fbpx Investment Decisions and Behavioral Finance | Harvard Kennedy School
Upcoming Sessions
  • On Campus
    Session Date
    -
    Application Deadline
    Program Fee
    $5,400
    Faculty Chair
    Program Director

    For information about requirements to participate in an executive program on the Harvard Kennedy School campus, please visit this page.

    Program Fee: The program fee includes tuition, curricular materials and most meals. Housing is not included. 

Program Overview

Common biases. Irrational investment behaviors. Decision-trap situations. In today’s complex and rapidly changing financial markets, senior executives responsible for managing client assets need to understand these and other factors that can lead to sub-optimal outcomes for investors.

Investment Decisions and Behavioral Finance is an intensive two-day program from Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education. It will expose you to the central principles and latest findings of the psychology of decision making under conditions of risk and uncertainty.

Led by Faculty Chair Richard Zeckhauser, this on-campus program focuses on practical applications for professionals who manage assets and construct portfolios for investment clients.

PROGRAM CURRICULUM

Developed by Harvard Kennedy School faculty, Investment Decisions and Behavioral Finance explores the science behind investment decision making.

The program opens with a networking dinner, followed by two days of classroom sessions. You will take part in thought-provoking discussions and interactive learning exercises with leading behavioral finance professionals and academics.

Reflecting the most current research and issues in the financial markets, the curriculum focuses on:

  • Behavioral insights into financial markets
  • Crash beliefs from investor surveys
  • Global outlook, debt cycles, and monetary policy
  • The challenges and opportunities of the aging investor
  • Gender retirement gaps
  • Big data, smart beta, and other things investors fear
  • Methods to improve decisions

This last program featured an impressive lineup of faculty and guest speakers, including:

Dinner Speaker

  • Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor; former Secretary of the Treasury and Director of the National Economic Council; former President of Harvard University

Industry Speaker

  • Ralph Schlosstein, Senior Advisor, Warburg Pincus; Chairman Emeritus, Evercore; former CEO of High View Investment; Co-founder of Black Rock with Larry Fink

Faculty Chair

  • Richard Zeckhauser, Frank Plumpton Ramsey Professor of Political Economy, Harvard Kennedy School

Harvard Faculty

  • Robin Greenwood, George Gund Professor of Finance and Banking; Head of Finance Unit, Harvard Business School
  • Jason Furman, Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy, Harvard Kennedy School and Economics Department; former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors and member of the cabinet, Obama Administration
  • David Laibson, Robert Goldman Professor of Economics; Chair of the Human Behavior Initiative
  • Carmen Reinhart, Minos A. Zombanakis Professor of the International Financial System, Harvard Kennedy School; recent Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, World Bank
  • Iris Bohnet, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Co-Director, Women and Public Policy Program, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Dan Levy, Senior Lecturer, Program Chair: “Using Evidence to Assess Effectiveness,” Harvard Kennedy School

Guest Speakers

  • Larry Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics, Boston University; President, Economic Security Planning, Inc.
  • Michael Mauboussin, Head of Consilient Research, Counterpoint Global, Morgan Stanley Investment Management; Adjunct Professor of Finance, Columbia University
  • Annie Duke, World Champion of Poker; Decision Expert; Author of Quit (2022), How to Decide (2020), and Thinking in Bets (2018)

Program Moderator

  • Arnie Wood, Founder and former CEO, Martingale Asset Management

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Investment Decisions and Behavioral Finance will help you understand:

  • The applied science of effective decision making
  • How our brains are not wired to make the decisions that modern financial markets require—and ways to adjust for these shortcomings
  • How and why financial bubbles develop and strategies for recognizing them
  • The psychological reasons that lead investors to make severe investment errors

 

Application Information

Sample Schedule

Immerse yourself with a cohort of fellow leaders on Harvard’s historic campus. View a sample  program schedule from a previous session. Note that module titles, speakers, and sequence may change.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS ARE SAYING

"As a board member of one of the largest pension funds in America, I found this to be the most valuable class I have ever taken."

Bruce Perelman, Former Secretary of the Board of Investments
Arrow Down

Hear from the Faculty Chair

Faculty Chair Richard Zeckhauser and Harvard Kennedy School Professor Dan Levy discuss the triumphs and failures of making important decisions in groups.

Faculty & Research

Faculty Chair
Richard Zeckhauser Photo

Richard Zeckhauser

Appointment
Frank Plumpton Ramsey Professor of Political Economy
617-495-1174
Harvard Faculty and Guest Speakers
Iris Bohnet Photo

Iris Bohnet

Appointment
Co-Director, Women and Public Policy Program
Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government
617-495-5605
Robin Greenwood

Robin Greenwood

Appointment
George Gund Professor of Finance and Banking; Head of Financed Unit, Harvard Business School

Jason Furman Photo

Jason Furman

Appointment
Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy

David Laibson

David Laibson

Appointment
Robert I. Goldman Professor of Economics, Harvard University
Chair of the Human Behavior Initiative

Dan Levy Photo

Dan Levy

Appointment
Senior Lecturer in Public Policy

Lawrence H. Summers Photo

Lawrence H. Summers

Appointment
Frank and Denie Weil Director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government
Charles W. Eliot University Professor
617-495-9322
Annie Duke

Annie Duke

Appointment
World Champion of Poker; Decision Expert
Author of Quit (2022), How to Decide (2020), and Thinking in Bets

Laurence Kotlikoff

Laurence Kotlikoff

Appointment
Professor of Economics, Boston University
President of Economic Security Planning, Inc.

Michael J. Mauboussin

Michael J. Mauboussin

Appointment
Head of Consilient Research at Counterpoint Global, Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Adjunct Professor of Finance at Columbia University

Carmen Reinhart Photo

Carmen Reinhart

Appointment
Minos A. Zombanakis Professor of the International Financial System
617-496-8643
Ralph Schlosstein

Ralph Schlosstein

Appointment
Senior Advisor Warburg Pincus; Chairman Emeritus of Evercore; formerly CEO of High View Investment; co-founder of Black Rock with Larry Fink

Request More Information
Access brochure and receive more information about the program.
Apply
Start your application and take the next step in your learning journey.