Newswise — Irvine, CA - (Dec. 28, 2015) – The UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business inaugural economic forecast conference titled, “Unraveling the Mysteries of the Global Economy and Financial Markets,” is scheduled to be held Tuesday, January 12, 2016, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Dean’s Leadership Auditorium at the Merage School.
Where is the global economy heading? How do emotions affect stock prices? Should you have a diversified portfolio? All these mysteries and more will be unraveled by three gifted experts. Keynote speaker for the forecast event is Bluford (Blu) H. Putnam, PhD, chief economist and managing director for CME Group. Putnam is a highly recognized economist and frequent contributor to various media outlets including Bloomberg TV and CNBC. Following Putnam’s presentation will be a dynamic panel featuring two renowned Merage School Finance Professors David Hirshleifer and Chris Schwarz.
Hirshleifer will discuss behavioral aspects affecting financial markets, while Schwarz will focus on international diversification. The panel will be moderated by Andrew J. Policano, Dean’s Leadership Circle Endowed Professor and faculty director of the Merage School Center for Investment and Wealth Management.
Unraveling the Mysteries of the Global Economy and Financial Markets is sponsored by apriem Advisors, Bank of the West, Beacon Pointe Wealth Advisors, Brown & Streza, LLP, Charles Schwab Advisor Services, Compak Asset Management, and the UCI Chief Executive Roundtable. Individual sponsors include Victoria Collins, Lupe Erwin, and Pat Soldano.
Seating for the economic forecast event is limited. Tickets are $30 each including parking, and can be purchased online at merage.uci.edu/go/eforecast2016, or by contacting Lee Anne Maki at [email protected] or 949.824.2675.
Keynote Speaker: Bluford (Blu) H. Putnam, PhDPutnam is the chief economist and managing director at CME Group, the operator of futures and options exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, the New York Mercantile Exchange, and COMEX. Putnam has over 35 years of experience in the financial industry, ranging from central banking to investment research to portfolio management. He regularly publishes research reports on the global economy and markets, and is a frequent commentator on Bloomberg TV and CNBC. Putnam earned a PhD in economics from Tulane University in New Orleans, and a BA from Florida Presbyterian College (now Eckerd College) in St. Petersburg, Florida. He has five books on international finance and portfolio management to his credit, as well as many academic and business press articles. He has published in such journals as The American Economic Review, Journal of Finance, and Journal of Applied Corporate Finance.
Expert Panelists:David Hirshleifer, PhD, Professor of Finance, Merage Chair in Business GrowthProfessor Hirshleifer joined the finance faculty at The Paul Merage School of Business in July 2006 after serving as the Kurtz Chair in Finance at Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business, the Waterman Professor of Finance at the University of Michigan Business School, and as a tenured faculty member at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Hirshleifer currently serves as executive editor of the Review of Financial Studies. He has also served as editor of the Review of Financial Studies, as associate editor of several other finance, economics, and strategy journals, and as director of the American Finance Association and the Western Finance Association.
Chris Schwarz, PhD, Associate Professor of FinanceProfessor Schwarz has been at The Paul Merage School of Business since July 2008. Schwarz received his PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. During his doctoral studies, he served as a visiting doctoral fellow at Yale University’s International Center of Finance in 2007, and the advisory editor at the Review of Financial Studies. Schwarz received his Bachelor of Science degree from Babson College in Wellesley, MA. Prior to pursuing his doctorate, Schwarz worked in the IT industry writing custom applications. Schwarz’s research has been published in leading academic journals including the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. His work has also been included in testimony before the U.S. Congress House Financial Services Committee.
Moderator:Andrew J. Policano, PhD, Dean’s Leadership Circle Endowed Professor of Economics/Public Policy Academic Director for the Center for Investment and Wealth Management Professor Policano joined the Merage School in August 2004 and served as dean until June 2013. He is currently a member on the board of directors of two public companies. He is also a member of the Investment Committee of the Orange County Community Foundation, The Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Selection Committee, and the Forum for Corporate Directors Board Member of the Year Selection Committee. He is immediate past chair of the board of AACSB International and has served on the board of directors of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. In 2011, Policano was inducted into the inaugural Hall of Fame for the PhD Project for his work helping to increase the number of PhD candidates and therefore the number of business school faculty members from underrepresented minority groups.
The Center for Investment and Wealth Management (CIWM) is one of seven Centers of Excellence at the UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business. Its mission, under the guidance of Andrew J. Policano, PhD, academic director, and the highly valued CIWM advisory board, is to expand knowledge of the complex issues concerning the creation, management and transfer of wealth and to be respected, transparent source of timely information, educational programs and research on financial literacy, investment and wealth strategies. The CIWM vision is to emerge as a thought leader and source of innovative analysis and provide rigorous analysis and critique of existing practices and will become widely recognized as a hub of activity, research, network and application for a vital international industry.
The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine offers four dynamic MBA programs – plus PhD, specialty master’s and undergraduate business degrees – that graduate business leaders with the exceptional ability to help grow their organizations through strategic innovation, analytical decision-making, information technology and collaborative execution. While the Merage School is relatively young, it has quickly grown to consistently rank among the top AACSB-accredited programs through exceptional student recruitment, world-class faculty, a strong alumni network and close relationships with both individual business executives and global corporations. Additional information is available at merage.uci.edu.###
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