Barrett

Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.

Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.

Displaying 1 - 9 of 9

Capital Allocation in Real Estate Private Equity: An Analysis of the Risk-Return Spectrum and Various Capitalization Structures

Description
Real estate investment strategies—and all investments for that matter—typically follow a Capital Asset Pricing Model (“CAPM”) rule such as financial instruments, where the more risk you take on, the more return you are compensated with. In real estate, the “Core” or “Core-Plus” investments typically take the lowest risk-return slot, while…

Real estate investment strategies—and all investments for that matter—typically follow a Capital Asset Pricing Model (“CAPM”) rule such as financial instruments, where the more risk you take on, the more return you are compensated with. In real estate, the “Core” or “Core-Plus” investments typically take the lowest risk-return slot, while opportunistic developments or distressed investments take the higher end of the risk-return spectrum due to their “riskier” nature. In periods of capital markets volatility and uncertain economic climates, however, the risk-return profile of these investments can become less linear and even slightly flip, offsetting risk-adjusted returns so much to the point where an investment with less risk has a higher risk-adjusted return (or in some cases a higher nominal return) than one with more risk – signifying a dislocation in real estate investing that shrewd capital allocators can exploit. The following analyses takes a widely encapsulated view into current economic events in the real estate / financial industry that would cause this investment strategy dislocation, coupled with a multi-faceted, empirical analyses on actual real estate investments to effectively illustrate how lower risk strategies can offer higher risk-adjusted returns than their higher risk / higher return counterparts.
ContributorsCoyle, Patrick (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Winson, Kimberly (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2024-05

tong_december_2023-lbo-operational-improvements.pdf

ContributorsTong, Ethan (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Kelly, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2023-12

tong_december_2023-lbo-basecase.pdf

ContributorsTong, Ethan (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Kelly, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2023-12

tong_december_2023.pdf

ContributorsTong, Ethan (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Kelly, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2023-12

ob-financials.pdf

ContributorsTong, Ethan (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Kelly, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2023-12

Leveraged Buyout of Outbrain

DescriptionInvestment thesis and recommendation of Outbrain (NYSE: OB), a leading AdTech Company
ContributorsTong, Ethan (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Kelly, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2023-12

GPU vs CPU: AI and the Xeon Business

Description
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence has propelled significant growth in the GPU market. In the evolving data center landscape, Company X faces challenges due to its lag in entering the GPU market, which jeopardizes its competitive advantage against industry players like Nvidia and AMD. To address these issues, our…

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence has propelled significant growth in the GPU market. In the evolving data center landscape, Company X faces challenges due to its lag in entering the GPU market, which jeopardizes its competitive advantage against industry players like Nvidia and AMD. To address these issues, our thesis aims to analyze market dynamics between CPUs and GPUs-whether they present distinct markets or compete against each other. We seek to guide Company X in maximizing profitability and sustaining its pivotal role in the semiconductor industry amidst the AI revolution. Specifically, we discuss optimizing their GPU offering, Falcon Shores, towards specific markets and doubling down on the production of CPUs.
ContributorsMostaghimi, Dunya (Author) / Kujawa, Brennan (Co-author) / Ulreich-Power, Cameron (Co-author) / Livesay, Thomas (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Mike (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor)
Created2024-05

Company X Collaborative Thesis: Entry Level Processors

Description

This project examines entry-level processors for Company X. Analyzing their current position and creating recommendations for their future positioning in regard to entry-level processors. Utilizing financial models, our group worked to determine the most effective way to optimize NPV and gross margin for this segment. With extensive step models and…

This project examines entry-level processors for Company X. Analyzing their current position and creating recommendations for their future positioning in regard to entry-level processors. Utilizing financial models, our group worked to determine the most effective way to optimize NPV and gross margin for this segment. With extensive step models and sensitivity analysis, we analyzed potential paths that Company X could take. Continuing to be mindful of the limitations that certain projected paths would entail. Through our analysis, we were able to form a comprehensive suggestion that had a positive 8-year NPV and an improved gross margin percentage. 
ContributorsJones, Ciara (Author) / Kuo, Ian (Co-author) / Mathias, Chase (Co-author) / Huseinovic, Ayla (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2024-05

Company X Collaborative Thesis: Entry Level Processors

Description
This project examines entry-level processors for Company X. Analyzing their current position and creating recommendations for their future positioning in regard to entry-level processors. Utilizing financial models, our group worked to determine the most effective way to optimize NPV and gross margin for this segment. With extensive step models and…

This project examines entry-level processors for Company X. Analyzing their current position and creating recommendations for their future positioning in regard to entry-level processors. Utilizing financial models, our group worked to determine the most effective way to optimize NPV and gross margin for this segment. With extensive step models and sensitivity analysis, we analyzed potential paths that Company X could take. Continuing to be mindful of the limitations that certain projected paths would entail. Through our analysis, we were able to form a comprehensive suggestion that had a positive 8-year NPV and an improved gross margin percentage.
ContributorsMathias, Chase (Author) / Huseinovic, Ayla (Co-author) / Jones, Ciara (Co-author) / Kuo, Ian (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertz, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2024-05