The College warmly congratulates Professor Ludovic Phalippou, Fellow in Finance and Professor of Financial Economics at Saïd Business School, on being awarded the 2026 James R. Vertin Award for Outstanding Contribution to Investment Research by the CFA Institute Research Foundation. The award recognises a lifetime body of work that has made an outstanding contribution to investment practice and education.
Professor Phalippou is internationally recognised for his research on private equity and private markets. His work has had a major impact on how investors, academics, and policymakers think about private markets with his research helping to sharpen debate in an area that is often opaque.
Over the past two decades, his work has challenged conventional wisdom on performance measurement, fees and governance, and helped to shape industry practice. He has advised major institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds and public bodies, and has been invited to give evidence before parliamentary committees in both the United Kingdom and France. He is the author of the book Private Equity Laid Bare and host of the podcast by the same name, both widely recognised for bringing greater clarity and critical analysis to this segment of the financial system.
Tricia Rothschild, CFA, Interim President and CEO of CFA Institute, said:
As private markets play an increasingly important role in the global financial system, thoughtful research and open dialogue are essential for maintaining investor trust and healthy capital markets. Ludovic Phalippou has contributed significantly to that conversation.
Professor Phalippou said:
I am deeply honoured to receive the James R. Vertin Award. Throughout my career, I have tried to produce research that is both academically rigorous and directly useful to investors and policymakers. Private markets have become an increasingly important part of the global financial system, and I hope this recognition encourages continued evidence-based debate and greater transparency across the industry.
The James R. Vertin Award is among the highest honours in investment research, and previous recipients include Nobel Prize winners Harry M. Markowitz, William F. Sharpe, Robert C. Merton and Robert J. Shiller, Vanguard founder John C. Bogle, and leading finance scholars Campbell R. Harvey and Elroy Dimson. Professor Phalippou is only the second recipient based outside the United States, following Professor Elroy Dimson.
