I attended CICF 2026 to present my paper “Informational Advantage of the Wealthy”, co-authored with Profs. Sumit Agarwal, Poorya Kabir (NUS) and Pulak Ghosh (IIM Bangalore). CICF is one of the leading finance conferences in the Asia-Pacific region. It was a valuable venue for getting feedback from senior scholars and raising the paper’s visibility.
The paper studies why wealthier individuals earn higher returns on their wealth. The audience responded very positively to the paper and the presentation. The discussant said the paper addresses an important question and provides the first causal evidence on the topic. He also noted that the paper is highly polished. The session chair, an editor of a leading finance journal, also remarked that the work is interesting. This feedback is encouraging and will guide our revisions as we move the paper toward publication.
Artificial intelligence was clearly the dominant theme of this year’s program, with a large share of sessions devoted to AI-related research. This reflects a broader shift in the field. It suggests that AI-related questions and methods will become increasingly central to finance research. For our department, this points to the value of continuing to build expertise in this area.
The conference also gave me the opportunity to connect with faculty from other institutions and discuss ongoing research, which will help broaden our department’s academic network.
Overall, the trip was highly productive. It produced valuable feedback on the paper, increased its visibility among leading scholars, and offered insight into current directions in finance research. I thank the Department of Finance for supporting my attendance.