Internship and Ireland

During my second week of my internship at Arden, I worked on various projects that carried over from week one. Mostly, I finished a presentation that analyzed various direct and indirect competitors’ digital foundation finder tools. I was able to offer recommendations for best practice for our company in implementing this new digital feature. One project I will continuously work on is a foundation analysis on two relevant competitors for an upcoming new product launch. A fun experience this week was using my employee discount in the office’s weekly opening of their corporate shop. My flatmates have since asked me to buy things for them at the store. They have various work benefits as well, as one of my friends was able to get us free pizzas one night because she does finance for Pizza Pilgrims. Continue Reading

Internship and Scotland

Week 5 marked the start of my internship for Elizabeth Arden. I have absolutely loved my experience so far! I am doing marketing for the Elizabeth Arden brand in their makeup and skincare sectors. Continue Reading

Young Gun Banker Breaking the Mold to Become New York Mortgage Maestro

July 20, 2018

Real Estate Weekly– At 36, Ace Watanasuparp is on top of the world.

A vice president at Citizens Bank, the 12th largest retail bank in the country, he is also a co-owner of eight restaurants in New York City, became president of Douglas Elliman’s DE Capital Mortgage when he was 31, and was the first Asian-American walk-on basketball player at the University of Connecticut in 2000.

The Effect of Institutional Ownership Types On Innovation and Competition

July 19, 2018

Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation– In common ownership, the type of the common owner institution matters. Institutional ownership of firms has seen a marked rise in the past few decades, with average institutional ownership share of a firm rising from 20% to 30% in the 1980s to over 65% of the total by the 2010s, with residual retail ownership correspondingly falling from 80% to less than 35% of the firm. (See Borochin, Paul, and Jie Yang (2017). The Effects of Institutional Investor Objectives on Firm Valuation and Governance, Journal of Financial Economics 126.) Over the same period, the fraction of the average firm held by institutions holding blocks of same-industry rivals has risen from 4.5% to 28%. (See He, Jie, J. Huang, 2017, Product Market Competition in a World of Cross Ownership: Evidence from Institutional Blockholdings, The Review of Financial Studies 30.) This not only changes the portfolio properties of the institutional investors, but also has the potential to change the corporate strategies of held firms. Recent studies find opposing effects of common institutional ownership on the competitive behavior of firms:

Class Wrap Up and Paris

July 16, 2018

My final week of class was packed with projects, papers, and an exam. We had two field trips to the Library of Things and the Little Bee Community. The Library of Things was a space where a range of rentable items from practical household appliances to ukeles were housed. This business was created as an attempt to foster a neighborhood community while being sustainable and reducing consumerism waste in society. At the Little Bee Community we listened to a team of individuals discuss investment in socially responsible startups. Continue Reading