Vikas Agarwal Named Bank of America Distinguished Chair of Finance

ATLANTA–Hedge fund and asset management scholar Vikas Agarwal has been appointed inaugural holder of the Bank of America Distinguished Chair of Finance at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business.

A professor of finance and H. Talmage Dobbs, Jr. Chair of Finance, Agarwal has conducted extensive research on issues related to institutional investors including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), hedge funds and mutual funds. His research addresses topics such as risk-return characteristics of institutional investors, compensation contracts of portfolio managers, impact of portfolio disclosure on asset prices and real investment activities of corporations, liquidity transformation in asset management, policy uncertainty and households’ stock market participation, and valuation of private securities by mutual funds. He is widely published and cited in premier academic and practitioner journals, and frequently interviewed by U.S. and European media.

“Vikas is not only a preeminent researcher, but he also is an enthusiastic educator of undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. students, an active leader within the college and a committed member of the financial professional community,” said Richard Phillips, dean of the Robinson College. “We are proud to have a scholar of his stature on faculty and appreciative of his commitment to Robinson and our students.”

Agarwal is affiliated with the Centre for Financial Research at the University of Cologne in Germany, and EDHEC Risk Institute in France. He joined the Robinson College in 2001 and holds a Ph.D. from London Business School.