 2004 Capital-Spending Scorecard
A new study shows which companies are getting the most bang for their capital-investment buck.
Content: Article | Author: Ronald Fink | Source: CFO Publishing | Subjects: Best Practices, Finance
The PIPEs Are Flowing
Small public companies can find it less costly to raise new money privately, but only if they can find the right investors.
Content: Article | Author: Ronald Fink | Source: CFO Publishing | Subject: Finance
Too Much Cash
Companies are awash in cash. When will they finally start spending it?
Editor’s Note: includes the 2004 Cash Management tables, a cash management scorecard that shows the companies in 37 industries with the least and most excess cash per sales.
Content: Article | Author: Ronald Fink | Source: CFO Publishing | Subjects: Finance, Industry Specific
New Carrots, Old Yardsticks?
Cash is back in incentive compensation, but companies are struggling to set the right performance targets.
Content: Article | Author: Ronald Fink | Source: CFO Publishing | Subjects: Corporate Governance, Management
Pigging Out?
Special retirement plans for top executives are becoming a target for other stakeholders.
Content: Article | Author: Ronald Fink | Source: CFO Publishing | Subjects: Corporate Governance, Finance
Natural Performers
Companies are increasingly relying on natural hedges to juggle currency risks.
Content: Article | Author: Ronald Fink | Source: CFO Publishing | Subject: Finance
Options-Pricing In, CAPM Out?
Some experts contend that Options-Pricing models give a better view of cost of capital.
Editor’s Note: discusses CAPM and a competing methodology developed by Pacifica Strategic Advisors dubbed the Market-derived Capital Pricing Model (MCPM) for setting hurdle rates.
Content: Article | Author: Ronald Fink | Source: CFO Publishing | Subject: Finance
What Goes Around
Customer financing seemed like a smart move when times were good. Now, it’s wreaking havoc on corporate balance sheets.
Content: Article | Author: Ronald Fink | Source: CFO Publishing | Subject: Finance
Other People’s Money
To encourage fund managers to act solely in the interests of shareholders, activists want their proxy votes disclosed.
Content: Article | Author: Ronald Fink | Source: CFO Publishing | Subjects: Corporate Governance, Finance | Industry: Finance / Banking
Survey: 17% of CFOs Have Been Pressured
As nervous investors flee from companies with even a hint of murky accounting, the pressure is on CFOs to rein in pro forma reporting, renounce off-balance-sheet maneuvers, and disclose more information. But a new survey on financial reporting by CFO Magazine suggests that many finance execs are unwilling to change their ways, even in the wake of Enron and WorldCom.
Content: Article | Author: Ronald Fink | Source: CFO Publishing | Subjects: Accounting, Finance
Reality Check for Real Options
Applying Black-Scholes analysis to capital spending projects has one big flaw
Content: Article | Author: Ronald Fink | Source: CFO Publishing | Subject: Finance