Oğuzhan Karakaş

Associate Professor in Finance

Director of the MPhil in Finance Programme

Co-Director of the Centre for Endowment Asset Management (CEAM)

BS (Middle East Technical University), MSE (Princeton University), PhD (London Business School)

My research interests include corporate governance, ownership and control, corporate social responsibility, private equity, and dynamic investment strategies. I have served as a part-time consultant to a hedge fund on establishing trading strategies. I was previously an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.
 
I’m a member of the Finance subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School, which focuses on the investment and financial decisions of firms and institutions.

Corporate engagement and voting are critical elements for effective and good environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies in firms.

Contact details

[email protected]

Academic area

Finance

Professional experience

Oğuzhan Karakaş has served as a part-time consultant to a hedge fund on establishing trading strategies. He is a member of the Cambridge Corporate Governance Network (CCGN).

Previous appointments

Oğuzhan Karakaş was an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College prior to joining Cambridge Judge Business School.

Selected publications

Awards and honours

  • Best Published Research Article, FIR-PRI Finance and Sustainability European Research Award, 2016
  • Honorable Mention, IRRCi Research Award, 2015
  • All Star Teachers, The Carroll School of Management – Boston College, 2014
  • Moskowitz Prize for the Best Paper in Socially Responsible Investing (SRI), Berkeley-Haas and US SIF, 2012

News and insights

CERF Fellow Oğuzhan Karakaş, and research collaborators Pedro Saffi (a former CERF fellow) and Mehrshad Motahari (a former CERF Research Associate), analyse whether the short sellers can anticipate negative ESG incidences of firms, and make money from the negative price reactions to the news announcement of such incidences.

Companies with staggered boards have a higher 'voting premium' that reflects managerial inefficiencies, especially in mature firms and those in noncompetitive industries, finds a new study co-authored by Dr Oğuzhan Karakaş of Cambridge Judge Business School.

Research paper co-authored at Cambridge Judge Business School on how investors can influence companies on environmental and social issues is named best paper in the annual Brandes Institute Prize.

Media coverage

Cambridge Independent | 30 June 2021

From AI dysfunctions to privatisation debate

A recent summary of Cambridge Judge Business School research include studies on AI at workplace by Dr Stella Pachidi, privatisation and efficiency by Dr Kamal Munir, the concept of craft by Dr Jochem Kroezen, predicting energy use by Dr David Reiner, and staggered boards by Dr Oğuzhan Karakaş.

Bloomberg | 28 June 2021

Investors will buy anything now

A paper on short-selling of exchange-traded funds co-authored by Dr Oğuzhan Karakaş, University Senior Lecturer in Finance at Cambridge Judge Business School, featured in Bloomberg. The study titled “Phantom of the Opera: ETF Shorting and Shareholder Voting,” argues that “this dynamic means “that phantom shares, stemming from short-selling of ETF shares (for ETF market making, directional, or hedging purposes), lead to sidelined votes during the proxy voting process.”

Your Money | 23 October 2020

How to use your savings to make a positive change in the world

A study by Dr Oğuzhan Karakaş and Professor Elroy Dimson on coordinated engagements is featured in the article. The study found that “engagement is much more likely to be successful if investors – and large investors in particular – coordinate their efforts.” When a company responds to engagement they get better returns – “on average by 8.6 per cent for corporate governance issues and 10.3 per cent for climate change matters.”

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