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Syndication allows private equity sponsors to take over firms that would be overlooked due to lack of financial resources and/or skills. Skills come from experience, but the same amount of experience yields different skills based on specific past activity, leading to different outcomes. This study investigates the effect of different dimensions of sponsors’ experience on target firm’s operating performance in stand-alone and syndicated deals, controlling for selection bias. Findings indicate that different dimensions of experience matter; although stand-alone sponsors are more experienced, sponsors improve operating performance only within syndicates. Results are robust to another measure of operating performance and are useful for target firms, sponsors, and investors.

L’efficacia dell’interazione tra operatori della consulenza finanziaria e investitori è analizzata da un progetto di ricerca curato dalla Consob, da Finer e dall’Università di Roma Tre. Si tratta di un tema di grande importanza in quanto la presenza di eventuali distonie nei rapporti potrebbe comportare una ancora maggiore sensibilizzazione degli intermediari verso l’accrescimento della qualità del dialogo e della consapevolezza dei rapporti tra le parti. Sono stati messi in evidenza temi come le aspettative del cliente, la gestione della sua emotività, la condivisione delle informazioni, l’utilizzo da parte dei clienti delle piattaforme di robo advice. È emerso con evidenza il ruolo determinante giocato dalla tecnologia.

The ongoing institutional debate wonders whether robo advice may potentially bridge the advice gap, by reaching both ‘underserved’ and ‘excluded’ investors, who are unable to fully access the service. The present work aims to investigate the factors that may trigger both potential and actual interest in robo advice, thus contributing to widen the segment of investors receiving personalised recommendations. The study analyses the qualitative evidence gathered from two focus groups and four in-depth individual interviews, all involving investors. The participants in the focus groups are, respectively, investors supported by a human financial advisor (i.e., making decisions after receiving a customised recommendation by a dedicated advisor) and individuals interacting with bank staff only (i.e., making decisions without the support of a dedicated advisor). Individual interviews involve four users of one of the main providers of automated advice services active in the Italian market. Overall, the study highlights that the perceived objectivity of the algorithm and the customer experience granted by a digital platform may trigger (or have already triggered) interest in robo advice, mainly among financially and digitally literate investors. However, the hybrid model is always preferred to the pure automation, as the interaction with a human advisor is deemed as valuable both on educational grounds and in the occasion of key phases of the investment (e.g., portfolio monitoring or market turmoil). Given the evidence of this qualitative study, therefore, the hybrid robo advice can potentially bridge the advice gap for the more sophisticated investors, to the extent that they are willing to accept technology developments. To our knowledge, this is the first qualitative study that contributes to the debate on the advice gap by providing food for thought important for consumer protection policies and educational initiatives.

A comparison between Mesozoic carbonates and ancient Roman ashlars was performed by microstratigraphic analyses to complete a geoarcheological characterization of a rock cave system featuring the Ancient Appia route where it crosses the Aurunci ridge along the San Andrea Valley, between the modern villages of Fondi and Itri (southern Latium). This research is part of a FIRB project led by the CNR-ITABC in collaboration with the Second University of Naples - Department of Literature and Cultural Heritage, to which other Universities, CNR Research Institutes and private societies have occasionally collaborated. The understanding of the anthropogenic landscape modifications required a multidisciplinary approach. Results show the preferential use of coarsegrained Aptian limestones on the northern part of the road tract and Cenomanian-Turonian limestones in correspondence of the southern zone.

Una ricerca internazionale sul credito specializzato, promossa da AIBE, Assifact, Assilea e Assofin e affidata ad un gruppo di ricercatori coordinati dall’Università di RomaTre1 ha analizzato il contributo dei tre principali mercati del credito specializzato (credito al consumo, factoring e leasing) all’economia in Italia, Francia e Regno Unito. Il presente lavoro rivolge l’attenzione al mercato del factoring; utilizzando i risultati della ricerca si concentra sul contributo all’economia fornito dal factoring nei singoli paesi analizzati. Si tratta di un mercato importante, con posizioni consolidate nei sistemi finanziari e reali e con un significativo supporto all’economia reale. Il contributo all’economia è valutato a diversi livelli (secondo un approccio a "cerchi concentrici"): 1) il livello diretto è dato dagli effetti direttamente prodotti dagli operatori del mercato per i principali stakeholder (cd. contributo diretto), quali i dipendenti, i soggetti finanziati, la Pubblica Amministrazione e i soggetti finanziatori (creditori e azionisti); 2) il livello indotto è dato dagli effetti prodotti nell’economia, a loro volta, dagli stakeholder degli operatori del mercato (es. i lavoratori degli operatori del factoring a loro volta consumano, risparmiano, pagano tasse; i soggetti finanziati pongono in essere investimenti, pagano tasse e assumono personale, che a sua volta consuma, risparmia e paga le tasse, ecc), quindi “indirettamente” riconducibili al credito specializzato (cd. contributo indiretto o indotto). La considerazione congiunta dell’effetto diretto e di quello indotto permette quindi di stimare il contributo complessivo del factoring; 3) il livello dinamico è dato da una stima del valore aggiunto del factoring, approssimato al danno per l’economia qualora venisse meno il factoring (cd. contributo specifico). I risultati della ricerca evidenziano che il contributo all’economia del factoring è importante (ovunque), ad di là degli andamenti congiunturali. La stima del contributo porta a risultati, sia in valore assoluto che con riferimento al PIL, oggettivamente di rilievo, e segnala chiaramente un forte radicamento rispetto all’economia reale, in particolare con riferimento agli investimenti. Nel Regno Unito, si stima che il contributo specifico fornito dal settore all’economia sia pari a 31.7 miliardi di euro in termini di consumi, 0.5 miliardi di euro per i risparmi, 49.4 miliardi di euro (2.72% del PIL del 2008) per gli investimenti in capitale circolante e 27.1 miliardi di euro per il gettito fiscale. Il radicamento del factoring si intuisce valutando il profilo dinamico che, sia pure con ipotesi “forti”, segnala che il venir meno di questo mercato potrebbe creare un elemento di forte discontinuità nel sostegno finanziario dell’economia. Il presente lavoro costituisce un primo tentativo di stima del contributo del factoring all’economia. L’approccio potrà essere sicuramente perfezionato in futuro con la raccolta di dati ancora più dettagliati e con l’affinamento delle stime, che risultano peraltro assai prudenziali e comunque piuttosto significative, tanto da fornire una rappresentazione attuale ed efficace del contributo del factoring all’economia italiana.

La consulenza automatizzata (robo advice) viene spesso indicata come un fenomeno potenzialmente in grado di colmare il cosiddetto advice gap, ossia in grado di raggiungere l’ampia fascia di investitori ‘underserved’ o che non riescono ad accedere al servizio perché hanno un patrimonio basso ovvero perché il prezzo di offerta è superiore alla loro disponibilità a pagare. Il modello di servizio proposto da un robo advice, prevedendo tipicamente soglie patrimoniali di accesso e costi più contenuti rispetto alla consulenza ‘tradizionale’, potrebbe risultare attrattivo per gli investitori a patto che essi siano disposti a investire tramite una piattaforma digitale. Il presente lavoro si propone di fornire un contributo al dibattito attraverso un’analisi qualitativa delle percezioni degli investitori in merito al valore della consulenza e, in particolare, del robo advice al fine di individuare i fattori che possono alimentare l’accettazione della tecnologia e la propensione a usare il canale digitale. L’analisi si fonda sulle evidenze di due focus groups, che si differenziano per l’intensità e la regolarità delle relazioni con il consulente finanziario, e quattro interviste individuali in profondità, che hanno coinvolto utenti di uno dei principali robo advisors attivi sul mercato italiano.

We study whether Private Equity acquirers (sponsors) are long-term oriented with their Leveraged Buyout (LBO) European targets. These temporary acquisitions aim to restore the target’s value and to provide a capital gain to the sponsor. The performance-based reputation of the sponsor could incentivize the latter to value capture at the expense of the target rather than value creation. Since LBOs are highly-levered transactions and sponsors are active investors, we study how corporate governance mechanisms, namely equity stakes and enhanced industry expertise, affect the target’s risk of financial distress (Altman’s Z-score; O-score; Zmijewski-Score). Studying a 2013-2016 sample of 307 firms (targets and non-LBO firms), with a linear regression we find that sponsors, compared to other types of ownership, make a better use of equity stakes and industry experts to improve strategic planning and ultimately to mitigate the risk of financial distress of the target; however, results do not completely exclude that sponsors use these corporate governance mechanisms also for value capture, especially by opportunistic uses of assets rather than an inefficient use of leverage. These findings are useful to targets, investors in PE-LBO funds, and regulators.

The CQS (Cessione del Quinto) is a personal loan secured by emoluments. It is a type of financing which is helpful for workers and families relying on people’s ability to produce income. The CQS is regulated by a complex normative apparatus which is specific of our country. Can this “local specialty” be extended outside the boundaries of Italy? What solutions those emerging countries which experienced a boom of millions of workers and retired people develop? Are there loans that can be assimilated to CQS? The work reports the findings of an analysis conducted on the markets of Brazil, China and India in order to determine the potential pervasiveness of the CQS. With this objective, the trends in household debt, the supply of secured loans, the dynamics of the labor market, the framework of the social security system, the regulation of the employment relationship, and the efficiency of the judicial structure were investigated in detail. Interesting opportunities emerge for each of the markets analyzed, even if with different characteristics. Brazil is one of the few countries where there are products similar to the CQS. However, the coverage of the demand seems still incomplete. In China and India, the consumer credit is in its embryonic phase with a high potential for development of the retail lending.

The aim of the chapter is to examine the state of the art and the main perspective for the consumer finance industry in Brazil, China and India, focusing the attention on loans that are secured by deductions from payroll and social security benefit payments (payroll loans). While in Brazil it is possible to find a special form of personal credit secured by salaries and pensions (crédito consignado), China and India still do not have such a product. With reference to Brazil, we compare crèdito consignado to the Italian cessione del quinto, while for China and India we analyze the institutional and economic framework, the main features of the banking industry and the consumer finance regulation in order to understand if it is possible or not to introduce payroll loans.

The recent global financial crisis has drawn the attention of both scholars and supervisory authorities to the issue of financial education in the hope that it might contribute to the development of more efficient markets. By the most basic definition, financial education is the series of measures designed to improve financial literacy. The latter relates to a person’s competence for managing money and addresses the area of individual knowledge, capability and motivation (Noctor et al., 1992). Financial literacy requires confidence in more than just one topic of personal finance such as credit, budgeting, investment processes, and planning (Remund, 2010). A few countries, firstly among them the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, have already implemented a number of financial education initiatives starting from the early 2000. The addressees are usually high school or university students. At the same time, those countries have conducted surveys with a view to evaluating the effectiveness of the programs that had been carried out. Despite the considerable efforts and the number of analyses, their outcome is still uncertain: the widespread lack of financial literacy casts serious doubts on the ability of individuals to make responsible decisions (Lusardi, 2008), whilst there is no strong evidence that substantiates a contribution of school and university education to personal financial growth (Martin, 2007). In spite of the poor findings, the financial education initiatives arouse considerable enthusiasm and entail the allocation of massive investments, not infrequently taken away from the development of alternative consumer protection tools. This work reviews the determinants of responsible behaviors in order to offer policymakers guidance in the adoption of effective educational programs. In the last section of the essay, a self credit assessment tool is presented as application of the principles identified.

The Italian banking system has entered with belief the segment of consumer credit since the late eighties. The number of specialized firms increased rapidly and this area experienced an unstoppable development, which exceeded all expectations. At the same time, the products of consumer financing showed a tendency to expansion and innovation, despite their apparent simplicity, driving the market to maturity. The work explores the link between innovation and consumer credit setting itself the goal of identifying and describing the main improvements (of products and processes) registered in the European markets. Causes and effects of innovation were also examined. The study takes the observation of reality as their starting point through a survey carried out on several intermediaries selected between the most creative and influential in the markets of Great Britain, France and Spain. The analysis distinguishes between the strategies implemented by generalist and specialized banks.