Academic Profile : Faculty
Asst Prof Varun Sharma
Assistant Professor, College of Business (Nanyang Business School)
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Dr. Varun Sharma is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Nanyang Business School. He graduated from London Business School (LBS) with a Ph.D. in Finance (in 2022).
Dr. Sharma's research interest relates to asset pricing, financial intermediation, climate finance, and insurance. His research has received various prestigious awards. These include the Moskowitz Prize for Best Paper in Sustainable and Responsible Investing awarded by the Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, Best Paper at the FMA European Conference, 2021, Best Paper at the European Investment Forum (Cambridge Judge Business School), and International Center for Pension Management Research Award, 2022. He has also received various competitive external research grants, including grants from the Pacific Center for Asset Management at the University of California at San Diego and from Inquire Europe. In addition, his research papers have been selected at multiple conferences, such as NBER (x3), AFA(x2), EFA (x3), SFS Cavalcade (x2), FIRS (x3), and WFA.
Before joining the PhD program at LBS, he worked as a Senior Manager/Associate Director with PwC risk advisory practice in London. He has over ten years of management consulting experience, focusing on asset pricing, valuation, and risk management models of Fortune 500 banks and financial services institutions. In addition, he is an independent director on the board of Ksolves India Limited, an information technology firm publicly listed on India's National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Dr. Sharma holds a Master in Finance degree from LBS and MBA from IIT Delhi. He was also a CFA and FRM charter holder.
Working Papers
1. The Product Market Effects of Index Inclusion (Job Market Paper)
Revise & Resubmit, The Review of Financial Studies
2. Institutional Corporate Bond Demand
Revise & Resubmit, The Review of Financial Studies
Co-author: Lorenzo Bretscher (LBS), Lukas Schmid (USC Marshall), and Ishita Sen (Harvard Business School)
3. The Real Effects of Environmental Activist Investing
Co-author: S Lakshmi Naaraayanan (LBS) and Kunal Sachdeva (Rice University)
4. Internal Models, Make Believe Prices, and Bond Market Cornering
Co-author: Ishita Sen (Harvard Business School)
5. Drivers of the investments that make our homes greener
Co-author: Nuno Clara (Duke), João F. Cocco (LBS), and S Lakshmi Naaraayanan (LBS)
6. Is Firm-Level Political Exposure Priced?
Co-author: Evgenii Gorbatikov (LBS), Laurence van Lent (Frankfurt), Narayan Naik (LBS), and Ahmed Tahoun (LBS)
Published Papers
1. Forecasting Long-Horizon Volatility for Strategic Asset Allocation
M Cardinale, NY Naik, V Sharma
The Journal of Portfolio Management 47 (4), 83-98
Dr. Sharma's research interest relates to asset pricing, financial intermediation, climate finance, and insurance. His research has received various prestigious awards. These include the Moskowitz Prize for Best Paper in Sustainable and Responsible Investing awarded by the Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, Best Paper at the FMA European Conference, 2021, Best Paper at the European Investment Forum (Cambridge Judge Business School), and International Center for Pension Management Research Award, 2022. He has also received various competitive external research grants, including grants from the Pacific Center for Asset Management at the University of California at San Diego and from Inquire Europe. In addition, his research papers have been selected at multiple conferences, such as NBER (x3), AFA(x2), EFA (x3), SFS Cavalcade (x2), FIRS (x3), and WFA.
Before joining the PhD program at LBS, he worked as a Senior Manager/Associate Director with PwC risk advisory practice in London. He has over ten years of management consulting experience, focusing on asset pricing, valuation, and risk management models of Fortune 500 banks and financial services institutions. In addition, he is an independent director on the board of Ksolves India Limited, an information technology firm publicly listed on India's National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Dr. Sharma holds a Master in Finance degree from LBS and MBA from IIT Delhi. He was also a CFA and FRM charter holder.
Working Papers
1. The Product Market Effects of Index Inclusion (Job Market Paper)
Revise & Resubmit, The Review of Financial Studies
2. Institutional Corporate Bond Demand
Revise & Resubmit, The Review of Financial Studies
Co-author: Lorenzo Bretscher (LBS), Lukas Schmid (USC Marshall), and Ishita Sen (Harvard Business School)
3. The Real Effects of Environmental Activist Investing
Co-author: S Lakshmi Naaraayanan (LBS) and Kunal Sachdeva (Rice University)
4. Internal Models, Make Believe Prices, and Bond Market Cornering
Co-author: Ishita Sen (Harvard Business School)
5. Drivers of the investments that make our homes greener
Co-author: Nuno Clara (Duke), João F. Cocco (LBS), and S Lakshmi Naaraayanan (LBS)
6. Is Firm-Level Political Exposure Priced?
Co-author: Evgenii Gorbatikov (LBS), Laurence van Lent (Frankfurt), Narayan Naik (LBS), and Ahmed Tahoun (LBS)
Published Papers
1. Forecasting Long-Horizon Volatility for Strategic Asset Allocation
M Cardinale, NY Naik, V Sharma
The Journal of Portfolio Management 47 (4), 83-98
Financial Intermediation; Empirical Asset Pricing; Climate Finance; Insurance
- Financial market, economic, political sentiments and predictability in asset prices using advancement in machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques
Awards
1. International Center for Pension Management Research Award, 2022
2. Best Paper, European Investment Forum (Cambridge), 2021
3. Moskowitz Prize for Best Paper in Sustainable and Responsible Investing, 2020
4. Best Paper in Corporate Finance and Financial Institutions at the FMA European Conference, 2021
5. Semi-finalist in the John L. Weinberg/IRRCI Research Award
6. Semi-finalist, Best Paper, FMA
7. Finalists of the AQR Fellowship Award for Research Excellence, 2021;
8. LBS Annual Student Award
2. Best Paper, European Investment Forum (Cambridge), 2021
3. Moskowitz Prize for Best Paper in Sustainable and Responsible Investing, 2020
4. Best Paper in Corporate Finance and Financial Institutions at the FMA European Conference, 2021
5. Semi-finalist in the John L. Weinberg/IRRCI Research Award
6. Semi-finalist, Best Paper, FMA
7. Finalists of the AQR Fellowship Award for Research Excellence, 2021;
8. LBS Annual Student Award
Fellowships & Other Recognition
1. Research Grant from the Pacific Center for Asset Management (PCAM), UC San Diego;
2. Research Grant from INQUIRE Europe;
3. Wheeler Institute Grant for Climate Finance Research;
4. Deloitte Institute Grant for Fintech Research;
5. London Business School Doctoral Fellowship;
6. AFA Travel Grant;
2. Research Grant from INQUIRE Europe;
3. Wheeler Institute Grant for Climate Finance Research;
4. Deloitte Institute Grant for Fintech Research;
5. London Business School Doctoral Fellowship;
6. AFA Travel Grant;
Courses Taught
Equity valuations (BF3203 and BF3217)