The Society for Financial Studies
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 954143302
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Raleigh, NC, USA
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Adult, Continuing Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,565,656
- Expenses
- $1,386,263
- Assets
- $12,127,576
- Liabilities
- $1,922,466
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- WEI JIANG (PRESIDENT)
- JAN EBERLEY (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- LALITHA NAVEEN (SECRETARY/TR): $50,949 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Sfs is a global, nonprofit academic finance society that edits and publishes three top academic journals in finance. The organization also hosts academic conferences in finance and awards grants and prizes.
What it reported doing in 2024
Conferences we organize two major annual finance conferences: the sfs cavalcade north america and the sfs cavalcade asia-pacific. These conferences are highly selective and bring together academics from around the world. The first is organized annually in the us, with a different host school each year, and the second is organized annually in the asia-pacific region, again with a different host school each year. Additionally, we organize a third conference, the rcfs winter conference. This is a smaller conference compared to the cavalcades, but it has been growing in size and visibility over time. This is an annual conference on selected finance topics, with participation from academics around the world.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 84% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 68
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 73.3%; rating input score 73
- Program expense ratio: 92.1%; rating input score 92
- Fundraising efficiency: $16.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Pass
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 85.3%; rating input score 85; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 11.5%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.75; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 73.3% of revenue deployed · 92.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $51K · 14 people listed
- Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes foreign activity and grants
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.