Many property and casualty insurance companies vigorously pursue insurance premium growth. However, such growth is fraught with both growth risk and underwriting risk, which can evolve into regulatory risk if it is not carefully managed. There is currently no measure available at the business...

The principles of value investing have resonated with savvy practitioners in the world of finance for a long time. Creating Strategic Value explores how the core ideas and methods of value investing can be profitably applied to corporate strategy and management. The book builds from an analysis...

Purpose: The books, "The Innovator’s Dilemma" and "Fooled by Randomness" were best-sellers, and both books’ authors rightly have legions of followers. Nevertheless, the dynamics each author analyzed so well continue to plague many executives. Why? Is there some way to close the analytical...

We wrote this book for two primary reasons. First, we would like to help people who desire to responsibly improve their financial position. Second, we would like to assist those who are trying to help others to develop better personal financial wellness skills. We hope that this book helps its...

Accurately estimating the cost of equity is a critical corporate finance capability, which has been the subject of significant research, the results of which have uncovered a number of practical insights, such as the analytical value of multiple factors. This insight is frequently leveraged in...

This is the first paper that profiles the financial strategy of the late Jay Gould, the legendary 19th Century financial and business titan, and applies it to modern executive management. It proposes a financial strategy framework based on Mr. Gould’s various financial and business activities,...

On June 2, 2023, the stock of Disney—owner of Marvel Entertainment (Marvel)—closed at $90.77, which was approximately 54 percent less than the stock’s March 12, 2021 close of $197.16 sixteen months earlier. One explanation for the decline has been “super hero fatigue,” or customers...

This paper offers a practical overview of the United States credit cycle, and the challenges it poses, along with a perspective on where we seem to be in the cycle as of early 2023. The cycle is illustrated via the trend of Moody’s Baa corporate bond yields from January 1919 to November 2022....

Property and casualty (P and C) claim reserves are financial statement liabilities that represent estimated future claims. An understanding of P and C reserves is important to both risk managers and investment analysts, since this information is crucial in assessing solvency and value. We review...

The performance of the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry has suffered in recent years (as of the early 2000s), even prior to the losses incurred in the tragic events of September 11th. Part of the industry’s difficulties stem from its focus on premium generation, as measured by...