Media Coverage

By now, most members of the New Jersey tech ecosystem have heard the phenomenal news that New Jersey ranked in the Top 10 in the nation for venture capital invested in 2021.

Gov. Murphy and the NJEDA made commitments to inclusive innovation. The news of more private investment in the state is clear evidence of the effectiveness of the programs and policies.

CUEED launched and now operates the Black and Latino Angel Investment Fund, which is a group of investors providing seed-stage capital to high-growth, next-economy startups owned by people of color. The Black and Latino Angel Investment Fund brings diverse experiences as New Jersey-based entrepreneurs and successful small business owners, academic leaders, corporate representatives and venture corporation founders.

EE.UU. registra una cifra récord de 11.5 millones de ofertas de trabajo y suma 4.5 millones de renuncias.
(EU has a record high job offerings with 11.5 million openings and 4.5 million resignations).

"The lack of employees is hitting hard after the pandemic," says a restaurant owner. These are the most affected sectors. "Industries that require interaction with people, this is so," said Professor Arturo Osorio.

Imagine yourself stranded on an island, unable to communicate with anyone. Would you embrace this isolation, or try to find ways to communicate with the outside world? It seems that most of us do not favor isolation on any scale. Any movie about stranded people on an island – from “Robinson Crusoe” to “Cast Away” – always depicts a situation where stranded people long for the moment they will be able to communicate with the world outside of the island.

So why would we wish to be on a platform, a virtual space, or metaverse that is essentially an island?

In the age of the internet, we have learned to appreciate accessibility, mobility and connectivity on a global scale, and the experience of the latest pandemic has enhanced our demand for more mobility and connectivity.

Let’s look at the case of the online game Ghost Recon Breakpoint, developed by Ubisoft.

Supply chain challenges don’t discriminate between industries like healthcare, automobile, or information technology. These obstacles are rooted in similar problems and issues and often have similar solutions though, according to David Dreyfus.

Dreyfus, an assistant professor in the Supply Chain Management Department of Rutgers Business School, earned his Ph.D. in operations and sourcing management and previously worked for Volvo Construction Equipment.

“There’s a lot of overlap,” he said. “It’s not IT only or healthcare only; it just shifts around.”

Shortages with chips, which are used in many electronics from computers to automobiles, can be compared to the consumer grocery products mentioned earlier. As the need went down in the early pandemic stages, manufacturers turned to the production of more profitable and in-demand products. Once things settled and demand returned, chip manufacturers were slow to deliver because of other products they were producing, labor shortages at every stage from inception to delivery, and because they felt the chip technology — while in demand — was out of date.

“You can’t switch chip manufacturers quickly. It requires rigorous testing and development that takes months or years,” Dreyfus said. “Before Omicron, there was a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the supply chain, and this started the conversation for chip upgrades to car manufacturers. You can’t switch chip manufacturers quickly though because it requires rigorous testing and development that takes months or years.

How much of Geico’s success as a company would you ascribe to Warren Buffet?

Warren Buffet has had a long history of investment with Geico since the fifties but I do not think the average consumer knows that his Berkshire Hathaway has fully owned Geico since 1996. However, I do think Geico’s performance has indirectly benefited from the shrewd management principles that Buffet expects his managers to observe over the decades.

“We are leading the way into the future with new curriculum options that answer the demands of students who want to learn with greater flexibility,” said Business School Dean Lei Lei in a public statement. “Our new programs are designed to allow students to study the topics they choose, linking together classes to build job skills needed for future work in a digital era.”

“Stackable programs fulfill the educational mission of lifelong learning for lifelong employability that is geared toward students who want to upskill to stay technically current and relevant in their professions without having to commit the time and money required for a degree program,” Program Director Benjamin Melamed said in a statement.

The idea is to allow students to customize their education for technical training, according to Assistant Professor Hussein Issa.

Black Faces in High Places Guest: Dr. Jeffrey A. Robinson

“The Black Faces in High Places book is not just about getting your success; it's undoubtedly a matter of seeking significance and impact on our community, the black community.” People of color sometimes find it challenging to succeed in corporations or institutions led mainly by white people because of systems and culture. The black community has so much talent, but discrimination and being outnumbered by white people can make it more difficult to climb the corporate ladder, which adds multiple barriers to dominating the competitive world. And that's how the book was written twelve years ago by Jeffrey Robinson, the Prudential Chair in Business at Rutgers Business School & Randal Pinkett. It is where they shared 10 revolutionary strategies for playing & changing the game to transform the system not only for them but the whole community.

And in this episode, they talk about the new book, which aims to help the black professionals reach the top and stay there. Listen until the end of the episode and be more confident in breaking down the barriers that prevent you from having a real opportunity to make it to high places. Know what's the importance of having a mentor, a great network, and how you can find meaning in what you do to attain success.

A double major in marketing and supply chain management with a minor in entrepreneurship, she took on leadership roles and landed coveted internships as well as a supply chain co-op with L’Oreal USA.

“RBS has opened up so many opportunities for me to develop as a person and prepare for a career I feel passionate about,” Lee said. The 20-year-old intends on launching her own business eventually but is intent on first learning all the ins and outs of venture capital, technology, and the beauty industries.

Joining the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Living-Learning Community “was definitely one of the best decisions I made to kick-start my involvement at RBS,” she said.

Estavi is a cryptocurrency investor based in the Middle East and the CEO of blockchain company Bridge Oracle. Before Bridge Oracle, Estavi created a crypto exchange platform called CryptoLand that garnered funding from several early investors. Estavi was arrested in Iran last year, charged with "disrupting the economic system" and forced to close CryptoLand, according to Iranian authorities.

Estavi was released from custody the day his NFT auction closed, CoinDesk reported.

Estavi's arrest certainly played a role in the auction results, said Merav Ozair, a blockchain expert and financial technology professor at Rutger's University. Some people in the crypto world view Estavi as a semi-criminal because he's now looking for money to repay the investors of CryptoLand, Ozair said.

An NFT gives someone proof of ownership over a unique code linked to piece of digital art, a digital coupon or maybe a video clip, something that a buyer can't actually hold in their hand. NFTs can be transferred or sold, but not copied or divided into smaller parts.

Another reason Estavi's NFT didn't garner high bids is because the tweet itself is still on Twitter, Ozair noted. Former CEO Jack Dorsey, who made the post in 2006, is the only one who can take it down. As long as tweet is still up, Estavi's NFT doesn't have the rarity value it needs to fetch a high price, Ozair said.

In the pandemic, people sitting at home learned about crypto through social media on how to begin investing. In lockdown, many started managing their finances digitally out of necessity—adding crypto to the mix was a logical step.

“You couldn’t go to banks,” Dr. Merav Ozair, a blockchain expert and financial technology professor at Rutgers Business School, said. “You’re already doing everything digitized, so why not do crypto? It brought to the forefront the need for this blockchain technology.”

“Let’s say you are a freelancer in Malaysia, and you want to work for someone who is in the US or in the UK,” Ozair said. “How exactly am I going to pay you and how is that going to be transferred to your bank account? What if you don’t have a bank account?”

Besides insurance delays, hospitals across the U.S. have reported not having enough walkers, crutches, canes, and wheelchairs. Supplies are limited because of shortages of raw materials such as aluminum, said Alok Baveja, a professor of supply chain management at Rutgers Business School in New Jersey.

“The availability, not just the cost, has an impact on the durable medical equipment industry,” Baveja said.

Baveja said one silver lining of the pandemic is that reused medical equipment has gained greater acceptance and use.

The new taxonomy aims to help institutional investors make sense of the digital assets landscape.

Platforms like this are very important if institutional investors are going to participate in the digital assets ecosystem, said Mezar Ozair, a blockchain specialist and fintech professor at Rutgers Business School.

These investors “need a lot of due diligence and research, and they have a lot of fiduciary responsibilities and regulations and compliance to account for,” she said.

Ozair, who is developing her own analysis and assessment tools for digital assets, said the asset class was fundamentally unique and any such system would have to approach it in a different way.

“It's a completely different concept altogether, and this is why you need new tools [and] new models altogether to evaluate them,” she said.

Listen to “Navigating the Metaverse,” a podcast series in which hosts Tommaso Di Bartolo & Cathy Hacklwhere interview trailblazers in the NFT and Metaverse space who share their insider advice for how to do business in the Web 3.0 Era.

Dr. Merav Ozair is a FinTech Professor at Rutgers Business School and a leading blockchain expert in NFTs, DeFi, DOAs, & Cryptocurrency. She has developed courses on blockchain and digital assets for both undergrads and graduate-level while being the Research Director of the RBS Blockchain Hub. We’re excited to dive into Dr. Ozair’s vast knowledge and expertise in the NFT space. 47:28

“Although Rutgers Business School has countless remarkable faculty members, there is one professor that had a significant impact on my intellectual curiosity and growth. That is Professor Kurtzberg. Her class was never about the midterm or the final. Rather, the focus was solely on learning (and not just learning theory, but applying theory to practice in every single class) … Outside of the classroom, she has given me advice on graduate school, as well as my application materials. She has been a fantastic mentor, teacher, and friend to me.” – Brandon Roberts, student

“The way employers used to deal with work-from-home requests, [it was] just a knee-jerk reaction that, ‘Oh no, it's going to cause an undue burden on us, or you're not going to be able to do your job from home,’” said Iacullo.

Responses to these types of requests have always varied depending on the employer, employee and job type – some jobs can’t be done remotely. But Mason Ameri of Rutgers Business School said that the pandemic has shown managers that a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t the best.

“[Working from home] allows employers to boost the morale of employees with and without disabilities,” he said. “It’s not a trend. It’s here to stay.”

"All that is pretty much on a silver platter for the vast majority of employees," said Jay Soled, a professor and director of the master of accountancy in taxation program at Rutgers University. From there, it's a relatively easy process to file your income tax return, aside from other areas such as investment income.

But when you're self-employed, it's a whole different ballgame.

"Tax filers who start their own business shouldn't worry about the taxes on their self­employment income because there are so many ways to lower their net self-employment income," said TurboTax's Greene-Lewis.

Along those lines, Soled, the Rutgers professor, recommends having a separate business bank account so you can "keep an accurate ledger of what you're doing for business purposes versus those which are personal in nature."

"Many self-employed people actually pay less tax than employees who make the same income because they have all these deductions," he added.

The cheapest car insurance companies in New Jersey are Geico, New Jersey Manufactures, and Travelers. The difference between the cheapest and most expensive car insurance in New Jersey can be hundreds of dollars or more a year, so it pays to compare quotes.

What does it say about car insurance companies that so many have celebrity endorsers?

Insurance companies seem to be at a loss for arguments, and the use of animals, cartoons, humor, and anecdotal content in their advertising proves it. Celebs add some kind of positive association in lack of arguments. Now, mind you, my own research, along with that of other authors, has shown that brand choice and consumer decisions are highly intuitive, not rational, so I am not advocating for logical arguments. Indeed, in the upcoming NEDSI (Northeast Science Decisions Institute) Conference I will be making “the case for intuitive advertising” and proposing other ways to get through the advertising clutter and communicate those appeals the insurance consumers might be looking for, like trustworthiness, wide PPO networks, good service, proper pricing, and others. Certainly, celebs may be used to support some of these appeals, but should not be considered substitutes for an appropriate message.

Marcus Randolph will be the next President and CEO of Invest Newark and will begin in May 2022. Mr. Randolph is currently an Executive Director within Community Development Real Estate for JPMorgan Chase Bank where he covers New Jersey and New York.

“Marcus is the exact leader we need at this time in Newark,” said Dr. Kevin Lyons, Associate Professor PP, Supply Chain Management Department and Director, Public Private Community Partnerships, Rutgers Business School. “His breadth of experience and knowledge of community development and affordable housing finance will catapult the Newark Land Bank to the next level and our ability to assist more Newarkers to build wealth and own their own homes.”

“Although Rutgers Business School has countless remarkable faculty members, there is one professor that had a significant impact on my intellectual curiosity and growth. That is Professor Kurtzberg. Her class was never about the midterm or the final. Rather, the focus was solely on learning (and not just learning theory, but applying theory to practice in every single class) … Outside of the classroom, she has given me advice on graduate school, as well as my application materials. She has been a fantastic mentor, teacher, and friend to me.” – Brandon Roberts, student

Management, said that the delay in applying for opportunities is actually due to students rather than employers.

"Employers have been contacting the (Rutgers Business School) career office with opportunities asking for help in filling openings," King said. "However, students have been slow in responding and applying to the opportunities."

Students must utilize career office resources to update resumes and practice interviewing to improve their chances of securing a job or internship, he said.

He said that many employers are continuing to implement virtual recruiting processes and have even extended their recruiting period, which typically ends in the fall, into the summer.

King said that there are more than 2,500 jobs and internships available on the Rutgers Business School career management system along with Rutgers Handshake, which also has many job and internship opportunities.

To understand the concept of an NFT, start with the meaning of fungible versus non-fungible. A dollar bill is fungible because it is interchangeable with other dollar bills. NFTs are not interchangeable, and each NFT has a unique digital signature.

That unique digital signature, or code, is stored on the blockchain. Blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies, is a digital ledger, or a record of transactions. It’s accessible to anyone and, significantly, it is also immutable, says Dr. Merav Ozair, a blockchain expert and fintech professor at Rutgers Business School. “Usually, a ledger is centralized; it is owned by somebody. But with blockchain, no matter who you are, as long as you have access to the internet, you can tap into it,” says Ozair.

Because an NFT is a token created on the blockchain, it carries all the features of the blockchain. “It’s immutable, traceable, trackable and transparent because everyone has access to it,” says Ozair. The true source of the value of NFTs is the authentication aspect of it, she says. “You can use them to prove the originality of any asset, whether physical or digital.”

At this year's live webinar event, keynote speakers will debate whether, and the extent to which, businesses should influence the moral and political life of citizens. Panelists will probe how different types of corporate involvement in the moral and political sphere can positively or negatively impact society.

Danielle Warren, Ph.D., is Professor of Management & Global Business at Rutgers Business School, The State University of New Jersey. Professor Warren researches why deviance arises in business settings, how to evaluate it, and how to deter destructive deviance while promoting constructive deviance. She has published numerous articles on business ethics and ethical leadership in leading academic journals and business press.

Rutgers Business School Professor Parul Jain said boycotting products that may appear to have been imported from Russia, but are actually made in the United States, is a purely symbolic measure.

“Banning everything Russian … can get a little bit out of hand right,” Jian said. “The main real ways that New Jersey is impacted is through the energy complex, because the sanctions on any Russian energy imports is going to have an impact on oil markets and on gasoline costs, so we’re seeing that and that affects all New Jersey residents.”

When Lisa S. Kaplowitz began her career in investment banking in the mid-'90s, she didn’t see a lot of people who looked like her.

She wishes she had, she said, noting that it would have given her much more confidence.

Presenting possibilities can start early.

Kaplowitz, now an assistant professor of professional practice in finance as well as the executive director of the Rutgers Center for Women in Business, cites research that parents don’t talk to girls about finances as much as they do with boys. Noting toys and role play, Kaplowitz observes, “I still don’t see an investment banker Barbie.”

The number of stocks in the Harvard endowment has slowly crept back up in recent years after the Harvard Management Company sold off the vast majority of its public holdings when N.P. “Narv” Narvekar took over as its CEO.

John M. Longo, a professor at Rutgers Business School and the chief investment officer of Beacon Trust, wrote in an email that most ETFs are “passive in nature,” meaning they are unlikely to outperform the market.

Steffen Hitzemann, a professor of finance and economics at Rutgers Business School in Newark and New Brunswick, said it takes more than six months for oil production to ramp up.

Among the obstacles: Oil companies have run into a worker shortage and supply chain issues to secure drilling equipment, he said.

Meanwhile, their investors are hesitant to spend a lot of money on new drilling. In the short-term, they aren't sure how long the current shortage will last. In the long-term, they aren't sure how much demand there will be as the world turns to energy sources other than fossil fuel, Hitzemann said.

Cryptocurrency has played a significant role in Ukraine since Russia attacked 3 weeks ago; it's provided civilians with a lifeline as access to banks is scarce and it's also been helping the Ukrainian government fight back. President Zelenskyy just signed a law to legalize and regulate cryptocurrency, making digital donations to the fight against Russia's attacks, even easier. For more, KCBS Radio news anchors Jason Brooks and Holly Quan spoke with Dr. Merav Ozair, Blockchain expert and Professor of Fintech at the Rutgers Business School.

Listen to the podcast

Lyneir Richardson, executive director, Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development (CUEED), Rutgers Business School, and founder of The Black and Latino Angel Investment Fund of New Jersey:

“Governor Murphy and the NJEDA made commitments to inclusive innovation. The news of more private investment in the state is clear evidence of the effectiveness of the programs and policies.”

CUEED launched and now operates the Black and Latino Angel Investment Fund, which is a group of investors providing seed-stage capital to high-growth, next-economy startups owned by people of color. The Black and Latino Angel Investment Fund brings diverse experiences as New Jersey-based entrepreneurs and successful small business owners, academic leaders, corporate representatives and venture corporation founders.

In the workplace, it is common to seek advice, whether it be what financial program to invest in or even which legal action to pursue. The role of an advisor in these situations is to provide feedback or predictions to help the advice seeker make a sound decision. However, the accuracy of the advice may be distorted when advisors act overconfident and serve their own self-interests.

In the past, there has been an assumption that to mitigate overconfidence, advice seekers should simply encourage accuracy and discourage any overconfidence (e.g., by criticizing an advisor for overly optimistic predictions). However, new research (Van Zant, 2022) demonstrates that this approach might not always be helpful. The research finds that advisors may act overconfidently to portray competence when it serves their own interests, such as in performance-based financial incentives. Thus, it may take more than just criticizing an advisor’s overconfidence to get accurate advice.

The Black and Latino Angel Investment Fund of New Jersey (BLAIF) was launched in 2020 by the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CUEED) at Rutgers Business School-Newark and a group of individual accredited investors. The goal of the fund, officials said, is to provide the necessary seed capital for Black and Latinx-owned technology businesses to grow and scale.

“We are thrilled to welcome Bank of America as an investor in the Black and Latino Investment Fund of New Jersey,” said D. Lyneir Richardson, executive director of CUEED and founder of the BLAIF. “Bank of America’s ongoing efforts to address the persistent gap in access to growth capital for underrepresented founders align with our strategy of investing in exceptional Black and Latino entrepreneurs with exceptional business ideas ready for scale. We look forward to expanding our work.”

Why is life insurance an important component to estate planning?

Life insurance is most beneficial to someone who wants to ensure that their loved ones are provided for in the event of their untimely death. For example, a young parent with children may want to ensure that their kids will have enough money to attend college. Life insurance proceeds are usually tax-free to the recipient, which provides another important benefit.

What type of life insurance is best for estate planning? What special considerations should you take into account when choosing a type of life insurance?

Term life insurance is usually fairly inexpensive for most people under the age of 50 and covers a specific time period (e.g., 20 years). As noted above, this type of insurance may be beneficial for someone that wishes to ensure that their loved ones can maintain an acceptable lifestyle in the event of their untimely passing. Term life insurance is often part of the employee benefits program at most mid to large companies. There are other types of insurance products that act as an investment portfolio, growing over time, and provide tax benefits to policyholder’s beneficiaries.

Blockchain expert and Rutgers Business School professor Merav Ozair says FTX’s crypto-as-a service offering “is fascinating,” helping expand blockchain’s use cases, boosting the token-trading industry and bringing more liquidity and engagement to the space, this as many digital currencies have collapsed amid geopolitical tensions brought by the Russia-Ukraine war.

But there are challenges. “There is going to be increased competition and we need more interoperability so people can move and take tokens from one game to another,” Ozair said. “If you look at the metaverse [protocols], you can’t shift your assets across networks that operate in silos.”

Interview with Parul Jain, associate professor at Rutgers Business School

The U.S., European Union and G7 countries are moving to deny Russia “most favored nation” trade status and impose tariffs on Russian imports because of its invasion of Ukraine. The move is designed to strengthen the economic squeeze on Russia.

Parul Jain, an associate professor at Rutgers Business School, discusses the possible ratcheting-up of economic pressure on Russia.

Listen and watch video

When someone makes a transaction using a cryptocurrency exchange, it’s recorded on the blockchain, which is the system in which a record of transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency are saved. Merav Ozair, Ph.D., told VERIFY the transactions recorded on the blockchain are completely traceable, which is another reason why it’s difficult to use cryptocurrency as a way to escape sanctions.

Serendipity is a pleasant thing. The feeling that you have been lucky, that the gods are smiling upon you, that fate has dealt you a good hand, is a good one, bound to increase your happiness and satisfaction. It feels like magic. What's more is that research shows that using this simple formula can be magical for your Customer Experiences, too.

Kristina Durante, (@KristinaDurante) Ph.D., Professor of Marketing at Rutgers Business School, joined us to talk a bit about the magic of luck, one of her research areas. We extended the invitation after reading an article in Fast Company from last May about Durante's latest research about the psychological effects of experiencing serendipity.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has affected the economies of countries around the world, including the U.S., according to an article from the Associated Press.

Parul Jain, a professor in the Department of Finance and Economics, said that the crisis has caused a rise in oil prices, which has increased energy costs for American companies.

She said that the rise in oil prices is expected to increase the inflation rate of the U.S. as well as increase the cost of gasoline for American consumers, 60 percent of whom are living paycheck to paycheck.

A few weeks ago, the dance floor of The Grand nightclub in the Seaport District moved to the beats of two truly unique DJs ― digital apes displayed on a large video screen.

What might not have been immediately clear to the crowd was that the dancing animals were really NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, that cost the club’s owners nearly a half-million dollars.

NFTs are digital files — in this case, of cartoon apes — created, or “minted,” using blockchain technology. Because they are one-of-a-kind assets, they can be used to authenticate ownership, much like a deed provides proof of who owns a home.

Collins said buying the package in US dollars “for sure would have been easier,” but now he has a digitally verifiable token that proves he won the VIP package. Whether that is valuable beyond becoming personal memorabilia is debatable, but Merav Ozair, a blockchain expert and fintech professor at Rutgers Business School, said there could be scenarios where owning NFT-based tickets makes more sense than buying them with hard currency.

“If it is an NFT and it is authenticated, and [if] it turns out that this event was the first time Michael Jordan did a dunk... now it has real power,” she said.

Like any investment, a digital asset could grow in value over time, or also become worthless, she said.

What red flags should credit card shoppers with poor or fair credit look for in unsecured credit card offers?

Perhaps the main red flag to look for is the interest rate charged on balances that are not paid off in full. Of course, it is ideal to pay off your balance in full each month. If you are unable to do this, look for a card that charges single-digit to very low double-digit rate interest rates.

If someone has fair or poor credit, would that person be better off getting an unsecured credit card (if approved) or a secured credit card? Will one affect a person's credit score more positively than the other?

A secured credit card is better since, by definition, it means the borrowings are secured by other assets. The secured nature makes it less likely that you will be unable to pay off your debt. You never want a modest debt to snowball into a large debt due to high-interest rate charges.

Kaplowitz, executive director of the Rutgers Center for Women in Business at the Rutgers Business School, has her finger on the pulse of where women in business stand today.

So, on International Women’s Day, the global celebration of women and their achievements on all levels — socially, economically, culturally and politically — ROI-NJ decided to check with Kaplowitz to get an update on where women stand in the workplace.

Kaplowitz was quick to say the day is a reminder of the global gender-based discrimination that women face around the world. As we move forward to create a world where women are equally heard and valued, it is going to take time before such a transformative change can take place, she said.

Besides trying to keep costs down, they seek to improve community access to healthcare and provide a good experience, said David Dreyfus, an assistant professor at Rutgers Business School's department of supply chain management.

"They are trying to educate patients and say, 'You don't have to go to a hospital, you can be treated at a convenient location," Dreyfus said. "I can go to this really nice convenient clinic that can provide care at the same level of quality that I can get at the hospital."

That can be appealing to donors, too, said Merav Ozair, a blockchain expert at Rutgers Business School.

“I think from a donor perspective it’s instant, you know if you really want to help people right away, you can do it,” she said.

And there’s another advantage for those who might fear retaliation from, say, the Russian government.

“If the donor, say, wants to stay anonymous, then that is a perfect way to do that,” Ozair said.

Listen to the Marketplace Morning Report

Merav Ozair, a blockchain expert and fintech professor thinks this perception comes from a misunderstanding of the technology, and a perpetuation of hype and gimmick culture from influencers.

“I have my reservations with influencers in NFTs because it gives a misconception of what they are. These influencers and all the hype and the gimmicks gives people the wrong impression. If they don’t understand the technology behind it and what it can offer, they won’t understand how important NFTs can be.” says Ozair.

This is not to say that influencers shouldn’t play a role in the advancement of NFTs, nor should they be prevented from investing in them. “If influencers want to be involved with NFTs, they also have to educate, there has to be a balance,” says Ozair.

“The value of technology is definitely there; we just need more education to help people better understand it and see beyond the gimmick and understand the real use cases here.”

The real use cases Ozair is referring to is around authentication. She sees NFTs as a key digital tool for authenticating everything from housing contracts, to marriage licenses and music royalties.

“Energy stocks have been among the best-performing stocks over the past year,” John Longo, a professor at Rutgers University, wrote in an email to the News. “In an inflationary environment, commodities typically perform well.”

Longo added that fixed-income investments — which include United States Treasury bonds — are becoming “less attractive” because the bond yields risk underperforming inflation. The latest Consumer Price Index reflected 7.5 percent inflation over the past year. To counter this inflation, the Federal Reserve typically exercises contractionary monetary policy and raises interest rates. Longo said that when interest rates are rising, “value stocks” from established companies with strong cash flows tend to perform especially well.

Scholars Dr. Randal Pinkett and Dr. Jeffrey Robinson recently released their business book “Black Faces in High Places” on February 8, 2022. It’s a sequel to their 2010 best-selling and award-winning book “Black Faces in White Places.” Their latest work, “Black Faces in High Places,” shares entrepreneurial advice and methods from Black entrepreneurs and executives. Some of the highlighted entrepreneurs include Oprah Winfrey, Cathy Hughes, President Barack, and First Lady Michelle Obama. They all share unique stories of how they reached the top and successfully stayed there.

“This book charts the path for those who are in the middle of their career or in the growth phase of their business or organization,” writes Pinkett and Robinson. “It is the culmination of many hours of research, and it draws on the life lessons and professional experiences of Black women and men who have successfully made the climb to become a Black face in a high place.” These hard-working scholars share steps in their book on how to become distinguished leaders. Besides this, they educate readers on the challenges they’ll face and how to conquer them all. Despite the constant struggles people of color endure, it’s inspiring that Pinkett and Robinson share their knowledge to show that success is obtainable.

Dr. Merav Ozair, a blockchain expert and fintech professor at Rutgers Business School, said "there is no way bitcoin is going to zero."

"Whatever is happening in the crypto market has nothing to do with what's happening in the network," she said. "I have been researching the network itself and there's a kind of disconnect happening here."

Ozair added "Russia is having a love-hate with crypto, but I'm not sure that this is really the problem."

2022 State Farm Insurance Review

Does State Farm’s status as the largest insurance company in the U.S. benefit customers?

Yes, insofar as the US insurance industry is regionalized and leading regional insurance companies may not have State Farm’s nationwide reach in terms of auto repair shops and claims adjusters. Florida drivers, for instance, may find themselves relatively helpless if anything should happen during a vacation in New York, Chicago or Las Vegas. Furthermore, a large insurance company will mean big volume for auto repair shops, which will tend to treat its customers accordingly. Also, the sheer size of the company provides some sense of security and peace of mind to its customers, and that is important, the sense of feeling safe.

BCT Partners announces the appointment of five new members to their Board of Advisor board. As BCT continues its rapid growth, the addition of these distinguished professionals will help support its efforts to accelerate innovation and advance equity. The new members will join current advisory board members including Dr. Randal Pinkett, Founder, Chairman, CEO, and Managing Partner, BCT Partners, Lawrence Hibbert, Founder, President and Managing Partner, BCT Partners, Dallas Grundy, Founder, BCT Partners and Senior Vice President and CFO at the University of Akron and Dr. Jeffrey Robinson, Founder, BCT Partners, and Professor and Prudential Chair in Business at Rutgers Business School.

NFT stands for ‘non-fungible token’. That breaks into two parts – ‘non-fungible’ and ‘token’. Something that is fungible is interchangeable so “non-fungible is everything that is unique. A painting like the Mona Lisa that you see in the museum, or in the digital world, a video you create, a tweet or a piece of digital artwork,” says Dr. Merav Ozair, a blockchain expert and fintech professor at Rutgers Business School.

The token section refers to its digital existence and the fact that it is protected using blockchain technology. To break it down even further, an NFT is simply a digital asset that, because of its existence on a blockchain (we’ll come to that later), can’t be replicated.

John M. Longo, a professor at Rutgers Business School and the Chief Investment Officer for Beacon Trust, wrote that HMC likely reduced its exposure to public equities in anticipation of lower returns from stocks over the next decade.

“A reduction in its equity portfolio at year-end is not surprising given that the S&P 500 has more than doubled over the past three years,” Longo wrote. “Traditional U.S. equity and fixed income investments are likely to provide returns below their historical long-term averages for the decade ahead, since valuations are starting from high levels and we [are] entering a period of rising interest rates and taxes.”

Longo called HMC’s liquidation of Meta Platforms and Affirm Holdings shares “prescient,” pointing to the companies’ 35 percent and 53 percent drop in stock price, respectively. Longo also called HMC’s reduction in Royalty Pharma “a bit surprising,” though he noted it still represents a large portion – $138 million – of HMC’s equity portfolio.

“It is most likely a risk reduction trade, rather than something fundamentally wrong with the stock,” Longo wrote.