Yr Athro Arman Eshraghi
Professor of Finance and Investment
- eshraghia@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2251 0880
- E42, Adeilad Aberconwy, Rhodfa Colum, Cathays, Caerdydd, CF10 3EU
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Background
Arman Eshraghi joined Cardiff Business School in 2018 as a Professor of Finance and Chair of Finance and Investment. Formerly, he was at the University of Edinburgh Business School, and has held visiting positions at Manchester Business School and University College London. Prior to academia, Arman was a senior management consultant in the banking and telecom sectors. He holds PhD in Finance from the University of Edinburgh, and BSc in Electrical Engineering and MBA with distinction, both from Sharif University in Tehran.
Arman is a Shimomura Fellow of the Development Bank of Japan, Fellow of the Centre for Study of Decision-Making Uncertainty at UCL and Fellow of AdvanceHE (formerly the UK Higher Education Academy). At Cardiff, he is the director/co-director of Corporate Governance and Fintech research groups respectively, and serves as deputy head of section for Research, Impact and Innovation.
Research and Teaching
Arman’s academic research spans finance, accounting and psychology with broad interests including behavioural finance, financial technology, corporate governance, investment management, banking and critical accounting. He has published in both finance and accounting journals including the Review of Financial Studies; the Review of Finance; Accounting, Organizations and Society; Corporate Governance, An International Review; International Review of Financial Analysis; Accounting, Auditing and Accountability; and Accounting and Business Research. Inter alia, his work is cited in the Financial Times, Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, Forbes and Bloomberg, and has contributed to handbooks published by Cambridge University, Wiley, Springer and Routledge. He is a Senior Editor of Finance Research Letters and the Global Finance Journal, and regularly reviews for other journals in the field.
Beyond academia, Arman engages with a range of organisations in the finance sector to offer bespoke research and training. He has given invited talks, among others, at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, the Centre for European Economic Research in Mannheim, the CFA Institute in London, the National Institute of Securities Markets in Mumbai, and the German Society of Investment Professionals in Frankfurt. He sits on the academic advisory board of Fintech Wales, and has advised a number of UK-based fintech startups in the areas of market sentiment and behavioural investing. Arman is also passionate about teaching and has delivered several postgraduate and executive programmes in the UK (Edinburgh, Warwick, Cardiff, London) as well as the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal and India.
Selected Press Coverage
- “Tech unlocks the door to corporate fundraising for retail investors”, Financial Times, 2020, Link
- “Neurofinance and why some people make money more easily than others”, BBC World, 2020, Link
- “New study links a CEO’s cultural heritage with corporate performance”, Forbes, 2018, Link
- “A CEO’s decision making is shaped by immigration”, Harvard Business Review, 2018, Link
- “Dealing with big egos in the office”, Ignites Europe (Financial Times), 2018, Link
- “Bank performance and the cultural DNA”, Harvard Law School Corporate Governance, 2018, Link
- “High active share may lead to poorer returns”, Ignites Europe (Financial Times), 2018, Link
- “Brainiac: Banking on immigrants”, Boston Globe, 2018
- “Cultural heritage and corporate performance”, BBC Radio, 2017
- “Cultural heritage affects bank performance under competition”, Vox EU, 2017, Link
- “When bank boards get too cozy, expect misconduct”, Vox EU, 2016, Link
- “Alan Greenspan’s tone of voice moved gold prices”, Financial Times, 2013, Link
- “It’s not what Fed chairmen say, it’s the way they say it”, Washington Post, 2013
- “How Alan Greenspan’s ‘tone’ moved gold and silver”, Globe and Mail, 2013, Link
- "No 1997 Asian Crisis Return as China Trembles", Bloomberg, 2013, Link
- “Beware the dangers of overinflated egos”, Financial Times (FTfm), 2012, Link
Consultancy and Contribution to Expert Panels
- Fintech Wales, member of Academic Advisory Board, Cardiff, 2019-
- Research Council of Norway, member of Grant Referee Panel, Oslo, 2019-
- Bank of England, member of Citizen’s Panel for Wales, Cardiff, 2019-
- Fintech Scotland, University of Edinburgh delegate, Edinburgh, 2017-18
- Advanced Logic Analytics, consultancy on sentiment analysis, London, 2015-17
- CFA Institute and CFA Society UK, member of Talent Roundtable, Edinburgh, 2017-18
- Scottish Financial Enterprise, member of Financial Services Strategy Project, Edinburgh, 2017
- Research Council of Portugal, member of Grant Referee Panel, Lisbon, 2015
Recent Talks
Fintech and the Future of Finance, TEDx Cardiff University https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiWyf_RtIYM
Applications AI in Finance, University of Waikato https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5otsKSRmDZA
Bywgraffiad
Educational Background
PGCert in Academic Practice, University of Edinburgh, 2015
PhD in Finance, University of Edinburgh, 2012
Thesis: Professional Investor Psychology and Investment Performance
MBA, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, 2005
Concentration in finance; Thesis: Signalling with Stock Market Indices
BSc in Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, 2003
Concentration in telecommunications; Thesis: Essays on Visual Cryptography
Anrhydeddau a Dyfarniadau
Research-related
Scottish Crucible Fellowship, 2018
Shimomura Fellowship, Development Bank of Japan, 2018
Sustained Excellence Award, University of Edinburgh, 2017
Finalist, Scottish Financial Enterprise Rising Star Award sponsored by EY, 2017
Honorary Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University College London, 2017-18
Best Paper Award Finalist, Financial Management Association European Conference, 2015
Best Paper Award, International Review of Financial Analysis Conference on Gold, 2015
Best Paper Award (twice), Behavioural Finance Working Group Conference, London, 2014-15
Highly Commended PhD Research, European Foundation for Management Development, 2014
Young Scholar Award for Research in Financial Discourse, European Financial Group, 2014
Highly Commended, Emerald Awards for Research Excellence, 2013
Teaching-related
Best Teaching Innovation Award, University of Edinburgh Business School, 2017
Selected in the University of Edinburgh Teaching Excellence Poster Campaign, 2017-18
Best Course Award, University of Edinburgh Business School, 2016
Inspirational Teaching Award, University of Edinburgh Business School, 2015
Nominated 14 times, University of Edinburgh Annual Teaching Awards, 2012-18
Best Postgraduate Tutor, Manchester Business School, 2010
Other
PhD scholarship at the University of Edinburgh, 2007-11
3rd rank in the MBA graduating class of Iran’s most selective business school, 2005
1st rank in the National Admissions Test for postgraduate business programmes, 2003
Admitted to Iran’s most selective - top 0.02% - engineering programme, 1999
Admitted to first stage of Iran’s National Mathematical Olympiad, 1998
Aelodaethau proffesiynol
Director, Cardiff Corporate Governance Research Group, Cardiff University, 2018-present
Fellow, Centre for Study of Decision-Making Uncertainty, UCL, 2013-present
Fellow, Development Bank of Japan, 2018-present
Fellow, Higher Education Academy, 2015-present
Member, AFA, EFA, FMA, BAFA finance and accounting associations
Member, Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh, 2016-18
Member, Centre for Accounting and Society, University of Edinburgh, 2015-18
Member, Academic Senate, University of Edinburgh, 2014-18
Safleoedd academaidd blaenorol
Professor of Finance and Investment, Cardiff University, 2018-present
Senior Lecturer in Finance and Accounting, University of Edinburgh, 2016-18
Lecturer in Finance and Accounting, University of Edinburgh, 2013-16
Postdoctoral Fellow in Finance, University of Edinburgh, 2011-13
Visiting Doctoral Fellow, University of Manchester, 2010-11
Visiting Doctoral Fellow, University College London, 2008-09
Ymrwymiadau siarad cyhoeddus
Invited Talks and Research Seminars
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, 2021
University of Reading, UK, 2021
University of Exeter, UK, 2020
Leeds University, UK, 2019
University of St Andrews, UK, 2019
University College Dublin, Ireland, 2019
Queen’s University Belfast, UK, 2019
Open University, Milton Keynes, UK, 2019
University of Porto, Portugal, 2019
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, 2018
Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan, 2018
City University of London, UK, 2018
Swansea University, UK, 2018
University of Aarhus, Denmark, 2018
Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Germany, 2018
Scottish ‘Women in Investment’ Forum, Edinburgh, UK, 2018
University of Edinburgh Alumni Forum, London, UK, 2018
Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, 2017
Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea, 2017
Newcastle University, UK, 2017
San Diego State University, US, 2017
Glasgow University, UK, 2017
University of Leipzig, Germany, 2017
Bangor University, UK , 2017
German Society of Investment Professionals, Frankfurt, Germany, 2016
University of Aarhus, Denmark, 2016
University of Algarve, Portugal, 2016
National Institute of Securities Markets, Mumbai, India, 2016
Federal Reserve Bank Conference on Culture in Finance, New York, US, 2015
CFA Society of the UK Conference on Behavioural Finance, London, UK, 2015
University of Stirling, UK, 2015
Heriot-Watt University, UK, 2015
University of Texas at Austin, US, 2014
Center for European Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany, 2013
University of Laval, Quebec, Canada, 2012
University of Maastricht, Netherlands, 2012
Conference Presentations (‘c’ indicates presentation by a co-author)
Boca Corporate Finance and Governance Conference, Virtual, 2020
Infiniti Conference on International Finance, Glasgow, 2019
European Financial Management Association Meeting, Azores, 2019, c
Financial Management Association European Conference, Glasgow, 2019, c
Summer Institute on Bounded Rationality, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, 2018
Harvard Behavioral Decision Research in Management Conference, Boston, 2018, c
Financial Management Association Global Conference, San Diego, 2018, c
INFINITI Conference on International Finance, Poznan, 2018
Global Finance Association Conference, Paris, 2018
Manchester Business School Conference on Hedge Funds, Manchester, 2017
Academy of Behavioral Finance Global Conference, Los Angeles, 2017
Harvard Business School BIG Ideas Doctoral Workshop, Boston, 2017, c
British Accounting and Finance Association Conference, Edinburgh, 2017
Research in Behavioural Finance Conference, Amsterdam, 2016
Financial Intermediation Research Society Conference, Lisbon, 2016, c
Financial Management Association Global Conference, Las Vegas, 2016
Behavioural Finance Working Group Conference, London, 2013-2017
INFINITI Conference on International Finance, Ljubljana, 2015
Consortium on Activist Investors and Corporate Governance, London 2015, c
CFA Institute Program Partner Conference, Edinburgh, 2015
Financial Management Association European Annual Meeting, Venice 2015, c
International Review of Financial Analysis Conference on Gold, Hamburg, 2015
European Financial Management Association Meeting, Amsterdam 2015, c
Australasian Finance and Banking Conference, Sydney, 2014
Financial Management Association Annual Meeting, Nashville 2014, c
Financial Management Association European Annual Meeting, Maastricht 2014, c
Conference on Discourse Approaches in Financial Communication, Locarno, 2014
Emerging Scholars in Banking and Finance Conference, London 2014, c
The Dutch Central Bank Workshop on Board Diversity, Amsterdam 2014, c
Asia Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting Conference, Kobe, 2013
British Accounting and Finance Association Conference, Newcastle, 2013
Eastern Finance Association Conference, Boston, 2012
Conference on the Role of Expectations in Financial Markets, Mannheim, 2012
Academy of Behavioral Finance Global Conference, Chicago, 2010
Pwyllgorau ac adolygu
Senior Editor, Finance Research Letters, 2019-
Associate Editor, Global Finance Journal, 2017-
Reviewer: Journal of Corporate Finance; Journal of Banking and Finance; Journal of Business Ethics; British Accounting Review; European Journal of Finance; Finance Research Letters; Global Finance Journal; Multinational Finance Journal; Business Ethics: A European Review; Review of Behavioral Finance; Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance; Qualitative Research in Financial Markets
Cyhoeddiadau
2020
- Jin, L.et al. 2020. Fund manager conviction and investment performance. International Review of Financial Analysis 71, article number: 101550. (10.1016/j.irfa.2020.101550)
2019
- Nguyen, D. D., Hagendorff, J. and Eshraghi, A. 2019. Misconduct in banking: Governance and the board of directors. In: Alexander, C. and Cumming, D. eds. Corruption and Fraud in Financial Markets: Malpractice, Misconduct and Manipulation. Wiley
2018
- Taffler, R. and Eshraghi, A. 2018. Hedge funds as phantastic objects: a psychoanalytic perspective on financial innovations. In: Garvey, P. and Long, K. eds. The Klein Tradition: Lines of Development. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, pp. 391-410.
- Nguyen, D. . D., Hagendorff, J. and Eshraghi, A. 2018. Does a CEO's cultural heritage affect performance under competitive pressure?. Review of Financial Studies 31(1), pp. 97-141. (10.1093/rfs/hhx046)
2017
- Taffler, R. J., Spence, C. and Eshraghi, A. 2017. Emotional economic man: Calculation and anxiety in fund management. Accounting, Organizations and Society 61, pp. 53-67. (10.1016/j.aos.2017.07.003)
2016
- Nguyen, D., Hagendorff, J. and Eshraghi, A. 2016. Can bank boards prevent misconduct?. Review of Finance 20(1), pp. 1-36. (10.1093/rof/rfv011)
- Nguyen, D. D., Hagendorff, J. and Eshraghi, A. 2016. Value effects of bank executives. In: Rossi, S. P. S. and Malavasi, R. eds. Financial Crisis, Bank Behaviour and Credit Crunch. Contributions to Economics Springer
2015
- Eshraghi, A. and Taffler, R. 2015. Heroes and victims: fund manager sensemaking, self-legitimation and storytelling. Accounting and Business Research 45(6-7), pp. 691-714. (10.1080/00014788.2015.1081556)
- Nguyen, D. D. L., Hagendorff, J. and Eshraghi, A. 2015. Which executive characteristics create value in banking? Evidence from appointment announcements. Corporate Governance 23(2), pp. 112-128. (10.1111/corg.12084)
2014
- Eshraghi, A. and Taffler, R. 2014. Emotional finance and fiduciary responsibility. In: Hawley, J. P. et al. eds. Cambridge Handbook of Institutional Investment and Fiduciary Duty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 254-264.
- Eshraghi, A. 2014. Fund manager overconfidence and investment narratives. In: Hart, R. P. ed. Communication and Language Analysis in the Corporate World. IGI Global, pp. 1-20.
2012
- Eshraghi, A. and Taffler, R. 2012. Hedge funds and unconscious fantasy. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 25(8), pp. 1244. (10.1108/09513571211275461)
Addysgu
Current and past teaching includes such courses as Finance and Investment, Behavioural Finance, Financial Technology, Equity Valuation, Investment Management, Psychology of Investing, Corporate Finance and Advanced Topics in Finance and Accounting delivered at MSc, MBA and PhD levels.
In terms of teaching philosophy, I seek student-focused learning and initiating conceptual change. My teaching has won awards for Best Teaching Innovation in 2017, Best Postgraduate Course in 2016 and Inspirational Teaching in 2015 as well as 12 other nominations in the past few years. Inter alia, I have delivered postgraduate and executive programmes in the UK (Edinburgh, Warwick, Cardiff, London) as well as the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal and India.
I have active interest in executive education and public engagement. In 2015, I designed a two-day masterclass on Advances in Behavioural Finance which has since been delivered to several British, American, Indian and Chinese firms.
Other bespoke masterclasses delivered for UK and international clients include:
- Excellence in the Finance Function National Health Service (NHS) Wales, UK, 2018-21
- Finance for Non-financial Managers BECT Building Contractors, UK, 2020
- Applications of Textual Analysis in Finance Walter Scott & Partners, UK, 2019
- Advances in Financial Technology Cohort of finance managers, UK, 2019
- Excellence in the Finance Function National Health Service (NHS) Wales, UK, 2018
- Finance, Behaviour and Sustainability Cohort of sustainability managers, UK, 2018
- Introduction to Behavioural Finance Aetna Inc, US, 2017
- Finance for Media Companies Scottish Television plc, UK, 2016-17
- Advances in Behavioural Finance Scottish Widows plc, UK, 2016
- Advances in Behavioural Finance Huarong Asset Management, China, 2015
- Applied Corporate Finance Guangzhou CPA Association, China, 2014
Main research interests
- Behavioural investing, fund management, behavioural corporate finance
- Financial technology and big data
- Corporate governance, board structure, governance in banking
- Interdisciplinary and critical accounting, discourse analysis, sensemaking
- Textual analysis and computational linguistics in finance
Selected research coverage
- “Tech unlocks the door to corporate fundraising for retail investors”, Financial Times, 2020, Link
- “Neurofinance and why some people make money more easily than others”, BBC World, 2020, Link
- “New study links a CEO’s cultural heritage with corporate performance”, Forbes, 2018, Link
- “A CEO’s decision making is shaped by immigration”, Harvard Business Review, 2018, Link
- “Dealing with big egos in the office”, Ignites Europe (Financial Times), 2018, Link
- “Bank performance and the cultural DNA”, Harvard Law School Corporate Governance, 2018, Link
- “High active share may lead to poorer returns”, Ignites Europe (Financial Times), 2018, Link
- “Brainiac: Banking on immigrants”, Boston Globe, 2018
- “Cultural heritage and corporate performance”, BBC Radio, 2017
- “Cultural heritage affects bank performance under competition”, Vox EU, 2017, Link
- “When bank boards get too cozy, expect misconduct”, Vox EU, 2016, Link
- “Alan Greenspan’s tone of voice moved gold prices”, Financial Times, 2013, Link
- “It’s not what Fed chairmen say, it’s the way they say it”, Washington Post, 2013
- “How Alan Greenspan’s ‘tone’ moved gold and silver”, Globe and Mail, 2013, Link
- "No 1997 Asian Crisis Return as China Trembles", Bloomberg, 2013, Link
- “Beware the dangers of overinflated egos”, Financial Times (FTfm), 2012, Link
Supervision
I am interested in advising PhD projects in the following broad areas:
- Behavioural investing, fund management, behavioural corporate finance
- Financial technology and big data
- Corporate governance, board structure, governance in banking
- Interdisciplinary and critical accounting, discourse analysis, sensemaking
- Textual analysis and computational linguistics in finance
Note to prospective doctoral applicants:
- Please include in your introductory email a detailed research proposal, CV, motivation letter and references.
- Please read these excellent tips (here and here) about writing research proposals.
- You can find helpful information about our PhD programme and about the research interests of my colleagues.
Past projects
Current and past PhD students
Weijian Liang, Cardiff University, 2020-
Topic: Real Estate Finance
Doreen Dai, Cardiff University, 2020-
Topic: Social Effects in Fintech
Pengfei Gao, Cardiff University, 2019-
Topic: Market Reaction to Financial Disclosures
Arbab Cheema, Cardiff University, 2018-
Topic: Financial Market Anomalies
Xiao Han, University of Edinburgh, 2017-21
Topic: Persistence of Market Sentiment
Marcel Lukas, University of Edinburgh, 2015-19
Topic: Financial Decision-Making and the role of Financial Technology
Alistair Haig, University of Edinburgh, 2015-19
Topic: Market for Investment Research
Louis Nguyen, University of Edinburgh, 2012-15
Topic: Corporate Governance in Banking
PhD examinations
Internal examiner, Cardiff University, 2021
Thesis: Applications of State Dependent Models in Finance
External examiner, University of Glasgow, 2019
Thesis: Determinants M&A Acquirer Performance
External examiner, King’s College London, 2018
Thesis: Heterogeneity and Skill in the Forex Market
External examiner, Trinity College Dublin, 2017
Thesis: Financial Implications of Gold and Silver
Internal examiner, University of Edinburgh, 2013
Thesis: CEO Inside Debt and Bank Risk-Taking