2024 Academic Meeting - Spring 2024

2024 Four Corners Academic Meeting

May 23-24, 2024, Washington D.C.

We are pleased to invite submissions of all research in the area of index investments (broadly defined), including both empirical and theoretical work, for presentation at the third annual Four Corners Academic Meeting. We favor work that has implications for academia, industry, and policy makers.

The meeting will be organized by the Four Corners Center for Research on Index Investments (https://www.fourcornersresearch.org/ ) and the Mayo Center for Asset Management at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business (https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mayo-center).

TRAVEL INFORMATION:

The conference will be held at the UVA Darden D.C. Metro Campus in Arlington, Virginia which is less than 20 minutes from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport by subway. The conference will formally begin at noon on Thursday, May 23rd and conclude in the early afternoon on Friday, May 24th. Attendees are encouraged to arrive the morning of Thursday, May 23rd for a conference lunch, followed by afternoon sessions.  There will be group dinners Thursday night at one of Washington D.C.’s many excellent restaurants.  Sessions will continue Friday morning and conclude in the early afternoon to allow for travel. In addition, May is a spectacular time to visit the U.S. Capital.

CONFERENCE FORMAT:

Four Corners is unique in that its membership shares similar research interests and the members are thought leaders in those areas of interest. As such, to leverage the group’s collective knowledge, increase the impact of presented papers, and enhance the conference experience, the format of the conference is somewhat unconventional. The conference format uses what we have coined the “active/passive discussant format” (pun intended).

The active/passive discussant format works as follows: the final program will consist of six papers and six invited discussants. Each registered conference attendee will be assigned one of the six papers prior to the conference (registered attendees can select a different paper from the program if there is a better match). Registered attendees are strongly encouraged to review the paper and prepare a short set of comments prior to the conference (however, while this is encouraged, it is not required).

The papers will be assigned four weeks before the conference, and we ask attendees to submit their comments/feedback to the paper’s discussant two weeks prior to the conference. Feedback can be as simple as highlighting an insightful question or two. Feedback can also be as formal as a referee report. It is up to the attendee, but please keep the feedback to less than two pages.  The discussant will then write his/her discussion with the option of synthesizing the attendees’ comments in addition to providing his/her own thoughts.

The intent of this format is to provide rich feedback for the authors beyond what is typical at most academic conferences, to foster an engaging Q&A session with an informed audience, and to build stronger ties among the membership. At the end of the conference, authors will be given all anonymous feedback regarding their papers. We recognize that this format may require some “homework” for conference attendees that elect to provide feedback. However, it is our hope that we can provide more valuable feedback to authors by leveraging the opinions of all conference attendees.

Author presentations will be 30 minutes, with a 20-minute presentation by the discussant, and 10 minutes of Q&A. We will also have 15-minute breaks between papers to encourage conversation.

Given the unique format, we expect that the conference program will be exciting and innovative, and we anticipate a high level of interaction among the participants. NOTE: All presentations will be conducted in-person, except under extraordinary circumstances.

SUBMISSION AND REGISTRATION DETAILS: The deadline for submissions is March 1st, 2024.  Authors of accepted papers will be notified by March 31st. Both Academic and Industry members are welcome to submit research papers.  Submissions should be submitted via the submission webpage (https://forms.gle/wLWYzy6JLJoze8wNA  ).

By late March, we will provide more detail on the program, recommended hotel lodging, and how to register for the conference. We ask that participants register at least three weeks in advance to help facilitate our “active/passive discussant format”.

PARTICIPANTS: All members of Four Corners (including academic and industry members) are

encouraged to attend. That said, our venue has an attendance capacity of around 45 people. As such, if you plan on attending please register as soon as registration is opened!

CONFERENCE VENUE INFORMATION: UVA Darden D.C. Metro Campus (https://www.darden.virginia.edu/about/locations/dc )

FURTHER INFORMATION: If you have any additional comments or questions, send us a

message at shaun.davies@colorado.edu or MatosP@darden.virginia.edu