Jenny Gu Ph.D.

Dr. Jenny Gu, Associate Professor of Finance, joined the University of Dallas in Fall of 2011. She received her doctorate in Finance from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 2011. 

Dr. Gu has been teaching various finance courses such as Managerial Finance, Investments, Corporate Treasury Management, Intermediate Corporate Finance, Financial Modeling, and Portfolio Management. 

She is the faculty advisor of University of Dallas Student Investment Fund since the inception of the Fund in September 2013. She is the responsible faculty for CFA University Recognition Program at the University and sponsors students for their CFA program scholarship.

Why did you become a professor?
I enjoy teaching and research.  Being a professor, I am committed to lifelong learning to continuously improve my teaching and research so that I can stay ahead of the development of my profession. Also, I support and promote my students to be ethical and successful financial/business leaders. 

What do you enjoy most about teaching?
I enjoy teaching graduate finance courses and interacting with many highly motivated students. I have taught Managerial Finance, Intermediate Corporate Finance, Investments, Portfolio Management, etc.   Our students have different industry backgrounds, and many students find the quantitative financial material challenging.  I see it as my responsibility to teach the difficult material in a way that the students can not only understand the concepts, but apply that knowledge in their daily work and business decisions.  The most rewarding aspect in my career has been that students found jobs in multinational companies/banks as finance managers, controllers, investment advisors, portfolio managers, etc. in the competitive job market. 

What do you hope students gain from your courses?
My goal is for my students to leave my class knowing how to think analytically and critically so that no matter what financial issues they face, they always have the ability to find a solution for the issue.  To meet this goal, I strive to create a student-centered experiential learning environment that is challenging yet rewarding.  Besides, my commitment to students extends beyond the classroom – for example, finance student team was selected as finalist in the 2015 Texas Investment Portfolio Manager’s Competition and 2017 Texas CFA Research Challenge, respectively.  I also assist my students as they prepare for professional certification exams such as CFA® and CFP®. 

What did you do prior to entering academia?
I worked as a financial analyst in California and then a finance manager at Bank of Communications Credit Card Department, a Joint Venture with HSBC, in Shanghai, China.  These experiences gave me industry insights from the students’ perspective and enhanced my ability to integrate the theory into applications.  Before joining UD, I also received the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) certificate, the highest distinction in the investment management profession.  

What are you passionate about outside of the University?
Outside of the university work on teaching and research, I constantly follow the capital market.  As the founder and faculty advisor of UD Student-Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) since 2013, I have been responsible for approving and executing students’ investment recommendations.  I regularly host weekly meetings with SMIF team; advise and coach the team on stock selection, financial statement analysis, stock valuation, asset allocation, portfolio optimization, etc. The SMIF portfolio return has been continuously beating the market.

What are your research interests?
My research focus is risk, banking, and bond ratings. Since I joined UD in August 2011, I have published nine papers in highly recognized, peer-reviewed journals. I am excited about my current research projects as they can make contributions to the finance literature.  Furthermore, they are critical for policy makers to know how public policies should be implemented, and to what extend financial institutions should be supervised.  It is also essential for students, our future business executives, to understand the economic, regulatory, and ethical environment in which the businesses are managed. 

FINA 6305 Managerial Finance
FINA 7322 Investments
FINA 8395 Portfolio Management

Dr. Gu’s current research focuses on bond credit ratings and opacity of the financial institutions. Most of her research projects are inspired by the recent financial crisis, focusing primarily on risk. She has published in the Journal of Economics and Finance, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Banking and Finance Review, American Journal of Business Research, and so on. Her fields of specialization include investments, credit ratings, banking, corporate finance, and financial innovations.

Shao, Y., Gu, J., & Liu, P. (2016). Bank Structure and Liquidity Shocks: Evidence from Emerging Markets during the 2008 Financial Crisis. Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies.

Gu, J., Hernandez, R., Liu, P., & Shao, Y. (2015). Mortgage Loan Securitization and Personal Consumption Smoothening. Journal of Economics and Finance. “lead article” in issue.

Jones, J., Gu, J. & Liu, P. (2012). Do Dividend Initiations Signal a Reduction in Risk? Evidence from the Option Market. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 2014, 42, 143-158.