Headshot of Raj Gupta

Raj Gupta

Professor of Finance

Department: Finance

Office and address: Koury Business Center, office 222 2075 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244

Phone number: (336) 278-5962

Brief Biography

Neeraj “Raj” J. Gupta, professor of finance at Elon University, has a doctorate in finance from the University of Connecticut, and is an active CFA charterholder.  He received an MBA from Babson College and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Delhi.  He has over ten years of industry experience in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America, having worked for Nestlé, Xerox, and Claridges Investments (a boutique asset management firm).

Raj teaches various finance courses – including principles of finance, corporate finance, investments, and insurance – to undergraduate and MBA students at both Elon and UConn.  He has led study abroad business courses to the Pacific Rim (Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, London (!), Macau SAR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam) and to the Indo-Gulf (India and Dubai).  Raj mentors the Elon/LSB CFA Investment Research Challenge team, and the Elon Business Fellows student managed fund class. He also oversees the CFA Student Scholarships program, and the finance major’s participation in the CFA University Affiliation Program.

His research interests are in investments, corporate finance, financial planning and international finance with ongoing research in sustainable investing, designing efficient retirement portfolios, valuing intangible investments, fund-flows & returns in emerging markets, and valuing long-dated options. His research has been published in high-quality peer-reviewed journals such as Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Journal of Economics and Finance, Financial Services Review, and others.

In the recent past, Raj has consulted for The Clearing House, the Business North Carolina magazine, and the NC Special Court for Complex Business Cases.  He served as director of the Reed Finance Center at Elon University from 2013 to 2018.

    Education

    Degrees Awarded

    Ph.D. (Finance)     University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT), 2007

    MBA (Finance)       Babson College (Wellesley, MA), 1991

    B.E. (Electronics)  University of Delhi (Delhi College of Engineering, India), 1989

    Advanced Certifications

    CFA Charter           CFA Institute (Charlottesville, VA), 2009

    Courses Taught

    FIN 3430   Principles of Finance

    FIN 4120   Investments

    FIN 4130   Advanced Managerial Finance

    FIN 4999   Undergraduate Research

    FIN 5000   Finance Foundation Course

    MBA/MScM 7170   Financial Management

    MBA 7130   International Business

    MBA 7400 Investment Management

    BUS/FIN 2810   Business in the Pacific Rim

    GST 280   Business & Culture of the Indo-Gulf

    Research

    Working Papers & Work-in-Progress

    • “Preferreds: Like Stocks or Bonds?” (solo-authored).
    • “The Impact of Valuations and International Diversification on Post-Retirement Portfolios” with Katsiaryna Salavei Bardos (Fairfield University), and Linda Hughen (Sacred Heart University).
    • “The Degree to Which Sustainability Improves Stock Price Performance: An International Comparison” with Christy Benson (Elon University).
    • “Investing – Science or Art?: AIEQ vs. BRK” (solo-authored).

    Publications

    Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications

    • Bardos, Katsiaryna, Neeraj Gupta, and Linda Hughen (2020). Stock Price Reaction to Being Named an International Sustainability Leader. The International Journal of Sustainability in Economic, Social, and Cultural Context. 16 (2): 15-28. DOI:10.18848/2325-1115/CGP/v16i02/15-28.
    • Gupta, Neeraj J., Strohush, Vitaliy, and White, Reilly (2019). Investor Reaction to Simultaneous News Releases: Unemployment vs. Earnings. Journal of Economics and Finance. Vol. 43(4), 735-749. DOI:10.1007/s12197-018-9460-z.
    • Gupta, Neeraj J., Synn, Wonhi, and Upton, Kate (2019). Updating the 100-Year-Old DuPont Analysis: using ROME vs. ROE. Advances in Financial Education. Summer, 3-16.
    • Gupta, Neeraj J., Golec, Joseph, and Giaccotto, Carmelo (2018). Does the Stock Market React Differently to Intangible Asset Investments than to Tangible Asset Investments? The Journal of Business Inquiry. Vol. 18(1), 53-67.
    • Gupta, Neeraj J., Kurt, Mark, and White, Reilly (2016). The Buffett Critique: Volatility and Long-dated Options. Journal of Economics and Finance. Vol. 40(3), 524-537. DOI:10.1007/s12197-015-9319-5.
    • Golec, Joseph, and Gupta, Neeraj J. (2014). Do Investments in Intangible Customer Assets Affect Firm Value?  The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance. Vol. 54(4), 513-520.
    • Gupta, Neeraj J., Pavlik, Robert, and Synn, Wonhi (2012). Adding “Value” to Sustainable Post-Retirement Portfolios. Financial Services Review. Vol. 21(1), 19-33.
    • Gupta, Neeraj J., and Golec, Joseph (2012). Do Investors Use Customer Metrics to Value High Growth Service Firms? International Journal of Business and Finance Research. Vol. 6(2), 1-19.
    • Gupta, Neeraj J., and Benson, Christina C. (2011). Sustainability and Competitive Advantage: An Empirical Study of Value Creation. Competition Forum. Vol. 9(1), 121-136.
    • Gupta, Neeraj J. (2011). Financial Valuation Using CLV Metrics: A Study of Online Brokers. The Business Review, Cambridge. Vol. 19(1), 1-7.
    • Benson, Christina C., Gupta, Neeraj J., and Mateti, Ravi S. (2010). Does Risk Reduction Mitigate the Costs of Going Green? An Empirical Study of Sustainable Investing. Southern Journal of Business and Ethics. Vol. 2, 7-25.
    • Gupta, Neeraj J., and Synn, Wonhi (2010). Valuing Investments Decisions: Flotation Costs and Capital Budgeting. Journal of Business & Economics Research. Vol. 8(2), 73-78.

    Peer-Reviewed Conference Publications

    • Gupta, Neeraj J., Synn, Wonhi, and Upton, Kate (2016). The New ROME: Teaching DuPont Analysis in an Intangible World. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Financial Education Association/Academy of Business Education.
    • Benson, Christina C. & Gupta, Neeraj J. (2010). Does the Triple Bottom Line Help the Greenest Blue Chips Create Market Value and Gain Competitive Advantage: An Empirical Study. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Southern Academy of Legal Studies in Business.
    • Gupta, Neeraj J., and Synn, Wonhi (2008). Valuing Investments Decisions: Flotation Costs and Capital Budgeting. Proceedings of the Journal of the Academy of Business Education. Vol. 9.

    Presentations

    Presented papers and served as session chair, on program comittees and as discussant at various academic meetings:

    • Financial Management Association (FMA) conferences
    • Southern Finance Association (SFA) conferences
    • Eastern Finance Association (EFA) conferences
    • Financial Education Association (FEA) conferences
    • World Finance conference
    • International Atlantic Economic conference
    • American Society for Competitiveness conference
    • Southeastern Academy of Legal Studies in Business conference

    Awards

    • Featured in an article called Lifelong Connections in the Winter 2021 issue of The Magazine of Elon in which an Elon alum writes about a faculty/staff mentor from the entire university who was instrumental in their college success (and beyond).
    • Promoted to full professor at Elon University in 2020.
    • Awarded Elon University’s LSB Summer Research Grants in 2007-2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2022.
    • Received the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Dean’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship in 2015.
    • Received the Beta Gamma Sigma Professor of the Year award at Elon University in 2013.
    • Received the PhD Student Teaching Award from the School of Business at University of Connecticut in 2007.
    • Received the Stephen Messner Award for Teaching from the Department of Finance at University of Connecticut in 2007.