Roberto Vincenzi
I graduated from the London Business School with a Ph.D. in Business and from the University of Cambridge with an M.Phil. in Finance. Before that, I earned an M.Sc. and a B.Sc. in Finance, both cum laude, at Bocconi. During my studies, I completed two exchange programs in Canada and the UK. I also worked in the investment banking division of UBS and Barclays Capital. I started my teaching experience at London Business School, where I taught classes and seminars at the undergraduate and MBA level.
I received the London Business School Ph.D. Financial Award, the Ermenegildo Zegna Founder's Scholarship, and the Bocconi Merit Award.
My research centers on empirical financial accounting: capital markets, supply-chains, M&A, private firms, individual cultures.
Updated Working Paper Alert, May 2026: Are Merger Synergy Disclosures Credible? (with Ellahie, Huang, and Tuna)
Abstract: "We examine the credibility of synergy guidance in 12,176 U.S. mergers and acquisitions (M&A) announced between 2004 and 2021. Using press releases and conference call transcripts, we identify qualitative and quantitative synergy guidance and analyze its determinants, market reactions, and post-acquisition realizations. Synergy guidance is more common in larger, stock-financed deals, public-target acquisitions, related-industry transactions, and among acquirers with greater analyst coverage and prior guidance experience. Litigation risk deters disclosure, especially numeric guidance. Investors respond favorably to both textual and numeric guidance at announcement, with stronger reactions to more intensive discussion and higher numeric estimates. However, postacquisition outcomes suggest that disclosed expectations are often not realized. Synergy disclosers experience more frequent and larger goodwill impairments and worse post-merger operating performance, and larger numeric estimates additionally predict downward revisions to synergy expectations and lower long-run stock returns. The impairment-disclosure association is attenuated when acquirers have greater forecasting experience and targets operate in richer information environments, consistent with learning and information quality constraining strategic bias and forecasting noise. Exploiting the 2013 U.K. Takeover Panel Rule 28 reform, we find that numeric guidance in U.K.-target deals predicts fewer subsequent goodwill impairments than comparable U.S.-target deals, consistent with mandated external verification improving disclosure credibility. Our findings inform ongoing policy debates by highlighting a disconnect between investors’ favorable announcement reaction to synergy guidance and its limited long-run realization".
The full updated paper is available here: https://tinyurl.com/4cbjwahs
Voluntary disclosures and monetary policy: evidence from quantitative easing
REVIEW OF ACCOUNTING STUDIES, 2024Financial Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis and Business Valuation. I started my teaching experience at London Business School, where I taught classes and seminars at the undergraduate and MBA level.