Thematic Investing and Credit Risk Research Honored with Graham and Dodd Awards of Excellence

NEW YORK--(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.

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.

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.

Graham and Dodd Awards of Excellence – Top Award:

Thematic Investing: A Risk-Based Perspective
Financial Analysts Journal, Vol 81, Issue 4, pages 103-120

Authors:
Emmanuel Candès, Trevor Hastie (Stanford University)
Ked Hogan, Ronald N. Kahn, Robert Luo (BlackRock)
Asher Spector (Stanford University)

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.

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.

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.

Graham and Dodd Awards of Excellence – Scroll Award:

Credit-Implied Volatility
Financial Analysts Journal, Vol 81, Issue 2, Pages 89-116

Authors:
Bryan Kelly (Yale University and AQR Capital Management)
Gerardo Manzo (Independent Researcher)
Diogo Palhares (Independent Researcher)

The paper introduces a novel measure of credit-implied volatility, derived from credit default swap (CDS) spreads, to better understand risk pricing in corporate credit markets.

By constructing a volatility surface across firms and maturities, the authors identify key features of credit markets, including how credit risk responds to market shocks and how risk premia are determined. The research provides new insights into the conditional dynamics of credit markets, helping to explain patterns in credit spreads that traditional structural models struggle to capture.

The judging panel recognized the article as an innovative and important contribution to fixed-income research, highlighting its ability to balance theoretical depth with empirical clarity.

Margaret Franklin, CFA, President and CEO, CFA Institute, comments:

“My congratulations to the authors of this year’s Graham and Dodd Awards of Excellence. For more than six decades, these awards have recognized research that strengthens the intellectual foundations of investment practice. This year’s winning papers continue that tradition by adding clarity and discipline to how investors assess and interpret risk in equity and credit markets. Together, they make a valuable contribution to the evolving body of practitioner-focused research that supports informed analysis and decision-making.”

William Goetzmann, Executive Editor of the Financial Analysts Journal, comments:

“What distinguishes the winning papers is their ability to address real challenges faced by investment professionals using innovative but practical approaches. Both articles exemplify the Financial Analysts Journal’s mission to bridge academic and investment practice.”

The winning research articles are available here.

About CFA Institute
As the global association of investment professionals, CFA Institute sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials. We champion ethical behavior in investment markets and serve as the leading source of learning and research for the investment industry. We believe in fostering an environment where investors’ interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow. With more than 200,000 charterholders worldwide across 160 markets, CFA Institute has 9 offices and 158 local societies. Find us at www.cfainstitute.org or follow us on LinkedIn.

About the Graham and Dodd Awards of Excellence
The Graham and Dodd Awards were created in 1960 to recognize excellence in research and financial writing. Articles go through a voting process to determine the winning papers. Eligible articles are first evaluated through a ranked vote by members of the Financial Analyst Journal Advisory Council and Editorial Board to create a shortlist, followed by a second-stage review by the Managing Editor of the shortlist. Lastly the Graham and Dodd judging panel -- comprising representatives from the CFA Institute Research and Policy Center, the CFA Institute leadership team, the CFA Institute Board of Governors, the CFA Institute Society President’s Council Representative, and the Executive Editor of the Financial Analysts Journal -- collectively decides the award winners from the shortlist of nominees.

About the Financial Analysts Journal
The CFA Institute Financial Analysts Journal is the leading practitioner journal for the investment management community. The journal continues to advance the knowledge and understanding of the practice of investment management through the publication of peer-reviewed and practitioner-relevant research. Financial Analysts Journal digital content is freely available to CFA Institute members. Members of the media have complimentary access to Financial Analysts Journal content via the Taylor and Francis Press Pass system. Abstracts and summaries of Financial Analysts Journal content are freely available to all via the CFA Institute Research and Policy Center here.