Investment Decisions and Behavioral Finance

On Campus

Session Date

October 25, 2023 - October 27, 2023

Application Deadline

August 30, 2023

Program Fee

$5,400

Faculty Chair

Richard Zeckhauser

Program Director

Ariana Diaz

Request Brochure

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

Recommended Applicants

This on-campus program from Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education is designed for corporate executives in the financial and investment community who are interested in hearing the perspectives of intellectual thought leaders and leading practitioners.

Professionals who would find value in this program include:

Investment company presidents
Chief investment officers
Investment strategists
Portfolio and fund managers
Pension plan executives
Corporate investors

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

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.