Although the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) is the leading theory describing the behavior of financial markets, researchers have increasingly questioned its efficacy since the 1980s because of its inconsistencies with empirical evidence. This challenge to EMH has resulted in the development...

This chapter examines different psychological biases pertinent to collecting art and other items, which are part of every client's world to some degree. Wealth management has a tradition of management by silo, each guided by its own revenue stream. Yet, the chapter shows how financial advisors...

The worldwide landscape of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity has changed dramatically in the past decade. Acquirers, acquisition trends, and the strategies behind those transactions now differ dramatically. Acquisition success rates also appear to be different, with recent research...

Investors are inextricably linked to financial institutions, money managers, and the products they market. Mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), hedge funds, and pension funds manage or hold roughly $55 trillion in combined wealth. This chapter examines these topics with a behavioral...

Asset allocation models have evolved in complexity with the development of modern portfolio theory, but they continue to operate under the assumption of investor rationality and other assumptions that do not hold in the real world. For this reason, academics and industry professionals make...

Around the globe, the gradual move from defined benefit pensions to defined contribution pensions has increased the need for individual retirement planning. Examples of this include U.S. savings rates at historic lows, poor retirement prospects for citizens in developed countries, and the...

According to modern portfolio theory (MPT), rational market participants make most decisions and seek to be compensated for additional risk. However, investors sometimes behave irrationally owing to preconceived notions and biases based on past experience. Behavioral finance offers an...

As an area of behavioral finance, estate planning is less focused on systematic, cognitive errors than on a core, emotional ambivalence about mortality. The chapter explores the dynamics of the advisor–client relationship in financial planning and estate planning, as well as the emotional...

Evidence from the behavioral sciences, notably economics and psychology, has profoundly changed the way policymakers and practitioners present expert advice to consumers. This chapter examines the behavioral science evidence on financial advice and explores its implications for the financial...

This chapter discusses personal financial planning, which is an interdisciplinary practice that employs a six-step process to develop integrated strategies for individuals and families to efficiently mobilize their human and financial capital to achieve their life goals. Financial planning draws...