Background

Professor Spilker is an Associate Professor of Finance and Shidler Faculty Fellow at the Shidler College of Business, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. 

His research focuses on the social networks of institutional investors and their impact on portfolio decisions, performance measurement of alternative investments, and the evolving role of passive investing within active mutual fund families. His work has been published in leading academic journals such as the Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and the Journal of Banking and Finance, and has been featured in media outlets including Bloomberg and Institutional Investor Magazine. Professor Spilker teaches across the undergraduate and master’s programs in the areas of investments, portfolio management and optimization, financial derivatives, and risk management. He is widely recognized for his teaching excellence.

Before entering academia, Professor Spilker advised institutional clients on hedge fund portfolio construction at Cambridge Associates and K2 Advisors, conducted equity research at UBS, and managed public equity investments at Terrapin Creek Capital, a family office. Earlier in his career, he held financial roles at Harvard University and General Electric, and served as an F-16 crew chief in the U.S. Air National Guard.

He holds a Ph.D. in Finance from Boston College, an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park, a graduate diploma in management from Harvard University, and a B.S. in Finance from Virginia Tech. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) charterholder and currently serves on the board of the CFA Society Hawai‘i.