Recent Research
Shao, Y., Gu, J., & Liu, P. (2016). Bank Structure and Liquidity Shocks: Evidence from Emerging Markets during the 2008 Financial Crisis. Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies.
Gu, J., Hernandez, R., Liu, P., & Shao, Y. (2015). Mortgage Loan Securitization and Personal Consumption Smoothening. Journal of Economics and Finance. “lead article” in issue.
Jones, J., Gu, J. & Liu, P. (2012). Do Dividend Initiations Signal a Reduction in Risk? Evidence from the Option Market. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 2014, 42, 143-158.
About
Dr. Jenny Gu, Associate Professor of Finance, joined the University of Dallas in Fall
of 2011. She received her doctorate in Finance from the University of Arkansas at
Fayetteville in 2011.
Dr. Gu has been teaching various finance courses such as Managerial Finance, Investments,
Corporate Treasury Management, Intermediate Corporate Finance, Financial Modeling,
and Portfolio Management.
She is the faculty advisor of University of Dallas Student Investment Fund since the
inception of the Fund in September 2013. She is the responsible faculty for CFA University
Recognition Program at the University and sponsors students for their CFA program
scholarship.
Why did you become a professor?
I enjoy teaching and research. Being a professor, I am committed to lifelong learning
to continuously improve my teaching and research so that I can stay ahead of the development
of my profession. Also, I support and promote my students to be ethical and successful
financial/business leaders.
What do you enjoy most about teaching?
I enjoy teaching graduate finance courses and interacting with many highly motivated
students. I have taught Managerial Finance, Intermediate Corporate Finance, Investments,
Portfolio Management, etc. Our students have different industry backgrounds, and
many students find the quantitative financial material challenging. I see it as my
responsibility to teach the difficult material in a way that the students can not
only understand the concepts, but apply that knowledge in their daily work and business
decisions. The most rewarding aspect in my career has been that students found jobs
in multinational companies/banks as finance managers, controllers, investment advisors,
portfolio managers, etc. in the competitive job market.
What do you hope students gain from your courses?
My goal is for my students to leave my class knowing how to think analytically and
critically so that no matter what financial issues they face, they always have the
ability to find a solution for the issue. To meet this goal, I strive to create a
student-centered experiential learning environment that is challenging yet rewarding.
Besides, my commitment to students extends beyond the classroom – for example, finance
student team was selected as finalist in the 2015 Texas Investment Portfolio Manager’s
Competition and 2017 Texas CFA Research Challenge, respectively. I also assist my
students as they prepare for professional certification exams such as CFA® and CFP®.
What did you do prior to entering academia?
I worked as a financial analyst in California and then a finance manager at Bank of
Communications Credit Card Department, a Joint Venture with HSBC, in Shanghai, China.
These experiences gave me industry insights from the students’ perspective and enhanced
my ability to integrate the theory into applications. Before joining UD, I also received
the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) certificate, the highest distinction in the
investment management profession.
What are you passionate about outside of the University?
Outside of the university work on teaching and research, I constantly follow the capital
market. As the founder and faculty advisor of UD Student-Managed Investment Fund
(SMIF) since 2013, I have been responsible for approving and executing students’ investment
recommendations. I regularly host weekly meetings with SMIF team; advise and coach
the team on stock selection, financial statement analysis, stock valuation, asset
allocation, portfolio optimization, etc. The SMIF portfolio return has been continuously
beating the market.
What are your research interests?
My research focus is risk, banking, and bond ratings. Since I joined UD in August
2011, I have published nine papers in highly recognized, peer-reviewed journals. I
am excited about my current research projects as they can make contributions to the
finance literature. Furthermore, they are critical for policy makers to know how
public policies should be implemented, and to what extend financial institutions should
be supervised. It is also essential for students, our future business executives,
to understand the economic, regulatory, and ethical environment in which the businesses
are managed.
FINA 6305 Managerial Finance
FINA 7322 Investments
FINA 8395 Portfolio Management
Dr. Gu’s current research focuses on bond credit ratings and opacity of the financial institutions. Most of her research projects are inspired by the recent financial crisis, focusing primarily on risk. She has published in the Journal of Economics and Finance, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Banking and Finance Review, American Journal of Business Research, and so on. Her fields of specialization include investments, credit ratings, banking, corporate finance, and financial innovations.