CSUN Finance Professors Win Globally Prestigious William F. Sharpe Award
CSUN Finance Professor Michael Phillips.
CSUN Finance Professor James Chong.
California State University, Northridge finance professors James Chong and Michael Phillips are bringing in one more accomplishment to the long list of merits in the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics.
As the recipients of the William F. Sharpe Award for finance paper of the year, Chong and Phillips are being honored by the international economics community. The awards’ recipients, which were announced on Dec. 7, were chosen by a panel of seven globally recognized economists, according to the award’s website.
Nazarian College Dean Kenneth Lord explained the award is considered one of the most prestigious in the world.
“The William Sharpe Awards are sometimes called the ‘Super Bowl of Indexing,’” Lord said. “Besides the scholarly recognition reflected in this award, their work has attracted significant attention from the investment community.”
Lord lauded the professors for engaging the university and community with their research tactics.
“[Chong and Phillips’s work] has helped inform the market-beating trading decisions of students in the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics who are managing some $3.5 million of CSUN endowment funds,” Lord said. “Their continuing achievements will doubtlessly thrust CSUN and the Nazarian College into the spotlight as a destination for financial institutions seeking the best educated and most capable graduates and for students seeking opportunity in the financial sector.”
The professors’ award-winning research is directly applied in the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics by the undergraduate portfolio management class. The methodologies help determine the composition of exchange-traded fund (ETF) portfolios managed by the student investors.
“The idea is there are many types of ETFs that you can buy, and different ones are appropriate in different economic conditions,” Phillips explained.
Phillips added that the two award-winning research papers on macroeconomics, the other received a Sharpe Award in 2013, are creating a global ripple effect on how portfolio strategists look at financial investments.
“These are both highly regarded papers and are influencing how professionals are managing money around the world,” he said. “James and I are very delighted to be able to do research that has such impact. This is just amazing that we have received this award a second time. We are grateful to receive the support and encouragement from the Nazarian College allowing us to do the kind of work that we do.”
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