William Gerken: 2025-26 University Research Professor Q&A

William Gerken, Ph.D., Real Estate Endowed Professor of Finance and director of the certificate in financial planning in the University of Kentucky Gatton College of Business and Economics, has been honored as a 2025-26 University Research Professor.

Gerken’s research focuses on financial intermediation, with emphasis on investment advisory misconduct. Using unique data obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, Gerken was an early leader in what has become a growing subfield examining misconduct among financial advisors.

His research has been published in prestigious journals including the Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies and Journal of Financial Economics. His work has also been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and in reporting by NPR.

Gerken joined UK in 2012 and serves on the UK Retirement Plan Committee, helping direct retirement investing for university employees.

He spoke with UKNow about his latest honor as a University Research Professor in this Q&A.

UKNow: What does it mean to you to be recognized as a University Research Professor?

Gerken: Being recognized as a University Research Professor is truly humbling. At the University of Kentucky, with its remarkable research enterprise spanning from our world-class health care system to innovative agricultural programs and outstanding business research, being selected for this honor is especially meaningful. This recognition highlights the real-world importance of studying financial advisor misconduct and developing protections that directly impact how everyday people interact with the financial system.

UKNow: How will the professorships program advance your research?

Gerken: The professorship will substantially advance my research by providing valuable resources to support ongoing and new projects in financial advisor misconduct. The financial support will allow me to strengthen collaborations with leading researchers in financial services regulation. The professorship will also provide me with dedicated time to pursue innovative research directions examining how regulatory approaches can better protect investors from misconduct. Additionally, it will help me disseminate my findings more broadly through conferences and other forums where I can engage with academics, industry practitioners and regulators.

UKNow: What inspired your focus on this area of research?

Gerken: My path to researching financial advisor misconduct began with a personal experience. While in graduate school, I experienced firsthand how a family member had been taken advantage of by an unscrupulous financial advisor who had made investments that primarily benefited himself at my relative’s expense. This experience showed me how vulnerable investors can be.

When I tried to find scholarly work that explained such financial exploitation, I discovered a critical gap. Virtually no publicly available systematic data existed on the financial advisory industry. The turning point came when I met Pat Huddleston, a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement attorney researching fraud for his book, who introduced me to using FOIA requests to access financial advisor data.

This revealed the potential of building a more comprehensive database of advisor misconduct through similar data requests. By developing new ways to study how misconduct spreads, such as examining financial firm mergers, I have uncovered patterns that might otherwise remain unnoticed. What began as a personal mission has evolved into a research program with regulatory impact, including being cited in the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), which requires financial professionals to act in their clients’ best interest — exactly the protection that could have helped my family member.

UKNow: How does your research impact Kentucky?

Gerken: My research impacts Kentucky in several meaningful ways. Most directly, as the director of the certificate in financial planning at UK, I’m training the next generation of financial advisors with an emphasis on ethical practice. Our program specifically prepares students to become Certified Financial Planners®, a credential that requires adherence to high ethical standards. This ensures Kentucky residents have access to well-trained, ethical financial professionals who understand the importance of putting client interests first.

Beyond the classroom, my research has informed regulatory changes that protect all investors, including Kentuckians. These improvements help create a safer investment environment for Kentucky residents, particularly retirees who are often targeted by unethical advisors.

About the University Research Professors
Each year, the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees approves a cohort of faculty as University Research Professors. The distinction recognizes excellence in work that addresses scientific, social, cultural and economic challenges in Kentucky and the world.

College leadership developed criteria for excellence within their area of expertise and then nominated faculty who excelled at these criteria. Each University Research Professor receives a one-year award of $10,000.