Hamburg Financial Research Center

Hamburg Financial Research Center

Finanzökonomisches Kompetenzzentrum und wissenschaftlicher Partner der Wirtschaft in der Metropolregion Hamburg.

News

Wir informieren fortlaufend zu den Aktivitäten und Neuerungen am HFRC über den Newsfeed unserer Institutsseite auf LinkedIn. Eine Übersicht der letzten Updates bieten wir zudem hier in der Rubrik News auf unserer Internetseite.

ESG Ratings Workshop

At our final workshop for this summer term, our HFRC Finance Talents took a deep dive into the world of hashtag#ESG ratings with the consulting firm d-fine.

Together with Dr. Jan-Niclas Gruse, Ole Johannsen, and Elsa Wilken, our Talents explored the challenges in developing sustainability ratings, discussed their role in increasing transparency vs. the risk of greenwashing, and critically examined the strengths and weaknesses of existing rating systems. Using spreadsheet tools, our Talents gained hands-on experience in analyzing and interpreting ESG data.

The evening concluded with great conversations, drinks, and snacks during a relaxed get-together 🍻✨

Many thanks to our corporate partner d-fine for this fun and insightful workshop!

Auf LinkedIn weiterlesen

Pension Plan Power Play

Today, the second session of the three-part event series “How to Steer the Investments of a Pension Plan,” a simulation game hosted by our corporate partner Hamburger Pensionsverwaltung eG took place. Our HFRC Finance Talents explored how strategic investment decisions are made and experienced firsthand the challenges and influencing factors that shape the investment management of a pension fund. The winning team will be invited to the exclusive HAPEV Economic Forum (HEF) 2025/26. 🏆

Many thanks to Sven Johannsen, Dr. Christian Voss, Julia Kahl, and Sebastián Salazar Núñez for organizing the event. We’re looking forward to the final one! ✨

Auf LinkedIn weiterlesen

Case Study Workshop

Today, our HFRC Finance Talents participated in a case study workshop hosted by our corporate partner Deloitte. Together with Selina Sieker, Benedikt Albrecht, and Leon Einfalt from Deloitte, our Talents explored how synergies are evaluated and how opportunities and risks are assessed during a due diligence process, while also gaining insights into Deloitte’s project work and culture.

The day wrapped up with a relaxed get-together at the Ristorante Opera 🥂✨

Many thanks to the Deloitte team for the great workshop and the lovely evening.

Auf LinkedIn weiterlesen

Summer Term Kickoff 🍷✨

What better way to start the summer term 2025 than with great conversations, delicious drinks, and a relaxed evening in a cosy and inviting atmosphere? On Wednesday, our HFRC Finance Talents came together to connect, catch up, and share insights with HFRC researchers and professionals from our corporate partner KPMG at the popular bar HADLEY’s.

This kickoff marks the start of an exciting semester packed with workshops, competitions, and social events, offering our Talents valuable opportunities to expand their knowledge, grow their network, and gain hands-on experience. The evening also provided a warm welcome to some of the 17 new Talents joining us this summer term.

Here’s to a great summer term ahead! 🎉

Auf LinkedIn weiterlesen

Neu in 2025: HFRC Doctoral Courses!

Kompaktkurse und Workshops für Promovierende der Wirtschaftswissenschaften.

Jetzt für den ersten Kurs anmelden: „Planning, Writing, and Presenting Academic Research“ mit Prof. Dr. Peter Limbach vom 20. bis 21. März 2025 in Hamburg.

Der interaktive Kurs unterstützt Promovierende und Postdocs dabei, ihre wissenschaftliche Kommunikation gezielt weiterzuentwickeln. Die zwei Kurstage bieten praxisnahe Einblicke in das Schreiben, Pitchen und Präsentieren wissenschaftlicher Ideen und Ergebnisse. Die Teilnehmer lernen, ihre Forschungsergebnisse effektiv zu vermitteln und erfolgreich zu publizieren.

Der Kurs ist für alle Fachrichtungen der Wirtschaftswissenschaften geöffnet, eignet sich aber insbesondere für Interessierte der Fachgebiete Accounting/Taxes, Finance, Corporate Governance, Management und Nachhaltigkeit/ESG.

Weitere Infos zum Kurs und zur Anmeldung gibt es unter folgendem Link:

https://lnkd.in/es3XiJkj


Auf LinkedIn weiterlesen

Hamburg Finance Forum 2025

Das Hamburg Finance Forum markiert traditionell den Jahresauftakt für das Hamburg Financial Research Center. Unter dem Leitsatz „Connecting minds to foster knowledge“ diskutierten auch in diesem Jahr Wissenschaftler und Investment Professionals aktuelle Trends und Herausforderungen der institutionellen Kapitalanlage.

Eröffnet wurde das Forum durch ein Grußwort von Dr. Andreas Dressel, Senator und Präses der Hamburger Finanzbehörde. Den Keynote-Vortrag hielt Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber zum Thema „Wirtschaft und Klimawandel – Ökonomie der Zukunft“.

Vier Tage nach Beginn der zweiten Amtszeit von US-Präsident Trump standen die Vorträge und Podiumsdiskussionen ganz besonders im Zeichen der aktuellen geo- und klimapolitischen Veränderungen.

Das Programm zum hashtag#HamburgFinanceForum2025 können Sie unter folgendem Link einsehen: https://lnkd.in/ev6yu8VB

Unsere diesjährigen Referenten in chronologischer Reihenfolge:

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Drobetz, Dr. Andreas Dressel, Dr. Christian Jasperneite, Dr. Cyrus de la Rubia, Philipp Vorndran, Dr. Holger Schmieding, Magdalena Polan, Dr. Uwe Siegmund, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Detlef Schreiber, Dr. Tatjana Xenia Puhan, Michael Busack, Christian Schick, Dr. Christoph Kind und Achim Lange.

Wir danken allen Referenten, Teilnehmern und Förderern und freuen uns auf ein Wiedersehen zum Hamburg Finance Forum 2026 am 23. Januar 2026 (SAVE THE DATE).

Fotos: Tim Maschlanka

Auf LinkedIn weiterlesen
Folgen Sie unserem Newsfeed auf LinkedIn

Publikationen

Wir veröffentlichen unsere Forschungsergebnisse regelmäßig in angesehenen internationalen Fachzeitschriften. Eine Übersicht aller Veröffentlichungen sowie der aktuellen Arbeits- und Diskussionpapiere bietet die Rubrik Publikationen.

Speculators and time series momentum in commodity futures markets

Björn Uhl
Review of Financial Economics | 02/2025
In this paper, we analyze the relationship between speculators in commodity futures markets and generic time series momentum (TSMOM) traders as well as the impact of this relationship on the subsequent TSMOM strategy performance. We find strong empirical evidence across all commodity markets that speculators in commodity markets tend to trade a TSMOM strategy, which confirms the results found by Boos and Grob (Journal of Financial Markets 64, 100774). On the basis of this result, we also ascertain whether the degree of such alignment has an impact on the performance of the TSMOM strategy. We find that there is weak, but statistically significant and robust evidence to suggest that the higher the degree of alignment between speculators and a generic TSMOM strategy, the lower the realized performance of trading TSMOM in these markets. Albeit we find little evidence that this can be exploited in a dynamic investment strategy, this negative relationship suggests that if a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) trades commodity futures markets which are less commonly traded by other CTAs, these markets may not only increase the internal diversification of their fund but these markets may also have a higher TSMOM Sharpe ratio by themselves. Consequently, our analysis provides valuable insights into improving the portfolio construction of CTAs.

Beyond ownership: The role of institutional investors in international corporate governance

Wolfgang Drobetz, Sadok El Ghoul, Omrane Guedhami, Xinya Yu
Corporate Governance: An International Review | 12/2024 | Forthcoming
Research Question/Issue: This paper reviews key theories on the governance role of institutional investors, examines institutional ownership trends globally, and highlights recent research on their evolving impact on corporate governance. The paper also incorporates insights from select Special Issue articles dedicated to understanding the role of institutional investors worldwide.Research Findings/Insights: We show that while most existing research focuses on the United States, recent evidence highlights significant global growth in institutional ownership. However, research examining the role of institutional investors outside the United States remains limited, despite some recent progress.Theoretical/Academic Implications: Institutional investors are increasingly shaping global capital markets and corporate governance through growing ownership, increased shareholder activism, and rising passive investment strategies. We provide recommendations for relevant topics to guide future research, including the governance preferences of institutional investors (i.e., voice vs. exit) across different investor types and international settings, as well as the collective influence of multiple institutional investors on corporate governance practices and outcomes.Practitioner/Policy Implications: There is a meaningful need for future studies to address the influence and effectiveness of institutional investors on corporate governance practices around the world. A better understanding of their role in different settings should improve their impact on corporations and, more broadly, on society.

Token-based crowdfunding: Investor choice and the optimal timing of initial coin offerings (ICOs)

Wolfgang Drobetz, Lars Hornuf, Paul P. Momtaz, Niclas Schermann
Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice | 06/2024
This paper examines the operating and financial performance of venture firms conducting initial coin offerings (ICOs) with different types of investors and at different points along a venture’s life-cycle. Relative to purely crowdfunded ICO ventures, institutional investor-backed ICO ventures exhibit weaker operating performance and fail earlier. However, conditional on survival, these ventures financially outperform their peers that do not receive institutional investor support. The diverging effects of investor backing on financial and operating performance are consistent with our theory of "certification exploitation" through a new form of pump-and-dump scheme. Institutional investors exploit their reputation to drive up ICO valuations and quickly exit the venture post-ICO, with the difference in pre- versus post-certification token prices being their exploitation profit in liquid markets for startups. Our findings further indicate that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the financial success of an ICO and the timing along a venture’s life-cycle, with the product piloting phase representing the pivotal point.

Estimating stock market betas via machine learning

Wolfgang Drobetz, Fabian Hollstein, Tizian Otto, Marcel Prokopczuk
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis | 05/2024 | Forthcoming
Machine learning-based market beta estimators outperform established benchmark models both statistically and economically. Analyzing the predictability of time-varying market betas of U.S. stocks, we document that machine learning-based estimators produce the lowest forecast and hedging errors. They also help create better market-neutral anomaly strategies and minimum variance portfolios. Among the various techniques, random foests perform best overall. Model complexity is highly time-varying. Historical stock market betas, turnover, and size are the most important predictors. Compared to linear regressions, allowing for nonlinearity and interactions significantly improves predictive performance.