Hear from our winners and learn about prior year programs!

Announcement: 2021 BlackRock Applied Research Award Winner

We are delighted to announce the winner of the 2021 BlackRock Applied Research Award: Alexandru Barbu in the Finance program from the London Business School for his paper and research on "Ex-Post Loss Sharing in Consumer Financial Markets".

We also congratulate Alexandru's fellow finalists:
• Antonio Coppola, Harvard University, Economics
• Simon Schmickler, Princeton University, Economics
• Aymeric Bellon, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton, Finance
• David Yang, Stanford University, Finance

2021 Academic Panel

Andrew Ang, BlackRock, Managing Director, Head of Factor-Based Strategies Group
Anna Cieslak, Duke University, Fuqua School of Business, Associate Professor of Finance
Robert Engle, New York University Stern School of Business, Michael Armellino Professor of Management and Financial Services, Co-Director of The Volatility and Risk Institute, 2003 Nobel Prize in Economics
Ravi Jagannathan, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, CME Group/John F. Sandner Chair of Finance, Co-Director of Financial Institutions and Markets Research Center
Ronald Kahn, BlackRock, Managing Director, Global Head of Systematic Equity Research
David Thesmar, MIT Sloan School of Management, Franco Modigliani Professor of Financial Economics, Professor of Finance

Announcement: 2020 BlackRock Applied Research Award Winner

We are delighted to announce the winner of the 2020 BlackRock Applied Research Award: Shohini Kundu in the Finance program from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business for her job market paper, “The Externalities of Fire Sales: Evidence from Collateralized Loan Obligations”. Shohini’s research interests include loan markets and network effects. Her job market paper focused on the surprising result that the structure of collateralized loan obligations (CLOs)—in particular the covenants they include—cause the struggles of one company whose loan the CLO holds to spillover and negatively impact unrelated companies whose loans are also in the same CLO. This paper helps us understand a fragility of current markets.

We also congratulate Shohini’s fellow finalists:

• Natee Amornsiripanitch, Yale School of Management, Financial Economics
• Bruce Iwadate, London School of Economics, Finance
• Samir Mahmoudi, Georgia State University, Economics
• Chase Ross, Yale School of Management, Financial Economics

2020 Academic Panel

• Andrew Ang, BlackRock, Managing Director, Head of Factor-Based Strategies Group
• Tim Bollerslev, Duke, Juanita and Clifton Kreps Distinguished Professor of Economics, in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences
• Janice Eberly, Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, James R. and Helen D. Russell Professor of Finance
• Ron Kahn, BlackRock, Managing Director, Global Head of Systematic Equity Research
• Jonathan Parker, MIT Management Sloan School, Robert C. Merton Professor of Finance, Co-director of the MIT Golub Center for Finance and Policy

Karamfil Todorov

London School of Economics and Political Science, PhD in Finance

2019 Finalists

• Samuel Antill, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Finance Department; Do the Right Firms Survive Bankruptcy?
• Nuno Clara, London Business School, Finance Department; Demand Elasticities, Nominal Rigidities and Asset Prices
• Cameron LaPoint, Columbia University, Economics Department; You Only Lend Twice: Corporate Borrowing and Land Values in Real Estate Cycles
• Alejandro Lopez-Lira, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Finance Department; Risk Factors that Matter

2019 Academic Panel

• Kathleen Hagerty, Northwestern University, Associate Provost for Faculty, First Chicago Professorship in Finance, Professor of Finance
• Ron Kahn, BlackRock, Managing Director, Global Head of Systematic Equity Research
• James Poterba, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Economics
• Johannes Stroebel, New York University, Leonard N Stern School of Business, David S. Loeb Professor of Finance, Boxer Faculty Fellow

Yukun Liu

Assistant Professor of Finance at Rochester Simon School of Business, Yukun holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University

2018 Finalists

• Roberto Gómez Cram, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Finance Department; Assistant professor at London Business School
• Weiling Liu, Harvard University, Economics Department; Assistant Professor of Finance at Northeastern University
• Mauricio Ulate, UC Berkeley, Economics Department; Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
• Chenzi Xu, Harvard University, Economics Department; Assistant Professor in Finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business (starting Fall 2020)

2018 Academic Panel

• Robert Engle, Michael Armellino Professor in the Management of Financial Services Finance, New York University Stern School of Business; Awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Economics
• Terry Hendershott, Professor in Finance & Operations and Information Technology Management, Willis H. Booth Chair in Banking and Finance, Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley
• Antoinette Schoar, Michael M. Koerner Professor of Entrepreneurship, MIT Sloan School of Management
• Andrew Ang, Blackrock, Managing Director, Head of Factor Investing Strategies
• Ron Kahn, BlackRock, Managing Director, Global Head of Systematic Equity Research

Pablo Slutzky

Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business,
Pablo holds a Ph.D. in Finance from Columbia University

“Blackrock’s Applied Research award had a dual impact on me: one internal, one external. First, it gave me more confidence to face the job market process. If a jury panel of such high quality enjoyed my research, I knew other people would too. Second, Blackrock’s prestige spilled over on me, giving me much more visibility and giving me also a “quality certification mark”. In many interviews, the interviewers brought up the award.

In sum, Blackrock’s Applied Research Award had a huge impact on my placement, and therefore on my career path.”

2016 Finalists

• Adrien d’Avernas, Assistant Professor of Finance, Stockholm School of Economics; Ph.D. in Economics, UCLA Anderson, University of California, Los Angeles
• Eric Moore, Ph.D. in Economics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
• Tarik Umar, Assistant Professor of Finance, Jesse H. Graduate School of Business, Rice Unniversity; Ph.D. in Finance, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago
• Katherine Waldock, Assistant Professor of Finance at the McDonough School of Business; Ph.D. in Finance, Stern School of Business, New York University

2016 Academic Panel

• Andrew Ang, Managing Director, Head of Factor Investing Strategies
• Andrea Eisfeldt, Laurence D. and Lori W. Fink Endowed Chair in Finance and Professor of Finance, UCLA Anderson
• Robert Engel, Michael Armellino Professor of Finance, New York University Stern School of Business
• Ronald Kahn, Managing Director, Global Head of Scientific Equity Research at BlackRock
• Leonid Kogan, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Professor of Management and Professor of Finance, MIT Sloan School of Management; Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research

Laura Blattner

Assistant Professor of Finance at Stanford GSB,
Laura holds a Ph.D. in Political Economics and Government from Harvard University

"The BlackRock Applied Research Award was a great opportunity to present my research and get valuable feedback from an excellent jury panel before the job market. I strongly encourage future job market candidates to apply!"

2017 Finalists

• Emilio Bisetti, Assistant Professor in Finance at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; PhD from Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Financial Economics
• Daniel Green, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School; PhD from Sloane School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Finance
• Yueran Ma, Assistant Professor in the Department of Finance at Chicago Booth School of Business; PhD from Harvard University, Business Economics
• Sebastien Plante, Assistant Professor in the Department of Finance at University of Wisconsin – Madison; PhD from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Finance

2017 Academic Panel

• Andrew Ang, Managing Director, Head of Factor Investing Strategies at BlackRock
• Ronald Kahn, Managing Director, Global Head of Scientific Equity Research at BlackRock
• Robert Korajczyk, Harry G. Guthmann Professor of Finance, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
• Deborah Lucas, Sloan Distinguished Professor of Finance, and Director of the MIT Golub Center for Finance and Policy, MIT Sloan School of Management
• David Musto, Ronald O. Perelman Professor in Finance Department Chair, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Andrew Wu

Assistant Professor of Technology and Operations and of Finance, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan,
Andrew holds a Ph.D. in Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

“The BlackRock Applied Research Award was extremely important for my research career, for not only did the award provide generous financial support for my dissertation, it directly inspired my subsequent research pipeline to focus on practically relevant topics with measurable impact on the investment management industry. Throughout my interactions with professionals in different teams at BlackRock during the entire process, I was constantly impressed by their broad knowledge of frontier topics and methods in both finance and technology, and their ability to effectively integrate these knowledge in large-scale investment settings.

I strongly encourage Ph.D. candidates to apply for the BlackRock Applied Research Award, and benefit from the valuable interactions with BlackRock team members. You will learn a lot from them.”

2015 Finalists

• Olivier Darmouni, Assistant Professor of Business, Columbia University; Ph.D. in Economics, Princeton University
• Ryan Lewis, Assistant Professor of Finance, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder; Ph.D. in Finance, London Business School
• Binying Liu, Assistant Professor, Department of Finance, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Ph.D. in, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
• Arlene Wong, Assistant Professor of Economics, Princeton University; Ph.D. in Economics, Northwestern University

2015 Academic Panel

• Wei Jiang, Arthur F. Burns Professor of Free and Competitive Enterprise, Columbia Business School
• Ronald Kahn, Managing Director, Global Head of Scientific Equity Research at BlackRock
• Andrew Lo, Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor of Finance and Director, Laboratory for Financial Engineering, MIT Sloan School of Management
• Jessica Wachter, Richard B. Worley Professor of Financial Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania