Schedule
Join us for an inspiring and engaging event featuring a keynote conversation and a series of interactive breakout sessions. Management Conference will showcase renowned faculty and distinguished alumni who will share their expertise, insights, and experiences across a range of exciting topics.
Below is our 2025 schedule. Stay tuned for 2026 schedule updates.
Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel
221 N Columbus Drive
Chicago, IL 60601
Hear the keynote conversation between Steve Kaplan, the Neubauer Family Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and Kessenich E.P. Faculty Director at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Chicago Booth, and Joe Mansueto, AB 鈥�78, MBA 鈥�80, founder and chairman of Morningstar Inc.
Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel
221 N Columbus Drive
Chicago, IL 60601
Gleacher Center
450 N. Cityfront Plaza Dr.
Chicago, IL 60611
Perspectives on Investment Banking
Moderator: Professor Yueran Ma
Panelists: Scott Adelson, '87; Timothy George, AB '74, MBA '75; Melissa Knox, '05; Cary Kochman, MBA '90, JD '90
Room: 621
Panelists will discuss the current state of investment banking and where the market is heading.
Treasury Market Dysfunction and the Role of the Central Bank
Speaker: Professor Anil Kashyap
Room: 100
Kashyap will examine how the confluence of hedge funds, asset managers, and dealer banks can create fragility in the US Treasury market. In addition to documenting the vulnerabilities that exist, Kashyap will suggest a potential policy solution that the Federal Reserve could adopt to address market instability when it next arises.
Maximizing Corporate Social Responsibility Impact: Aligning Strategies with Consumer Perceptions of Responsibility
Speaker: Professor Abigail Sussman
Room: 204 (Overflow 206)
At a time when companies face both rising expectations for ethical conduct and growing backlash against Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Sussman argues that the question of best practice for socially responsible engagement is more pressing than ever. In this session, Sussman will explore research on the interplay between consumer perceptions of responsibility and their preferences for internal CSR (e.g., improving company practices) versus external CSR (e.g., third-party donations). She will discuss the broader role of CSR in firm strategy as well as actionable insights on how firms can tailor their CSR strategies to enhance credibility, manage perceptions, and maximize impact.
The Economics of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains
Speaker: Professor Eric Budish
Room: 200
Budish will present his recent research on the economics of cryptocurrencies and blockchains. First, he will discuss the fundamental economic limits of decentralized trust and what this new form of crypto trust teaches us about traditional forms of trust grounded in rule of law. Next, he will highlight the key economic differences between different consensus protocols and how some protocols attempt to blend crypto trust with traditional trust. Last, he will examine potential applications of blockchain technology for traditional finance, and will sketch what he sees as the most important big open questions.
Using AI to Model Subjective Preferences for Faces and Objects
Speaker: Professor Alexander Todorov
Room: 304 (Overflow 305)
Individual preferences are highly heterogenous and often impossible to predict from features of objects and faces alone. In this session, Todorov will examine how modern machine learning methods can allow us to build models of individual preferences, as well as visualize the unique combinations of features that drive these preferences.
Gleacher Center
450 N. Cityfront Plaza Dr.
Chicago, IL 60611
Investing in Consumer Capital
Speaker: Professor Amir Sufi
Room: 204 (Overflow 206)
Firms invest substantial resources in building a customer base, and this investment in customer capital is becoming more important over time. The fastest growing industries in the US economy, such as software, platform-based apps, and data processing and hosting, invest heavily in customer capital. In this session, Sufi will cover research using new data on the sales and marketing efforts of US firms, focusing on broader implications for finance and the economy.
Payouts, Guidance, and Activism鈥擶hy CFOs Cannot Afford to Get It Wrong.
Speaker: Professor Douglas Skinner
Room: 200
In this session, Skinner will use case studies and evidence from academic research to demonstrate how companies can use payouts and guidance to drive value. The session will center around what Skinner sees as the central task of CFOs鈥攃apital allocation. He will examine how the right capital allocation decisions, as well as credibly communicating the same to market participants, can be critical to driving value. Skinner will also examine how errors in capital allocation can negatively impact value, with significant adverse consequences for CFOs, including generating activist intervention.
Gender Inequality: An Overview of the Recent Research
Speaker: Professor Marianne Bertrand
Room: Room: 304 (Overflow 306)
In this session, Bertrand will review some of the latest research on the drivers of gender inequality in the labor market. She will examine gender stereotypes and gender norms, pay transparency, sexual harassment, and the role of public and corporate policies in fostering more inclusive workplaces.
Big Stakes and Big Mistakes: Heuristics and Biases Amongst Professional Investors
Speaker: Professor Alex Imas
Room: 100
Conventional wisdom suggests that cognitive biases and heuristics are only present among amateurs. Yet it turns out that professionals frequently exhibit the same biases as inexperienced novices鈥攐nly with higher stakes and deeper consequences. In this session, Imas will demonstrate how these cognitive missteps arise and persist in the case of experienced investors, and demonstrate how these missteps can lead to millions being left on the table.