Kate Upton
Associate Professor of Finance
Department: Finance
Email: kupton3@elon.edu
Phone number: (336) 278-5469
Brief Biography
Professor Upton has been at Elon since 2014. She has a doctorate and masters of science in finance from the University of Alabama. Prior to earning her PhD she worked at Morgan Asset Management on the Fixed Income Team. She has taught a variety of courses during her tenure at Elon and has led study abroad trips to the Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and Paris and Milan.
Her research interests are in investments,specifcially exhange traded funds, target date funds and 529 plans. Her research has been published in prestigious journals such as the Financial Review, Journal of Financial Research, Quarterly Journal of Finance, Managerial Finance, and the Journal of Investing.
She received the Steven and Patricia House Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2020, the Dean's Award for Excellence in Servvice in 2023. She served as director of the Reed Finance Center at Elon University from 2018-2025.
News & Notes
Education
PhD Finance (2014) University of Alabama
M.S. Finance, Financial Risk Strategy (2009) University of Alabama
B.S.B.A Finance, Corporate Finance (2005)
Courses Taught
- Principles of Finance
- Financial Markets and Institutions
- Investments
- Financial Modeling with Excel
- Fixed Income Analysis
- Advance Managerial Finance
- Financial Applications in Bloomberg
- Sustainable Finance
- Financial Derivatives
- Advanced Financial Derivatives
- Money and Capital Markets
Research
Undergraduate Mentoring
Duel Degree Undergraduate Theses
Martin Enssle “Asset-Based Style Risk Factors for Benchmarking Hedge Fund Performance”
Timon Merk “The Gender Dynamics in Venture Capital Funding Decisions in the United States: An Empirical Analysis”
Clarence Mourot “The Impact of Venture Capital Funding Patterns On Innovation and Success”
Elon Honors Theses
Charlie Trinco “The Impact of President Trump’s Tweets on the Market”
Simran Puri “Does Gender Diversity Impact Financial Performance and Risk?”
Julia Goldstein “Gender in the C-suite”
Sara Armstrong “CSR Program Announcement Effects on Stock Prices”
Love Award for Excellence in Business Leadership
Samuel Loeffler “The Aftermath of Municipal Bankruptcy”
Publications
"Behind the Curtain: Analysis of TDFs’ Holdings and the Performance of their Underlying Funds"- with Eli Sherrill, forthcoming, The Quarterly Journal of Finance
“Active Targets: An Examination of Target Date Funds Costs and Performance related to Active Management” -with Eli Sherrill, forthcoming, Journal of Financial Research, 2025
“Home is Where Your 529 Plan is: State Variations in Plan Offerings”- with Eli Sherrill, forthcoming Journal of Investing
“Shades of Green: The Effect of SFDR Downgrades on Fund Flows and Sustainability Risk”-with Hiro Nishi, Drew Peabody and Eli Sherrill Journal of Investing, 2025, 34:3, p. 92-103
"Side-by-Side Management of Mutual Funds and Actively Managed Exchange Traded Funds" -with Adam Aiken and Eli Sherrill, 2022, Financial Review, p 1-25.
“The New ROME: Teaching DuPont Analysis in an Intangible World”-with Raj Gupta and Wonhi Synn Advances in Financial Education, 2019, Summer, p. 3-16.
“Does it Pay to Use Investor Relations? An Examination of the Impact of Investor Relations Firms on M&A” Quarterly Journal of Finance, 2018, 8:2, p. 87-115
“Actively Managed ETFs and Their Impact on the Market”- with Eli Sherrill Managerial Finance, 2018, 44:3, p. 303-325
“Bond Holding Period Return Decomposition” –with Robert Brooks Journal of Investing. Summer 2017, p. 78-90.
Presentations
Active Targets: An Examination of Target Date Funds Costs and Performance related to Active Management”
Presented: Southern Finance Association Annual Meeting, Palm Beach, FL November 31-23, 2024
“Active Targets: An Examination of Target Date Funds Costs and Performance related to Active Management”
Presented: Financial Management Association Annual Meeting, Grapevine, TX October 17-19, 2024
“Infusing Bloomberg into Finance Curriculums Panel”
Presented: Southern Finance Association Annual Meeting, Key West, FL November 17-19, 2022
"Side By Side Management of Actively Managed ETFs and Mutual Funds”-with Adam Aiken and Eli Sherrill
Presented: Financial Management Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA October 23-26, 2019
“Side-by-Side Management of Actively Managed ETFs and Mutual Funds”- with Adam Aiken and Eli Sherrill
Presented: Southern Finance Association Annual Meeting, Asheville, NC November 14-17, 2018
“Actively Managed ETFs and Their Impact on the Market”- with Eli Sherrill
Presented: Southern Finance Association Annual Meeting, Key West, FL November 15-18, 2017
“The New ROME: Teaching DuPont Analysis in an Intangible World”-with Raj Gupta and Wonhi Synn
Presented: Financial Educators Association Conference, Fort Lauderdale, FL Sept 29- Oct 1, 2016
“Does it Pay to Use Investor Relations? An Examination of the Impact of Investor Relations Firms
on M&A”
Presented: Midwest Finance Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA March 3-5, 2016
“Credit Line Drawdowns”-with Douglas Cook
Presented: Southern Finance Association Annual Meeting, Key West, FL November 19-21, 2014
“Fund Manager Career Life Cycle: An Examination of the Career Choices of Hedge Fund Managers,”
Presented: Southern Finance Association Annual Meeting, Charleston, SC November 14-17, 2012
Professional Activities
Southern Finance Association Elected Board Member 2023-2025
Southern Finance Association Track Chair for SFA Conference 2019
Editorial Board Journal of Business Research 2016-present
Financial Management Association Program Committee 2015
Ad Hoc Reviewer The Financial Review 2015
Reviewer Journal of Business Research 2016-2017
Ad Hoc Reviewer Managerial Finance 2017
Service Activities
Director of the Reed Finance Center 2018-May 2025
Data Competency QEP Committee, Co-chair 2022-2023
Co-Chair of the Search Committee for the Data Nexus Director Summer 2023
Promotion and Tenure Committee 2021-2023, Chair 2022-2023
Steven and Patricia House Excellence in Mentoring Award Selection Committee 2022, 2023
LSB Diversity and Inclusion Task Force 2020-2022
Residential Campus Advisory Committee 2021- 2024
Traditions Council 2018-2023
The Oaks Neighborhood Association 2016-present
Advisor to the Women in Finance Club 2016-present
Advisor to the Investment Banking Club 2018-present
Elon LSB Associate Dean Search Committee, Chair 2020-2021
Elon Director of Undergraduate Research Search Committee 2021-2022
Porter Professional Development Center Search Committee Fall 2021
Finance Department Giving Captain 2017-2021
Student Life Committee 2016-2018, Chair 2017-2018
Elon Provost Search Committee 2018-2019
Fraternity and Sorority Life Organizational Advisory Committee 2016-2019
Elon Strategic Plan Working Group: Community Engagement 2018-2019
The Oaks Neighborhood Association 2016-present
Presidential Working Group Examining Social Climate 2017-2018
Anti-Hazing Prevention Coalition 2016-2017
Management Faculty Recruitment Committee Fall 2016
Loy Residential Housing Selection Committee Fall 2016
Finance Faculty Recruitment Committee Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Spring 2021
Hedge Fund Challenge Mentor 2015
CFA Research Challenge Team Sponsor 2015-2018
Awards
Tripani Family Faculty Excellence Fellow June 1, 2024-June 1, 2025
Deans Award for Excellence in Service 2023
Steven and Patricia House Excellence in Mentoring Award, Elon University 2020-2021
Center for Writing Excellence Pedagogy Grant Fall 2018
Diversity and Inclusion Grant AY 2018-2019, 2019-2020
Elon Faculty Research and Development Award AY 2015-2016, AY 2017-2018, AY 2019-2020
Elon Faculty Summer Research Grant 2016, 2017
Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Faculty Summer Research Grant 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024