Eric R. Nierenberg, who joined the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management board in November to oversee hedge fund and low-volatility investments, has been lauded for his work as an adjunct professor at the Brandeis University International Business School.
Mr. Nierenberg, one of the senior investment officers at Boston-based MassPRIM, which oversees $51 billion in assets, received the 2013 Faculty Teaching Award at the Waltham, Mass., business school. The award is based on nominations made by graduate students. He was honored for his work teaching options and derivatives, which one student said “have always been intimidating subjects to many students, but in Professor Nierenberg's class, we get a sort of bottom-up understanding of these concepts. He also shares with us his experiences with the state pension fund, which gives us a further understanding of a different realm of the finance world.”
“It means a lot to me,” Mr. Nierenberg said of the award. He said using his day-to-day experience at MassPRIM provides context; otherwise learning about options and derivatives can be “a mathematical slog.” “I can say, "Hey, I was actually talking to this hedge fund yesterday about this.'” he said.
Also, he added, “I tell (students) that this also helps me do my job — the topics are fresh in my mind.”
