Warren Buffett had long been a beacon of inspiration for investors worldwide. Known for his long-term investment approach, Buffett delivered an average annual return of 20 per cent since taking the helm of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire Hathaway) in 1965. Now, at 95, Buffett was preparing to step back and pass the reins to incoming chief executive officer (CEO) Greg Abel. Since Buffett announced his retirement, Berkshire Hathaway stock lagged .....more

This technical note explores how finance professionals estimate firm value using relative valuation rather than intrinsic cash flow models. It places valuation decisions in contexts such as investment analysis, mergers and acquisitions, IPO pricing, and strategic planning, where timely and market-based benchmarks are critical. The note highlights the appeal of valuation multiples while emphasizing challenges related to peer selection, market efficiency, .....more

Circle Internet Group Inc. (Circle) debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on June 5, 2025, reaching a $63 billion valuation. As the issuer of USDC, Circle managed $65 billion in digital dollars, generating revenue primarily through interest on US Treasury reserves. However, the company faced a fundamental dilemma: high interest rates drove profits but increased the opportunity cost for users, while falling rates squeezed margins. Additionally, Circle .....more

In April 2024, an Indian retail investor was pondering over his investment portfolio, which consisted mainly of traditional fixed income instruments and cash equivalents. The investor wanted to diversify some of his incremental surplus cash toward equity mutual funds, hoping to achieve higher risk-adjusted returns. Based on his risk appetite level and investment goals, he selected five open-ended small cap mutual funds: HDFC Small Cap Fund, Quant .....more

In January 2026, the founder of Worrad Financial Services in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, was helping her client prepare for retirement. The client was recently widowed after the death of her spouse several months earlier. She was 58 years old and needed help with wealth management and retirement planning. She had three specific concerns: an outstanding investment loan, uncontrolled spending in some areas, and a retirement plan that she hoped to start .....more

In 2023, the founders of Groww, an online investment platform based in Begaluru, India, and valued at over US$3 billion, faced a dilemma. This followed the announcement in India’s union budget that income from cryptocurrency investments would be taxed. This move raised expectations of allowing cryptocurrency trading, prompting Groww’s founders to consider entering this potentially lucrative sector as part of its aggressive growth strategy, which also .....more

Kenedix, Inc. (Kenedix) was a Japanese financial institution that managed real-estate funds. Recent turbulence in the economy and market had impacted the company adversely. In light of Kenedix’s medium- and long-term goals, its president and chief executive officer (CEO) was meeting in March 2020 with the company’s management to come up with a viable plan to address these challenges. Over the past several years, Kenedix had worked to shift its business .....more

On a chilly November morning in Mumbai in 2025, Joseph Samuel, head of treasury at the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), confronted a strategic challenge. He had recently secured a whopping US$2.27 billion fixed-rate bond issuance, the largest ever in the bank’s history. Now Samuel was confronted with rising global interest rate volatility amid uncertain monetary policy shifts, notably influenced by the political climate in the United States. .....more

On April 30, 2024, Samuel Kaplan, a fixed-income portfolio manager at Boston-based registered investment adviser Jennison Associates LLC (Jennison), took note of a “butterfly dislocation” on the United States Department of the Treasury bond yield curve. Since the reintroduction of the 20-year US Treasury bond in 2020, unusual supply demand dynamics and bouts of interest rate volatility had pushed 20-year yields above both 10-year and 30-year yields, .....more

This case follows the Republic of Indonesia as it considered issuing its first blue bond to support its sustainable marine initiatives. The case puts students in the role of a team evaluating three potential markets for the issuance: US dollar (USD), euro (EUR), and Japan’s samurai bond market. Indonesia had built a strong track record in the USD and EUR markets, with multiple successful green and SDG bond issuances since 2018. Meanwhile, the samurai .....more