16th Online Seminar in Finance: Gertjan Verdickt, KU Leuven & University of Auckland

The Institute of Finance at PUEB is pleased to announce the 16th Online Seminar in Finance.

Speaker: Gertjan Verdickt, KU Leuven & University of Auckland

Title: Selection Neglect and the Cross-Section of Wine Returns

Abstract:  To examine the asset-pricing implications of a violation of the shared information assumption, we turn to the concept of ‘selection neglect’ – the behavioral tendency characterized by decision-making on biased observations. Using a dataset of more than 3 million wine auction transactions, we highlight that this bias matters on the portfolio and asset level. First, negligent investors bear expected utility losses due to selection neglect. Second, wines more exposed to this exhibit higher future returns than those in lower quintiles. Extrapolative beliefs, investor attention, preferences, or limits to arbitrage cannot explain the effect. We confirm that the return spreads are stronger in more individualistic countries, with more subjective probabilities and a shorter-term orientation. This indicates that it is driven by investors missing information, which aligns with “the information uncertainty hypothesis”.

Date: June 7th, 2024, 15:00 (Warsaw time)

Speaker’s bio: Gertjan Verdickt is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the University of Auckland. In 2019, Gertjan earned a Ph.D. in Financial Economics from the University of Antwerp, with research stays at several universities such as the Stanford Graduate School of Business, University of Notre Dame, and Columbia Business School. Gertjan has previously been an visiting lecturer at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Monash Business School. Gertjan’s academic journey has fueled a passion for financial history, coupled with empirical asset pricing and wine economics. As an assistant editor at the Financial History Review, Gertjan actively contributes to the scholarly discourse in these fields. Gertjan’s dedication to advancing knowledge is reflected in publications in renowned academic journals, including Explorations in Economic History, the Journal of Economic History, and the Journal of Empirical Finance. Gertjan’s insights also reached a broader audience, with features in notable newspapers such as Bloomberg, De Tijd, HLN, and Financial Times. Gertjan is the co-author of the book 'Investeren in Stijl’ alongside Jürgen Hanssens and a WSET Level 4 Diploma Candidate.

To register, click here: https://forms.gle/twD86dRV3g9CvM9M9.

Registration deadline: June 5th, 2024, 20:00 (Warsaw time). The invitation to the Teams webinar will be sent on June 6th, 2024.

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