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Thematic Investing and Credit Risk Research Honored with Graham and Dodd Awards of Excellence
NEW YORK, January 26, 2026--CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, today announced the winners of the Graham and Dodd Awards of Excellence, recognizing the most outstanding research articles published in the CFA Institute Financial Analysts Journal during the year.
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[{"type":"text","content":"NEW YORK, January 26, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, today announced the winners of the Graham and Dodd Awards of Excellence, recognizing the most outstanding research articles published in the CFA Institute Financial Analysts Journal during the year.","length":310,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Named after Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd, whose work laid the foundation for modern investment analysis, the Graham and Dodd Awards celebrate research that combines academic rigor with practical relevance for investment professionals.","length":239,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Each year a Top Award is presented to the authors of the most exceptional article, along with up to two Scroll Awards presented to authors of runner-up papers.","length":159,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Graham and Dodd Awards of Excellence – Top Award:","length":49,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Thematic Investing: A Risk-Based Perspective Financial Analysts Journal, Vol 81, Issue 4, pages 103-120","length":104,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Authors:Emmanuel Candès, Trevor Hastie (Stanford University)Ked Hogan, Ronald N. Kahn, Robert Luo (BlackRock)Asher Spector (Stanford University)","length":147,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"The paper offers a rigorous new way to define and evaluate investment themes – moving beyond marketing narratives to focus on measurable sources of risk and return.","length":164,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"The authors propose a risk-based framework that identifies themes by examining whether groups of stocks exhibit unexpected and statistically significant transient return correlations. Using real-world thematic baskets, the research shows that themes with meaningful correlations among the included stocks tend to exhibit higher than expected risk and stronger performance trends, while those without such correlations do not.","length":425,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"The judging panel cited the paper as an exceptional example of quantitative research that remains highly accessible to practitioners, noting its usefulness well beyond its original application.","length":193,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Graham and Dodd Awards of Excellence – Scroll Award:","length":52,"tagName":"p"},...