Beyond quantifying and getting their boards to understand traditional financial risks such as credit and market risk, corporate risk officers are grappling with a host of nontraditional risks associated with and ranging from cyber to ESG (environmental, social and governance) and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion).

Its proposed $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard would make Microsoft the world’s third-largest publisher of video games and, more significantly, would solidify its position in the development of the "metaverse” – widely considered the next evolution of the internet by which users in the virtual reality space interact with a computer-generated environment and other users.

Six months ago, Maryland Smith’s David Kass updated his semi-annual “stocks to watch” list, expanding the lineup of watch-worthy shares to 21. But now he’s narrowing the list. The move comes amid rising uncertainties – inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions and the latest COVID-19 variant to name just a few, says Kass, clinical professor of finance at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Analysis of product life cycles has been underutilized by the likes of research economists and financial analysts in examining firm investment policies.

Maryland Smith’s Lemma Senbet, along with Brookings co-authors, explores how the pandemic and the swift and preemptive lockdowns implemented around the world in March of 2020, “left significant scars on the fiscal position of sub-Saharan Africa and the market condition it faces.”

Traditional data sources couldn’t capture the whole economic picture during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading some to look to less-analyzed data sources – OpenTable reservations, TSA screenings, weekly credit-card transactions. Maryland Smith’s Michael Faulkender, speaking recently to the Economist, discussed those new data sources and their new prevalence.

When WeWork saw its IPO bid come to an abrupt halt in 2019, the company was forced to take a hard look in the mirror. Now it’s made a second attempt to go public – this time via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

As global leaders and business leaders convene in Glasgow for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), Maryland Smith’s Clifford Rossi will be watching the headlines.

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business has named Russ Wermers as the Paul J. Cinquegrana ’63 Endowed Chair in Finance. Named for the late Paul J. Cinquegrana ’63, the newly created endowed professorship was established by a gift bequeathed to Maryland Smith by his late wife, Betty Cinquegrana.