Ferhat Akbas, PhD
Constantine Mihas Endowed Professor of Finance and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs
Department of Finance
Contact
Building & Room:
UH 2113
Address:
601 S. Morgan St., Chicago, IL 60607
Office Phone:
Email:
CV Link:
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About
Ferhat Akbas is the Constantin Mihas Chair and Professor of Finance at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where he also serves as the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. An expert in empirical asset pricing, active portfolio management, market efficiency, and short selling, his research is regularly published in top-tier journals such as The Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. His insights into corporate governance and trading behaviors have also been featured by policy platforms like Columbia Law School's Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets.
In addition to his academic leadership, Dr. Akbas brings valuable industry perspective to UIC, having spent nearly a decade as a quantitative consultant for Citadel (2013–2022). At UIC, he leverages this background to teach Investmentsand Advanced Corporate Finance while leading college-wide faculty recruitment and professional development initiatives. Dr. Akbas serves on the Organizing Committee for the Western Finance Association (WFA) and holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University.
Selected Grants
UIC, Faculty Research Grant, 2024
UIC, Dean's summer research grant, 2017-2023
Selected Publications
- Akbas, Ferhat, William Armstrong, Sorin Sorescu, and Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, 2015. Smart Money, Dumb Money, and Capital Market Anomalies. Journal of Financial Economics, Volume 118 -2 211-450.
- Akbas, Ferhat, 2016. The Calm Before the Storm. The Journal of Finance, Volume LXXI-1 225-255.
- Akbas, Ferhat, William Armstrong, Sorin Sorescu, and Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, 2016. Capital Market Efficiency and Arbitrage Efficacy, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Volume 51, No. 2.
- Akbas, Ferhat, Felix Meschke, and Jide Wintoki, 2016. Corporate Directors and Informed Traders. Journal of Accounting and Economics, Volume 62-1, 1-23 (Lead Article).
- Akbas, Ferhat, Chao Jiang, and Paul Koch, 2017. The Trend in Firm Profitability and the Cross-Section of Stock Returns. The Accounting Review, Vol. 92, No. 5,
pp. 1–32 (Lead Article). - Akbas, Ferhat, Ekkehart Boehmer, Bilal Erturk, and Sorin Sorescu, 2017. Short interest, returns, and fundamentals. Financial Management. Volume 46, Issue2, Pages 455-486.
Service to Community
- Organization Committee Member, WFA (2021-2026)
- Track Chair, SFA 2023
- Session Chair MFA 2023, 2026, WFA 2019
Notable Honors
2017, Best paper awarda, Southern Finance Association
2016, Best MBA Teaching Award (Finance Area), UIC
Education
PhD in Finance- Texas A&M University
MS in Economics- Texas A&M University
BS in Industrial Engineering- Bilkent University
Selected Presentations
- The Evolution of Market Efficiency Over the Past Century
- Are Sophisticated Traders Better Informed When Trading Family Firms
- Margin requirements and multifactor models
Research Currently in Progress
- The Evolution of Market Efficiency Over the Past Century (with Lezgin Ay and Paul Koch)
- Insider Trading when There Is No Litigation Risk (with Lezgin Ay and Paul Koch)
- Are Sophisticated Traders Better Informed When Trading Family Firms? (with Minjie Huang and Felix Meschke)
- When Does Innovation Die? Ideas Are Getting Harder to Find (with Furkan M. Cetin, Egemen Genc)
- Margin Requirements, Risk Taking, and Multifactor Models (with Ay, Lezgin, Ehsan Azarmsa, Chao Jiang, and Paul Koch)
- High Aggregate Volume Return Premium (with Chao Jiang, Paul Koch and Egemen Genc)