Trend Talk: New Finance Faculty Share Research, Teaching Insights
The Finance Area welcomes four new faculty members this fall.
The Finance Area recently welcomed four new faculty members, who bring a wealth of teaching experience to our classrooms, with expertise that covers real estate, mutual funds, risk management, household finance and more.
We asked the new assistant professors about themselves, their approach to teaching and current trends related to their research. Here are some of their answers.
Min Kim
A certified public accountant, Kim received her Ph.D. in finance from the University of Southern California. Before academia, she was an associate at South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service, where she received the Minister of Economy and Finance’s Award.
Her research interests include asset pricing, mutual funds, real estate finance, labor economics, financial econometrics, game theory, and mechanism design.
When she’s not in the classroom, she enjoys watching movies and dramas, yoga classes and listening to music.
“Lately, I’ve had ‘Golden’ by Huntr/X on repeat,” she said. “It’s become my go-to soundtrack.”
What should every investor do before putting money into the market?
Every investor should first understand the goal of investing. It’s not about getting rich — it’s about supporting a steady, sustainable lifestyle, especially after you stop working. Whether you’re investing for yourself or a client, the key is making sure the money is there when it’s needed most.
You’ve been recognized for teaching excellence. What teaching methods work best in the classroom?
I like to think of teaching finance as helping students build “finance muscles” in their brain. I focus on developing their financial intuition through real-world examples — so they’re not just memorizing formulas but truly grasping how these concepts apply to the decisions they’ll make in their finance careers and everyday lives.
How do you think your past experiences will help you at Cal Poly?
I’ve been fortunate to learn and teach in a variety of academic settings, each offering unique perspectives and experiences. I hope to bring that richness into the classroom at Cal Poly and help create an engaging and well-rounded learning experience for students.
Ndackyssa Oyima-Antseleve
Dedicated to developing advanced risk management and corporate governance strategies, Oyima-Antseleve’s current research focuses on cyber risk and blockchain technology.
Oyima-Antseleve, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Dallas’ Naveen Jindal School of Management, believes finance can have a positive impact on society, especially by allowing people to smooth consumption over time.
In his free time, he enjoys gardening and baking with his wife.
“Since being in SLO, I have focused deeply on my research and have felt remarkably relaxed due to the nature and outdoor activities available,” he said.
How is technology changing finance?
Artificial intelligence software is already deciding who receives a loan, flagging suspicious card transactions, and assisting traders. Banks, insurers, and investment firms are projected to spend about $97 billion a year on AI by 2027, nearly triple the 2023 total.
This rapid adoption brings novel risks. A 2024 survey of more than 1,500 U.S. and U.K. finance professionals found that 53 percent had encountered deep‑fake or other AI‑generated phishing attempts, and regulators are tightening their grip. Europe’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), fully applicable since January 17, 2025, now requires every bank and broker to test, audit, and report on the technology vendors that keep their systems running.
In short, smarter technology promises faster, fairer access to financing, but firms and financial institutions must strengthen their cyber defenses and rigorously stress test these emerging risks.
Meanwhile, blockchain technology is shifting from the crypto fringe into mainstream finance.
What should concern the finance field most?
The very technologies that speed transactions also concentrate operational and cyber risk. A single smart contract flaw, oracle failure, or cloud outage could immobilize billions of dollars’ worth of tokenized assets and send shockwaves through the traditional financial system fairly quickly. Meanwhile, deep fake scams have already touched more than half of U.S. and U.K. firms, fueling a surge in phishing related losses. When technologies are adopted without proper risk management, they can create new vulnerabilities: Platforms that adopt blockchains without rigorous scrutiny can introduce single points of failure and systemic vulnerabilities.
My research, therefore, focuses on the policies, tools, and practices that companies, financial institutions, and regulators can deploy to manage these emerging threats. By charting effective ways to harden digital infrastructure and strengthen oversight, I aim to ensure that tomorrow’s technological advances deliver lasting benefits rather than becoming significant challenges for businesses and society as a whole.
What teaching methods work best in the classroom?
For me, poignant anecdotal evidence and real-life examples within my assignments, along with taking the time to adjust to the learning absorption of students, are key. Bringing practice into the classroom makes the learning experience more tangible and interesting. I want my students to view my class not just as a module to validate, but as a learning experience they could use in their actual lives.
Sakif Rahman
Rahman
, who earned his Ph.D. in finance from the University of Rochester Simon School of Business, has interests in the areas of empirical corporate and household finance, banking, fintech and experimental finance.
His current work focuses on the role of regulation in automated mortgage underwriting in impacting household credit access and the real economy as well as understanding the behavior of retail traders in financial brokerages through experiments.
When not teaching, he enjoys watching soccer, cricket and thriller movies.
“I also like to play soccer with the community here whenever I get the right opportunity,” he said.
Your research interests include mortgage underwriting. What’s a major development in that area that homebuyers should be aware of?
Mortgage underwriting is the process through which lenders screen prospective borrowers. A lot of the time this is done by inputting borrower details through an “automated” underwriting system which evaluates the borrower’s creditworthiness. My research focuses on the underwriting system of Fannie Mae, which is a government-sponsored enterprise. After the financial crisis, Fannie’s underwriting system had been rejecting many potential homebuyers whenever their monthly debt obligations exceeded 45 percent of their income. However, this changed during an update to their system in the third quarter of 2017. It is important to understand how such events affected the housing market where both loan applicants’ economic condition as well as lenders’ relationship with Fannie become important factors to consider.
What household finance challenges are unique to California?
California borrowers face certain challenges related to housing affordability which may not be the case in many parts of the US. Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac consider loans where applicants borrow at most 80% of the property value as part of standard underwriting.
Home values in California present many borrowers with a downpayment hurdle which make it difficult to qualify for loans via standard underwriting. As such they may get loan terms which may not be comparatively as favorable.
Another related issue is that of jumbo loans – those which exceed the conforming loan limit set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Such loans are not backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and generally have stricter underwriting requirements, including larger downpayments and typically higher interest rates. Given California’s exceptionally high home prices, especially in the coastal and metro areas, this poses challenges for many potential homebuyers.
To put some numbers into context, over 25 percent of mortgage originations in California are jumbo loans with that share being over 50 percent in the Bay Area counties. This is in contrast to the US national average jumbo share which is below 10 percent. While these are purely regulatory factors affecting borrowers, climate risks such as wildfire and even sea level rise have emerged as unique challenges affecting the housing market in California. These impact both the difficulty of obtaining insurance coverage and premiums, which in turn are linked to availability and pricing of mortgage credit and overall housing affordability in recent years.
Vinicios Sant’Anna
A former postdoctoral associate at the MIT Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics Lab, Sant’Anna holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois.
His research has focused on housing and real estate finance, urban-spatial economics, international trade, and empirical corporate finance.
When not teaching, he enjoys playing guitar, reading and taking long walks.
“As someone interested in real estate and housing, I also enjoy walking so I can better understand the cities and places I live and visit,” he said. “You really get a feel for the neighborhoods and properties when you are on foot rather than driving through.”
What trends can we expect in real estate nationally?
Housing affordability is perhaps the most pressing trend in real estate. House prices and rents have been increasing at a significantly faster rate in many cities across the country. While there are many reasons for the affordability issue — from land use regulations to stagnant productivity in construction — there is consensus among economists, policymakers and industry professionals that we need to build significantly more housing than we are currently building.
We are also experiencing a profound demographic shift that will have significant implications for the real estate industry. The decline in birth rates, smaller family sizes, the increase in single-person households and the aging of the population will have a critical impact on housing demand, including the types of housing we need and where.
Another big trend in real estate is the adoption of new technologies. Among all recent innovations, AI is already transforming the industry. While investors, developers, managers, and realtors continue to experiment with various applications of the technology, it has promising applicability in enhancing property valuation, risk assessment, and facilitating transaction processes.
What real estate challenges are unique to California?
Housing affordability is a critical challenge in California. For decades, California consistently ranks as one of the most expensive places to build in America, driving steep price increases that have prompted significant out-migration to more affordable states. The encouraging news is that policymakers are beginning to take meaningful steps to address the issue. Governor Gavin Newsom has recently signed new legislation aimed at simplifying regulations and streamlining permitting processes, representing a significant step toward addressing the housing supply constraints that have plagued the state for decades.
The increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, such as wildfires, also poses one of the main challenges for the state. Joining efforts from the federal, state, and local levels, along with private developers and insurance providers, will be crucial for implementing strategies to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters and enhance the resilience of Californian cities.
Why is this a good field for students to pursue?
Real Estate Finance is a very exciting field to study. First, real estate represents one of the largest asset classes in the world, so students are diving into an increasingly relevant part of the global economy. Second, real estate finance is intertwined with multiple dimensions of our economy. Because real estate is such a massive and complex asset class, there is constant demand for professionals who can navigate its intricacies. This translates into multiple opportunities for students to build successful and rewarding careers in the industry. Students tend to benefit significantly from mastering the fundamental concepts, principles, and analytical tools for making smart investment and finance decisions regarding real estate assets.
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