Bert Smoluk

Education

Ph.D (1997), Finance, Lehigh University
M.B.A. (1992), Rider University
B.S. (1984), Accounting, Pennsylvania State University

Courses Taught

Undergraduate and graduate: Investment Management; Derivatives: Options, Futures, and Swaps; Corporate Finance.
Graduate: Bond Management, Strategies, and Pricing; Economic Analysis.

Research Interests

Asset pricing models, financial economics, the economics of long-term disability claims rates, option valuation.

Selected Publications

“Macroeconomic Influences on Social Security Disability Application Rates,” coauthored with Dana Kerr, Journal of Insurance Issues, Volume 34, No. 2, p. 112-150, Fall 2011.

“Long-Term Disability Claims Rates and the Consumption-to-Wealth Ratio,” Journal of Risk and Insurance, Volume 76, No. 1, p. 109-131, March 2009.

“Evaluating Stock Returns with Time-Varying Risk Aversion Driven By Trend Deviations From the Consumption-to-Wealth Ratio: An Analysis Conditional on Income Levels,” co-authored with Jim Bennett, Review of Financial Economics, Volume 17, No. 4, p.261-279, December 2008.

“A Prerequisite for Meaningful State Economic Performance Comparisons: Adjusted for Population Density,” co-authored with Bruce Andrews, The Annals of Regional Science, June 2005, Volume 39, p. 253-272.

Media Talking Points

Current events in the economy and their influence on the stock and bond markets.

Professional Activities

Professor Smoluk is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Before coming to USM, he worked four years with Deloitte & Touche in New York City specializing in auditing investment companies, and for five years as a senior financial analyst at the corporate headquarters of Summit Bank in Princeton, New Jersey. He was a Certified Public Accountant from 1986 to 2008. He is an active researcher having published over 17 articles in refereed journals.