Darden University of Virginia (USA)
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Brandefy: Approaching Expansion with Marketing Analytics
Yemen, Gerry; Mortimer, Steven M.; Boichuk, JeffCase DARDEN-M-0962-EMarketingThis field-based case allows instructors to explore the world of data analytics with students, using Brandefy, a startup company, and its plan to expand its app into additional categories of the grocery store as a sandbox for learning. Using R (or some other statistical programming language/software, such as Python, SAS, Stata, or SPSS) and retail scanner data from 84.51˚ (https://www.8451.com/area51), the case sets the stage for instructors to e...Starting at €8.20
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Betting on Gold Using a Futures-Based Gold ETF
Matos, PedroCase DARDEN-F-1690-EFinanceIn an environment of high macroeconomic uncertainty in the fall of 2012, Tom Michelson was looking at his next trading opportunity. Michelson wanted to build a position in gold with a trading horizon of around a year and was wondering how he should go about investing in gold. Gold futures-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) seemed like a good alternative, but he needed to understand better how gold futures worked. He was aware that futures-based E...Starting at €8.20
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2012 Fuel Hedging at JetBlue Airways
Matos, PedroCase DARDEN-F-1697-EFinanceIn early 2012, an equity analyst, was examining the jet fuel hedging strategy of JetBlue Airways for the coming year. Because airlines cross-hedged their jet fuel price risk using derivatives contracts on other oil products such as WTI and Brent crude oil, they were exposed to basis risk. In 2011, dislocations in the oil market led to a Brent-WTI premium wherein jet fuel started to move with Brent instead of WTI, as it traditionally did. Faced wi...Starting at €8.20
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Hedge Fund Due Diligence at Leman Alternative Asset Management Company
Matos, PedroCase DARDEN-F-1698-EFinanceIn early January 2008, a senior VP with LAAMCO, a fund of hedge funds known for alternative investments, was conducting due diligence on an equity market-neutral hedge fund. The hedge fund used an option strategy known as a collar (also known as a bull spread or split-strike conversion). The track record of the hedge fund had been stellar. The fund’s performance had not only beaten that of the S&P 500 Index over the same period but had done so wi...Starting at €8.20
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ProShares Hedge Replication ETF
Matos, Pedro; Demir, AnilCase DARDEN-F-1714-EFinanceAt the start of 2014, Joanne Hill was preparing to present at a conference focused on alternative investments for financial advisers. Exhibit 1 provides selected slides from the presentation. Hill wants to showcase how Hedge Replication ETF (HDG) provided an exposure to hedge funds at low fees, with full transparency and providing daily liquidity. But she had to overcome some resistance in the audience because most hedge fund strategies had under...Starting at €8.20
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Gold as a Portfolio Diversifier: The World Gold Council and Investing in Gold
Matos, Pedro; Evans, Richard B.Case DARDEN-F-1675-EFinanceThis case is taught in Darden's Investments elective but could be used in introductory Finance classes to explore the concept of diversification of investments or in a portfolio management course as a means to explore optimal portfolio allocation. It is accompanied by several teaching tools including a teaching note for instructors, student and instructor spreadsheets, student and instructor videos, and a PowerPoint deck for class debrief. The ca...Starting at €8.20
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The Sanofi-Aventis Acquisition of Genzyme: Contingent Value Rights
Matos, Pedro; Aleyev, Dmitriy; Xu, ChongCase DARDEN-F-1715-EFinanceThis case is designed for MBA students in M&A or derivatives courses. In January 2011, Sanofi-Aventis was finalizing its offer terms for acquiring Genzyme. The M&A valuation disputes were about the market potential of alemtuzumab, a drug in Genzyme’s pipeline, and how quickly Genzyme could resolve some of its manufacturing issues. To bridge the gap in their estimates, advisers had suggested an up-front cash payment and a contingent value right (C...Starting at €8.20
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Sanofi-Aventis's Tender Offer for Genzyme
Eades, Kenneth M.; Matos, Pedro; Aleyev, Dmitriy; Xu, ChongCase DARDEN-F-1716-EFinanceIn October 2010, Henri Termeer, the chairman and CEO of Genzyme, received a letter from the CEO of Sanofi-Aventis announcing its intention to commence a tender offer for Genzyme. Termeer thought the offer undervalued Genzyme, given the number of promising new drugs in the company’s pipeline and the success of its current drug portfolio. The case focuses on the strategic and financial considerations of a large corporate acquisition. To estimate Ge...Starting at €8.20
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Focus Media Holding Ltd. (2014)
Matos, Pedro; Hrnjic, Emir; Tu, LiantingCase DARDEN-F-1722-EFinanceIn November 2011, Muddy Waters, a U.S. short-seller fund, accused Focus Media of overstating the size of its business. Focus Media’s stock price fell sharply at first but then rebounded as the company countered the attacks. In March 2012, however, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission launched its own investigation and pressured Focus Media to amend some of its filings. A few months later, CEO Jiang partnered with a group of private equity...Starting at €8.20
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Principal-Protected Equity-Linked Note
Matos, PedroCase DARDEN-F-1752-EFinanceThe case puts students in the shoes of a private banker who wants to price a structured note for European high net worth clients with low levels of risk tolerance. The principal-protected equity-linked note (PP-ELN) provides investors with fixed income-like principal protection together with upside exposure to the S&P 500 Index. The students are asked how the bank should allocate the client’s money to buy call options and invest in zero-coupon bo...Starting at €8.20