Brad M. Barber
Professor of Finance
Research Expertise: Finance, investments and financial markets, corporate financial policy, market for corporate control, analyst recommendations, and investor behavior
Courses Taught: Financial Theory and Policy, Investment Analysis and Corporate Financial Policy
Fast Facts
- Internationally renowned investor behavior and finance expert whose work offers fresh insights on mutual funds, gender-related overconfidence in stock trading, reliability of stock analysts’ recommendations, and how active trading of equities is “hazardous to your wealth.”
- Helps students prepare for global business leadership with opportunities like the center’s fellowships at CalPERS and CalSTRS, the nation’s two largest public pension funds.
Professor Brad Barber is an internationally recognized authority on investor psychology, stock analyst recommendations, online trading and mutual fund performance. His research includes the effect of expenses on money flowing into mutual funds, gender-related overconfidence in stock trading, the impact of coordinated trading by individual investors, and how active equity trading is hazardous to individual investor wealth.
Barber has experience consulting litigation support for financial fraud, antitrust and lost profits cases.
He is often quoted and his research has been covered extensively in the media, including Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Time, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, and has appeared on ABC News, NBC Nightly News, CNN, MSNBC and CNBC.
Barber is one of the top 50 finance scholars in the world ranked by total citations. He has published groundbreaking research in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Sociological Review, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and the Financial Analyst Journal.
Barber received a Ph.D. in finance and MBA from the University of Chicago, as well as a B.S. in economics from the University of Illinois, Urbana.
Barber teaches courses in investment analysis and corporate financial policy. He is a regular speaker at international academic and industry conferences.
Can Individual Traders Succeed In Financial Markets?
Finance Professor Brad Barber plots a survival curve for individual traders and finds that 90 percent are gone in four years, according to research cited by Forbes.
It’s key to understand mental investing roadblocks
CNBC features research on bias in investment banking from Finance Professor Brad Barber.
Why are women more risk-averse investors? They might blame mom and dad
Finance Professor Brad Barber talks about his research on women in finance.
Employers: Take the Lead on Pay Equity!
Employers and employees need to become familiar with the California Fair Pay Act, the nation’s strongest such law, which requires equal pay for “substantially similar work.”
Fourteenth Annual Napa Conference on Financial Markets Research
For the Information about the current Conference, click here.
Friday, March 24, 2017
4:00 pm – Hotel check-in – Villagio
Villagio Inn & Spa
6481 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599
6:15 pm – Meet in Hotel lobby, carpool to Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen
6:30 pm – Welcome Dinner, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen
Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen
1327 Railroad Avenue,
St. Helena, CA 94574
3 Reasons Why Women Should Revisit Their Investment Strategy
“Men tend to be more overconfident than women, and overconfident investors tend to think they know more than they actually do,” wrote Brad Barber, a professor of finance at UC Davis and co-author of a study on gender and investing.
Why So Few Women in Finance?
Studies point to role models, math gender gap, demanding hours and bias
Why are women a minority in investment management across global markets? Professor Brad Barber finds that role models, the math gender gap and demanding work hours are key reasons.
Generating Pay Equity: Realizing the Benefits of the California Fair Pay Law
Understanding and implementing The California Fair Pay Act
California leads the nation in acting to end pay inequities among people doing the same work. Join us on April 27 at UC Davis for a full-day summit to help employers to understand why and how they can achieve compliance with and benefits of The California Fair Pay Act.
Bias Found in Mutual-Fund Managers’ Promotions
Research shows that women don’t rise as fast and high as they would in a system based solely on merit
Wall St. Journal: Associate Professor Anna Scherbina’s research shows that female mutual fund managers face headwinds that keep top performers from rising as fast and high as they would in a system based solely on merit.
Harvard’s Days as the World’s Richest School May Be Numbered
Brad Barber, a finance professor at University of California, Davis who has studied endowments, said that investment strategies are critical to the overall success of a university endowment. “One of the big messages is that returns have a dramatic effect on the accumulation of wealth,” he said.
Moskowitz Prize Winners on Why There’s Room for Innovation in Impact Investing
Q&A with Professor Brad Barber and Associate Professor Ayako Yasuda
Demand for impact investing alternatives—venture funds and private equity—is outstripping supply for investors, at a time when much more capital is needed to solve the world’s most pressing problems.
This is one reason women are better investors than men
Testosterone is the enemy of smart investing decisions, study finds
UC Davis professor, Brad Barber and UC Berkeley professor Terrance Odean, writing in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, found that while women traded, men traded more. That extra trading costs plenty.
Thirteenth Annual Napa Conference on Financial Markets Research
For the Information about the current Conference, click here.
Friday, April 15, 2016
4:00 pm – Hotel check-in
Harvest Inn
One Main Street
St. Helena, CA 94574
Telephone: 1 707 963 9463
6:15 pm – Meet in Hotel lobby, carpool to Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen
Impact-R-Us
Recent research by Professor Brad Barber and Associate Professor Ayako Yasuda shows the rate at which investors choose impact funds is 14% greater than the rate at which they choose traditional venture capital funds.
Impact Investing “Supply” Failing to Meet Demand
Moskowitz Prize Winners: Professor Brad Barber and Associate Professor Ayako Yasuda Study Shows Europe’s Demand for Impact Funds Over Traditional Investments Three Times Higher Than in North America
The demand for impact investing alternatives is outstripping the available supply of such choices for investors, according to a new study co-authored by Professor and Associate Dean Brad Barber and Associate Professor Ayako Yasuda that was awarded UC Berkeley’s 2016 Moskowitz Prize for Socially Responsible Investing during a special ceremony Nov. 10 at the 27th annual SRI Conference in Denver.
Twelfth Annual Napa Conference on Financial Markets Research
For the Information about the current Conference, click here.
Friday, March 27, 2015
4:00 pm – Hotel check-in
Villagio Inn & Spa
6481 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599
6:15 pm – Meet in Hotel lobby, walk to Bottega Restaurant
6:30 pm – Welcome Dinner, Bottega Restaurant
Eleventh Annual Napa Conference on Financial Markets Research
Click Here for the Current Napa Conference on Financial Markets Research
The Graduate School of Management partners with the Financial Management Association to co-sponsor this unique conference.
Financial Management is the flagship journal of FMA which seeks high quality articles that are of interest to academics, but also have the potential to influence business practice.
The Graduate School of Management is a small, intimate community of top-notch students and world-class scholars with strong ties to the California wine industry.
To reflect the unique character and focus of the school, the conference sessions take place at the Cakebread Winery located in the bucolic Napa Valley.
- Add to Cal
- Schedule Information
- Transportation Information
- The Impact of Hedge Funds on Asset Markets (8:45 am - 9:30 am)
- Rare Disaster Concerns Everywhere (9:30 am - 10:15 am)
- The Causal Effect of Labor Unions on Innovation
- Corporate Financial Policies in Misvalued Credit Market
- Why Do Banks Practice Regulatory Abritrage? Evidence from Usage of Trust Preferred Securities
- The Costs and Benefits of Financial Advice
- Read more
- Cakebread Cellars Winery
- Vintage Inn
- Conference Map: Map of hotel, winery and restaurants
- Brix
- Hurley's Restaurant
Global Markets Shrug Off China’s Market Turmoil
Finance Professor Brad Barber on China’s stock market swings: “I think the market volatility we see, both in this episode and in general, is a question of whether you see it coming, and I think last week it was a bit of a surprise, and, in some ways, this week it’s the new normal.”
Should Men and Women Manage Money Differently?
Diane Harris, editor of MONEY, cites Professor Brad Barber’s seminal study, called “Boys Will Be Boys,” that looked at account data for 35,000 different households and found that men’s trading decisions reduced their returns by almost one percentage point more per year than women’s did.
How to Invest in Pets, Caffeine, and Death
Is this a smart way to invest? Most experts say no. “For the vast majority of investors, speculating on themes is not a good idea,” says Professor Brad Barber, who advocates investing in low-cost index funds over the long term.
The ‘Smart Money’ Is Dumb
The reality is that “smart” money is really quite dumb, even endowment money isn’t smart: Professor Brad Barber’s study found the vast majority of endowments, like the vast majority of individual investors, “choose to play the loser’s game” of active management, with mixed results.
Stop Making the Same Stupid Investing Mistakes
In a landmark paper titled “Trading Is Hazardous to Your Wealth,” finance Professors Brad Barber and Terrance Odean tracked thousands of small investors and found a consistent pattern: those who traded a lot performed miserably, and those who traded less did much better. When it comes to investing, lethargy works.
CalPERS Posts 18.4% Return on Investments in FY2014
“Improved funding levels are ‘good news’ because they are moving in the right direction,” says Professor Brad Barber, who has studied public pension funds. “But the bad news is that given the current assumptions, there are still not adequate assets to fund the liabilities.”
5 Investing Myths May Stop You From Retiring On Time
One common investing myth is that investment clubs are a source of sound investment advice. A study from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber showed that 60 percent of investment clubs underperform the market. The average club underperformed a broad market index by 3 percent per year.
Lazy Portfolios Grant Peace of Mind to 95 Million Investors
UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber’s research is cited in a story about the 10 simple ways to get into peace-of-mind investing.
How Retail Investors Should React to Ukraine News
Stories cites a study by UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber and others that found that more than eight out of 10 day traders lose money in the typical six-month period.
A New Wave of Apps for Wealthy Investors
UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber talks about how spread of wealth-management apps could create new risks for clients.
The Main Reasons Why Investors Underperform
Story cites research from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber that illustrated the dangers of investors’ overconfidence.
The Main Reasons Why Investors Underperform
Story cites research from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber that illustrated the dangers of investors’ overconfidence.
Can day trading stocks ever truly be your ‘Buddy’?
UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber is interviewed in a story about day trading about his research which has repeatedly found that the average individual loses money trading stocks on his or her own.
Why not trackers?
UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber’s research showing that most retail investors around the world underperform the market is cited.
The 4 big fears all us men have to face
Story cites research from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber that shows how and why tens of thousands of men sabotage themselves playing the market.
The Hurdles Are Getting Higher For Active Management
Story cites research from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber that found individual investors around the globe underperform standard benchmarks, such as low cost index funds, even before costs or taxes.
Do Day Traders Evidence Skill?
Story cites research from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber that less than one percent of day traders on the Taiwan Stock Exchange are able to outperform consistently.
Technical Analysis Drags Down Performance
Stories cites research from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber that documented the actual performance of thousands of individual investors who traded their own accounts. The research studies found that those who traded more underperformed than those who traded less.
Portfolio Tracking Is For Losers
Story cites research from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber that showed that people moving from standard brokerage accounts to Internet trading traded more and performed worse.
How to Solve Singaporeans’ Biggest Retirement Headache
Story cites research from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber that found that the most active traders had underperformed the market by 6.5% annually.
Do Women Make Better Investors?
Story cites research from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber finding that investors who traded the most earned an annual return of 11.4%, in a period in which the market returned 17.
10 ways Wall Street skims $100 billion of your money
Story cites research from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber showing that the more you actively trade, the less you earn.
Why And How To Choose A Financial Advisor
Story cites UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber’s research how individuals invest. His research, “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Performance of Individual Investors,” concluded that the average individual investor underperformed a market index by 1.5% a year. The same study also demonstrated that active traders underperformed by 6.5% annually.
Want to Succeed at Investing? Focus on Not Failing
Story cites research from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber that trading is hazardous to your wealth. According to the study, those who traded the most had net average returns of just 11.4%, while those who traded the least achieved net average returns of 18.5% per year.
10 Questions to Ask Before You Buy a Stock
UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber is quoted in a story about what individual investors should do before buying a company’s stock.
Concerning The Performance Of Individual Investors
Story cites research on the stock trading behavior of individual investors from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber. The study showed that individual investors who ignore the advice to buy and hold low-fee, well-diversified portfolios do so to their detriment.
The Illogic of Active Trading
Story cites studies done by UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber that found conclusively that investors who trade a lot experience reduced returns. In fact, the more they trade the worse their return is likely to be.
Riding the Tech Roller Coaster
Speculating on a single sector, especially a volatile one such as technology, is risky, but if you want to try anyway, you should only use a small slice of your portfolio, say 5%, according to Brad Barber, a finance professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management.
Why women make excellent investors
Story cites UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber’s study “Boys Will be Boys: Gender, Overconfidence and Common Stock Investment” which confirms that women (who traded less frequently than their male counterparts) produced an almost 1 percent premium of annual investment return over the men.
A Preference For Discomfort
Story cites research from UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber that documented that average individuals’ investing behavior caused them to underperform the market by 1.5% per year, even before taking account of fees and expenses.
A Groundbreaking Look at University Endowment Performance
Graduate School of Management Professor Brad Barber discusses his research “Do (Some) University Endowments Earn Alpha?” and what it means for endowments going forward in a podcast.
Brad M. Barber Awards
- Moskowitz Prize for Socially Responsible Investing, University of California, Berkeley Center for Responsible Business. 2016
- Top 50 (Finance) Authors Ranked by Total Citations, “The Relative Significance of Finance Journals, Authors and Articles: An Update,” a study by M. Alderson, A. Saporoschenko and A. Nasseh, Advances in Financial Education, 2009.
- Maurice J. and Marcia G. Gallagher Chair in Finance, UC Davis Graduate School of Management, 2008.
- Best Conference Paper, European Finance Association, “All that Glitters: The Effect of Attention and News on the Buying Behavior of Individual and Institutional Investors,” (with T. Odean), 2005.
- Graham and Dodd Award of Excellence, Chartered Financial Analyst Institute, “Too Many Cooks Spoil the Profits: Investment Club Performance.” Financial Analyst Journal, (with T. Odean), 2000.
- Fama-DFA Prize for Best Paper, Journal of Financial Economics, “Detecting Long-Run Abnormal Stock Returns: The Empirical Power and Specification of Test Statistics,” (with J. Lyon), 1997.
- All-star Paper, Journal of Financial Economics, “Detecting Abnormal Operating Performance,” (with J. Lyon), 1996.
- Teacher of the Year, UC Davis Graduate School of Management; 2004-05, 1998-99, 1996-99, 1991-92.
- Outstanding 2nd Year Ph.D. Candidate, University of Chicago, 1987.