Professor of Finance at Boston College Carroll School of Management. samhartzmark.com
Joined June 2017
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2 Photos and videos
Does this make me the dividend scrooge?
For most investors, listening to this podcast is like learning Santa isn't who you thought he was.
Bummer. But also....good to know, right? Do you feel a little taken advantage of? Embarrassed?
Probably.
But certainly better than believing in some magical free 12% yield!
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Thanks @MebFaber ! It was a lot of fun to talk about dividends.
My conversation with Samuel Hartzmark (@SamHartzmark), who may be the most knowledgeable person on irrational investor behavior related to dividends.
We cover:
โข ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ - Dividends are ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต passive income
โข ๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด - Mutual funds purchase stocks before dividend payments to artificially increase their dividends
โข ย ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด - Investors are willing to pay 15-20% higher expense ratios for a fund marketed as "Income" or "Dividend Focused"
โข ย ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ - Demand changes based on interest rates and recent market performance
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We did a survey on how dividends work and received thousands of responses...
Q: "Which of the following best describes how dividends work for a stock investor?"
A1: "A stock yields 5%. The stock is trading at $100 and pays a $5 cash dividend. After distribution, the investor now has a stock worth $95 and a $5 cash dividend."
A2: "A stock yields 5%. The stock is trading at $100 and pays a $5 cash dividend. After distribution, the investor now has a stock worth $100 and a $5 cash dividend."
The good news? Meb's audience (mostly) gets its.
90% of pros understand how dividends work, and 80% of individuals. ๐
HOWEVER, for the broad-based audience, the results are DISMAL.
60% of pros understand how dividends work (despite 90% rating their knowledge at "average to very good")...
Only 25% of individuals understand how dividends work.
You read that right, 75% of individuals think that dividends are free money paid out like an allowance or bonus...
This agrees with my experience over the last 20 years.
Most individuals, and a non-trivial number of professionals, do not understand the most basic input in all of investing!
This explains everything from the irrational preference for dividends to predatory offerings focused on paying out magically high dividends to hope and dreams of passive income.
We will publish a longer paper on this soon, but in the meantime, stay tuned for a great podcast on the topic dropping shortly!
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Samuel Hartzmark retweeted
5 Sep 2025
This is a *phenomenal* piece from @denitsa_tsekova and @VildanaHajric on the bonkers rise of @YieldMaxETFs and the cult that's grown around some pretty wild ... interpretations ... of how investing math works. Must reading for ETF nerds.
5 Sep 2025
"Iโve always had what they call the โshiny object syndrome,โโ - unemployed GenX-er and former meme coin trader, who turned $5k into $160k using high yielding ETFs. Good, balanced, look into the exploding market for 'income on steroids' ETFs from @denitsa_tsekova @VildanaHajric
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Samuel Hartzmark retweeted
23 May 2025
Professor @SamHartzmark has the most interesting research out there when it comes to investor behavior. Strongly recommended you check out his research website: sites.google.com/site/samharโฆ
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Samuel Hartzmark retweeted
22 May 2025
Dividend chasers... YOU are the yield.
...a thread (h/t @alphaarchitect)
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Avoid the Black Hat firms at all costs .
Fun podcast....wonder what % of investments are made based upon misunderstanding this one chart?
Over half?
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcasโฆ
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Samuel Hartzmark retweeted
18 Mar 2025
According to the paper "The Dividend Month Premium," by @SamHartzmark, investors are chasing yield and inflating prices in the process.
In a surprising turn of events, it turns out that dividend investors are the yield!
18 Mar 2025
Dividends are the comfort food of investing. Who wouldnโt love feeling like theyโre getting a seemingly โfreeโ payout just for holding onto a stock?
by @JOrdonezJr
youtube.com/watch?v=DuYQfktwโฆ
alphaarchitect.com/?p=94467
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Samuel Hartzmark retweeted
6 May 2024
NEWSLETTER: The stock market has done even better than you think.
link.cnbc.com/public/3527439โฆ
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11 Apr 2024
Wonderful to see @Vanguard_Group discussing the importance of shifting default performance metrics to total returns. Kudos to @mark_hebner for trying to make this important goal a reality.
10 Apr 2024
Here's an approved statement from Rodney Comegys, Global Head of Equity Index Group at @Vanguard_Group ย
ย โPrice return calculations for indexes are largely a holdover from the early days of indexes. Before computers became ubiquitous, price returns were much simpler to calculate, and so became the default methodology for presenting index returns. Despite many decades of advancements in computing and the advantages of evaluating total returns, price return calculations are still commonly quoted. Vanguard believes that total returns present a more comprehensive assessment of the investor experience, and should be the go-to method for presenting and discussing returns in the capital markets.โ
Please review and sign my petition to change the presentation of indexes in the media to total return indexes at ifa.com/petition
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11 Apr 2024
@david_h_solomon and I explored the wide ranging impact of showing a systematically biased number for market performance. It influences the press, fund flows, market betas, long-run expectations and can help explain some AP puzzles. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.โฆ
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Samuel Hartzmark retweeted
23 Oct 2023
Explore the intersection of asset pricing and behavioral finance with CSOM finance professor @Samhartzmark in this recent episode of the @RationalRemind podcast.
loom.ly/wODQbNM
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Samuel Hartzmark retweeted
5 Oct 2023
Episode 273: Professor @SamHartzmark: Asset Pricing, Behavioural Finance, and Sustainability Ranking
rationalreminder.ca/podcast/โฆ
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Counterproductive #SustainableInvesting: What is the impact of directing capital toward green firms & away from brown firms?
Find Out More: spkl.io/60194dzG5
Subscribe for Free: spkl.io/60104dzGg
@SPGlobal @SamHartzmark @ChicagoBooth @YaleSOM #ESG #Sustainability
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Samuel Hartzmark retweeted
27 Mar 2023
SRI is ineffective because it focuses on %, not absolute changes in emissions. Allure of Net Zero means we'd rather reduce a green firm's emissions from 1 to 0 (a 100% fall) than a brown firm's from 100 to 90 (a 10% fall). By @SamHartzmark and Kelly Shue. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.โฆ
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22 Mar 2023
Thanks @matt_levine for the amazing write up of my new paper with Kelly Shue (@YaleSOM). Really appreciate it! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.โฆ
22 Mar 2023
Itโs toxic waste. From an investor point of view, this is a dead newsletter. bloomberg.com/opinion/articlโฆ
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Samuel Hartzmark retweeted
12 Dec 2022
This one by @SamHartzmark and @david_h_solomon blows up a lot of standard fundamental assumptions about financial markets too.
Money flows affect stock prices independently of news.
nber.org/papers/w30688
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Does trading move the entire stock market? Yesโreturns are four times higher on high dividend payment days (known weeks prior). This suggests price pressure is widespread, not an anomaly, from @SamHartzmark and @david_h_solomon nber.org/papers/w30688
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Samuel Hartzmark retweeted
14 Sep 2022
April 27-29, 2023: @UKGattonCollege Finance Conf! Our fab prg comm includes @startupecon @prof_cookson @ProfSongMa @PagelMichaela @Ed_Van_Wesep @Zhi_Da @SamHartzmark @jickerson @Ringgenberg_M @YufengWu14 @NGantchev @lukestein Submission deadline: Nov 18 uky.edu/financeconference/
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Samuel Hartzmark retweeted
8 Sep 2022
Behavioral finance conference in Amsterdam. Experimental setup can help us better understanding asset prices in keynote by @SamHartzmark
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