Episode Summary

InvestmentNews' fintech reporter, Nicole Casperson, has become a true expert on all things Robinhood through her reporting, and she joins Jeff and Bruce on Robinhood's IPO day to share her findings. They discuss the companies challenges, where they go from here, and the performance of the IPO itself. Professor Luke Taylor from Wharton joins today's pod to chat about the results of his department's research on the future of ESG performance. Their verdict? The future will not be as bright as the prior two years worth of gains.

Episode Notes

Guest interview with Luke Taylor - 0:45-21:45

• What drove ESG outperformance?
• Why that may not endure
• Climate change awareness as a performance driver
• How much is already priced in to green stocks
• Ongoing demand for ESG products

Guest interview with Nicole Casperson - 22:00-42:00

• Robinhood’s challenges
• The performance in the IPO
• Historic brokerage public markets performance
• How sustainable is Robinhood’s business
• Where Robinhood goes from here
• Response to regulatory issues
• The issues with payment for order flow

Luke's research paper: Dissecting Green Returns

Related Article: Robinhood makes public debut after wild year

Related Article: Robinhood under investigation by Finra ahead of IPO

Related Article: Gensler says SEC will propose climate risk rules by year-end

Guest Bio: Lucian (Luke) Taylor is an associate professor of finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his AB from Princeton University and MBA and PhD in Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Professor Taylor’s primary areas of research are empirical corporate finance and asset management. His research focuses on two main themes: structural estimation in corporate finance, and understanding the skill of important financial actors like CEOs and active fund managers. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Financial Studies, as well as nonacademic outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, and Forbes. His research has received the Fama-DFA Prize for best paper in the Journal of Financial Economics, Rothschild Caesarea Center Best Paper Award, Marshall Blume Prize, Jacobs Levy Prize, and the NASDAQ Award. Professor Taylor is an associate editor at the Journal of Financial Economics and Review of Finance.

Since joining Wharton, Professor Taylor has taught Venture Capital and the Finance of Innovation (FNCE 250/750) to undergraduate, MBA, and executive MBA students.