Wharton’s research centers and initiatives are at the frontier of finance, promoting innovative research and groundbreaking programs in areas including investment management, private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, quantitative finance, fintech, financial policy, and regulation. See the future of finance below.
Future of Finance Podcast: Season 3 on AI and Finance
How AI is Reshaping Quantitative Finance | Nikolai Roussanov and Ingrid Tierens
Artificial intelligence is transforming quantitative finance, expanding the kinds of information investors can analyze and changing how they identify signals and make decisions. In this episode, host and Wharton finance professor Itay Goldstein speaks with fellow Wharton finance professor Nikolai Roussanov as well as Ingrid Tierens of Goldman Sachs about how AI is reshaping quantitative investing. They explore how AI is changing investment research and strategy and why human judgment and the ability to ask the right questions remain critical.
Research Discoveries
How Fiscal Policy Moves Financial Markets
Professor Courtney Wiegand’s paper, “The Effect of Fiscal Policy Shocks on Asset Prices,” examines how financial markets respond to unexpected changes in the federal government’s deficit outlook, and was awarded with an Honorable Mention at the 2025 Marshall Blume Prize in Financial Research ceremony. By measuring fiscal policy shocks throughout the Congressional budget process, this research sheds light on how deficit news influences the economy. Professor Wiegand discusses her findings and their implications below. Read more here!
Mispricing Climate Risk: How Insurance Fragility Shapes Mortgage Markets
Professor Parinitha Sastry and her co-authors Ishita Sen and Ana-Maria Tenekedjieva won the 2025 Marshall Blume Prize in Financial Research for their working paper, “When Insurers Exit: Climate Losses, Fragile Insurers, and Mortgage Markets.” Their study examines how mispricing of climate risk in mortgages and property insurance creates large taxpayer exposures and leads to excess credit flows to risky areas. Professor Sastry dives deeper into the research below. Read more here!
The Changing Landscape of Municipal Financial Advisors
Municipal financial advisors play an important, but often under-examined, role in how state and local governments access financial markets. In a recent study published in Public Budgeting & Finance titled, “The Evolving Role of 21st Century Municipal Financial Advisors,” Professor Daniel Garrett and his co-author Baridhi Malakar explore how this advisory landscape has evolved over the past twenty years, shaped by regulatory changes, shifting market dynamics, and growing demand for financial guidance. Read more here!
Explore Our Events
Wharton Future of Finance Forum
The Harris Family Alternative Investments Program and the Wharton Initiative on Financial Policy and Regulation hosted the 2026 Future of Finance Forum, gathering leaders from academia, industry, and government to dive into topics like stablecoins, central banking, AI, geopolitics, private markets, and more.
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Conference on Liquidity and Financial Fragility
The Wharton Initiative on Financial Policy and Regulation held its annual conference on October 10-11, 2025 on Penn’s campus. WIFPR hosted financial experts on topics including information and liquidity, real estate, non-bank institutions and fragility, De-Fi, and more.
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Frontiers in Quantitative Finance Conference
On September 26, 2025, the Jacobs Levy Equity Management Center for Quantitative Financial Research hosted its annual conference at the New York Marriott Marquis, featuring presentations and discussions on groundbreaking papers in quantitative finance. The conference included a ceremony to award the 2025 Wharton-Jacobs Levy Prize for Quantitative Financial Innovation to Sanford “Sandy” J. Grossman, the Steinberg Trustee Professor Emeritus of Finance at the Wharton School.
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Wharton Alternative Investments Summit: For Rising Leaders in Private Equity
On May 30, 2025, leaders from the world of private equity gathered at the Penn Museum to share insights and reconnect with fellow Wharton alumni working in the alternative investments industry. Hosted by the Harris Family Alternative Investments Program, the summit offered a platform for rising leaders to engage in important dialogue on innovation, long-term value creation, and the future of private equity.
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