Distinguished Speaker Series and First Wednesdays: Investment Decisions and Behavioral Finance (BeFi): Shining a Light on Your Blind Spots

Part 2 of 6 in our First Wednesdays: The Wealth Management Excellence Series. If you would like to attend the entire series at a discounted rate, click here.

People make mistakes.  And these mistakes are not random.  Behavioral Finance is the study of when investors are likely to make a mistake, and what mistake they are likely to make.  We will discuss the psychological research on when people are likely to over-react, versus under-react to information.  And we’ll talk about how to apply that knowledge to investing.  How to help clients (and yourself) avoid mistakes.  And how to invest where others stumble.

Raife Giovinazzo | Raife Giovinazzo, CFA, PhD is responsible for managing Fuller & Thaler’s Behavioral Small Cap Equity strategy.  He conducts research at Fuller & Thaler, using market insights and behavioral finance to enhance the investment processes at the firm and manage our research portfolios. Dr. Giovinazzo has over 14 years of financial industry experience.   Prior to joining Fuller & Thaler, Dr.Giovinazzo was a researcher and co-portfolio manager with Blackrock's Scientific Active Equity group (formerly Barclays Global Investors). His previous experience also includes investment and consulting work with Wellington Management, Marsh & McLennan, and Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman). Dr. Giovinazzo received his BA in sociology from Princeton, and his MBA in analytic finance, economics, and statistics, as well as a PhD in finance from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.  He wrote his undergraduate thesis for Dr. Kahneman (winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics) while at Princeton, and Dr. Thaler ("Father of Behavioral Finance") was his dissertation co-chair at the University of Chicago.  Dr. Giovinazzo holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Society of San Francisco.  He is an owner of the firm and a member of the Board of Director. Back To Top ^^

Meir Statman | Meir Statman, PhD is the Glenn Klimek Professor of Finance at Santa Clara University. His research focuses on behavioral finance. He attempts to understand how investors and managers make financial decisions and how these decisions are reflected in financial markets. His most recent book is “Finance for Normal People: How Investors and Markets Behave,” published by Oxford University Press. Meir is a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Portfolio Management, the Journal of Wealth Management, the Journal of Retirement, the Journal of Investment Consulting, and the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, an Associate Editor of the Journal of Financial Research, the Journal of Behavioral Finance, and the Journal of Investment Management and a recipient of a Batterymarch Fellowship, a William F. Sharpe Best Paper Award, a Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Outstanding Article Award, a Davis Ethics Award, a Moskowitz Prize for best paper on socially responsible investing, a Matthew R. McArthur Industry Pioneer Award, three Baker IMCA Journal Awards, and three Graham and Dodd Awards.  Meir was named as one of the 25 most influential people by Investment Advisor. He consults with many investment companies and presents his work to academics and professionals in many forums in the U.S. and abroad.  Meir received his Ph.D. from Columbia University and his B.A. and M.B.A. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Back To Top ^^