Lecturer
Finance
About
Ananth Madhavan, PhD, Managing Director is Head of Academic Engagement for BlackRock’s External Affairs division. He is the author of an Oxford University Press book on ETFs and Index Investing and has published over 60 articles in academic and practitioner journals. Previously, he was Global Head of Research for BlackRock’s ETF and Index division. Dr. Madhavan’s service with the firm dates to 2003, including his years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. At BGI, he was the Global Head of Trading Research and Transitions and CEO of BGI’s affiliate broker.
Prior to joining BGI, Dr. Madhavan was a Managing Director of Research at ITG and a member of the firm’s management and executive committees. Previously, he was the Charles B. Thorton Professor of Finance at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Madhavan earned a BA degree from the University of Delhi, MA degree from Boston University, and a PhD in economics from Cornell University.
Expertise and Research Interests
- Financial Innovation
- Trading and Markets
- ETFs
- “What Happens with More Funds Than Stocks” with Aleksander Sobczyk and Andrew Ang, Journal of Investment Management, Vol. 19, No. 2, 2021. Winner of the 2022 Harry Markowitz Award for Best Paper.
- “Click or call? Auction versus Search in the Over-the- Counter Market,” with Terrence Hendershott, Journal of Finance, 2015, 70 (1), 419-445.
- “Portfolio Construction and Tail Risk,” with Christopher Downing, Ajit Singh, and Alexander Ulitsky, 2015. Journal of Portfolio Management, 42(1): 85-102.
- “Equity ETFs vs. Index Futures: A Comparison for the Fully-Funded Investor.” with Ursula Marchioni, Wei Li and Daphne Du, 2014. Journal of Index Investing 5(2), 66-75.
At Haas since 2016
2022 – Present, BlackRock Inc. Managing Director, Head of Academic Engagement
2016 – present, Lecturer, Haas School of Business
2013 – 2022, BlackRock Inc. Managing Director, Global Head of Research for ETFs and Index Investing
2009 – 2013, BlackRock Inc., Managing Director, Global Head of Trading Research & Global Head of
Transition Management
2003 – 2009, Barclays Global Investors (acquired by BlackRock) Managing Director, Global Head of Trading Research
2000 – 2003, ITG Inc. Managing Director, Research
1994 – 2000, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, Charles B. Thorton Professor of Finance
1993 – 1994, New York Stock Exchange, Inc., Visiting Economist
1988 – 1994, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, W. P. Carey Term Assistant Professor of Finance
2013 – 2015, Board of Directors, NQuotient LLC
2011 – present, Advisory Board, UCLA Anderson School of Management MFE program
2011 – 2021, Advisory Board, NYU Courant Institute Mathematical Finance program
2006 – 2013, Advisory Board of Journal of Investment Management (JOIM)
1992 − present, Program Committee Member, Western Finance Association Meetings
● Member of several academic and industry boards including NASD Economic Advisory Board, AIMR Task Force on Best Execution, Advisory Committee to the Center for the Study of Securities Markets, American Finance Association Program Committee
● Graham and Dodd Award for Best Article (2012): CFA Institute
● Graham and Dodd Award of Excellence (1998, 2003)