Snapshot

The IRRC Institute is sponsoring a new annual research award recognizing outstanding academic and practitioner research related to Post-Modern Portfolio Theory: Uniting the Real Economy with Portfolio and Investment Theory. Each year two winning papers will receive a $10,000 award, and will be published by the IRRC Institute and Social Sciences Research Network.

We are pleased to open the 2013 IRRC Institute Research Award competition. Award submissions are due online by Friday, November 30, 2012, and winners will be notified and announced by February 2013.

Academics and practitioners in the U.S. and abroad are eligible to submit papers. Submissions may be an original work created for this award, or relevant unpublished papers, or papers that have been published after January 1, 2012. An esteemed panel of judges will carefully review papers submitted online in accordance with award guidance.

The winners of the 2012 award are:

Steve Lydenberg received the practitioner award for research entitled, Reason, Rationality and Fiduciary Duty. A 30-year veteran of the asset management industry, Lydenberg is the founding director of the Initiative for Responsible Investment at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University and partner with Strategic Vision for Domini Social Investments.

Professor Menachem Brenner and Dr.Yehuda Izhakian at New York University the Stern School of Business received the academic award and $10,000 for research about how stock prices are impacted by ambiguity, the unknown probabilities that generate risk entitled, Asset Pricing and Ambiguity: Empirical Evidence.

Process & Criteria

Papers following submission guidelines can be submitted online by Friday, November 30, 2012:

The following criteria will be used to assess each paper:

  • Innovation. Does the paper add to the collective knowledge base, either through increased empirical research and/or through innovative theoretical construct?
  • Relevance. Does the paper have relevance to the objective of the award?
  • Clarity. Are the ideas in the paper clearly expressed?

Calendar

April 2012: 2013 Award Competition Opens

November 30, 2012: Submission Deadline for Papers

November 2012-December 2012: Judges Review Papers, Select Winners

January/February 2013: Announcement of 2012 Winners, Award of Prize, Publication of Papers

Judges

A panel of experts with broad finance and investment experience has been assembled to review submissions and select the winner(s):

  • Mark Anson, Managing Partner & Chief Investment Officer, Oak Hill Investment Management
  • Robert Arnott, Chairman, Research Affiliates
  • Collette Chilton, Chief Investment Officer, Williams College
  • James Hawley, Professor & Director of the Elfenworks Center for Fiduciary Capitalism, Saint Mary's College of California
  • Bill Miller, Chairman, Legg Mason Capital Management

Read the biographies of the judges here

Why the Award?

Modern portfolio theory has dominated the academic investment landscape for a half century. One hallmark of MPT and other key investment theory paradigms is an increased focus on elements of the economic system proximate to security selection and portfolio construction (i.e. securities, asset classes, investors) rather than the real economy.

Meanwhile, the increasing importance of the private sector relative to the public sector in the real economy has increased scrutiny of private sector behavior and economic activity. This has led to the rise of a responsible investing movement. However, a significant focus of that scrutiny, though certainly not all, is explicitly or implicitly normative (i.e. a private sector entity "should" act in a certain manner) and pays minimal attention to portfolio and investment theory.

The IRRC Institute Research Award seeks to encourage thought leadership that integrates analysis of private sector behavior with investment theory.

Questions?

Please review the online award information, which includes Frequently Asked Questions. Additional questions can be directed to Jon Lukomnik, IRRC Executive Director and Award Coordinator at jon@irrcistitute.org or 212.344.2424. Please DO NOT contact award judges with questions or comments.

NOTE: Selection of winners is at the sole discretion of the IRRC Institute. The IRRC Institute fully anticipates awarding two prizes, but reserves the right to select no papers as winners for either or both categories if papers submitted do not meet guidelines and/or if the judges do not believe any paper is worthy of the award in either category.