Faculty Profile

Education: MBA, University of Chicago; PhD, University of Hawaii. At SPU since 2022.

Finance is fun and important. Prior to teaching at SPU, Dr. DeJong was an Associate Professor of Finance and Department Chair at Nova Southeastern University in Florida and an Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Hawaii’s School of Travel Industry Management. He earned his Ph.D. in Finance at the University of Hawaii in Manoa and his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) from the CFA Institute, both in 2007. He is a life–long learner having earned his MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago in 1978 and his BA in Mathematics and Business Administration from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1976. Concurrent with his academic career, he does consulting work with other businesses and non–profits through DeJong Enterprises, Inc., and co –founded Nest Egg Guru, an online app for individuals to test their retirement preparedness with its Retirement Savings Calculator and Retirement Spending Calculator. Prior to his academic career he was an entrepreneur and business owner. He owned and managed Van’s Furniture, Inc., a large and successful retail furniture store. In addition, he actively daytraded stocks and ETFs as well as developed investment strategies based on momentum. He especially enjoys teaching students how investments and financial management improve their personal financial lives and their careers. His main areas of research are investing in ETFs and retirement planning for both saving prior to retirement and spending during retirement.  

Selected Publications

• “A Case Study in Sequence Risk: A 20–year retrospective on the impact of the 2000–2002 and 2007–2009 bear markets on retirement nest egg sustainability.” (co–authored with John H. Robinson) 2021. Forthcoming in the Journal of Wealth Management. This paper is available in SSRN since April 2021 where it has been viewed 1,128 times and downloaded 401 times.

• “CEO Incentives Shown to Yield Positive Societal Benefits” (co–authored with Rosita P. Chang, Robert Doktor, Lars Oxelheim, and Trond Rondoy) Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, (2019, August 26). [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2019/08/26/ceo-incentivesshown-to-yield-positive-societal-benefits/#more-12135/

• “Determinants of Retirement Portfolio Sustainability and Their Relative Impacts” (co–authored with John H. Robinson) Journal of Financial Planning, Volume 30, Issue 4, (April 2017), pp. 54–62.This paper was presented in September 2016 at the Financial Planning Association’s annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. Our paper won an award in FPA’s Academic Paper Competition where the nine finalists were invited to present at FPA’s annual meeting. This paper was presented at the South Florida FPA Conference in April 2017.

• “The Impact of CEO Long-term Compensation Incentives on Economic Growth in Collectivist versus Individualist Countries” (co–authored with Cynthia J. Campbell, Rosita P. Chang, Robert Doktor, Lars Oxelheim, and Trond Rondoy) Asian Economic Papers, Volume 15, No. 2, (Summer 2016), pp. 109–133. This paper was presented at the European International Business Association’s Annual Conference in Porto, Portugal in December 2010, as well as at Misr International University’s International Annual Conference in Cairo, Egypt in May 2011. This paper was presented at the
Asian Economic Panel conference in June 2015. This paper was presented at the Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management in Queenstown, New Zealand in December 2015, and won a best paper award in ANSAM’s Managing for Peak Performance stream.

• “Risk and the Volatility Anomaly” (co–authored with Charles Collver and Darshana Palkar) Journal of Investing, Volume 25, No. 3, (Fall 2016), pp. 17–28. This paper was presented at the Eastern Finance Association’s Annual Conference in St. Pete Beach, Florida in April 2013.

• “The Cost of Guaranteed Income: Demystifying the value proposition of variable annuities with guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) riders” (co–authored with Rosita P. Chang, Qianqiu Liu, Jack Suyderhoud, and John H. Robinson) Retirement Management Journal, Volume 4, No. 1, (Spring 2014), pp. 55–69. This paper was presented at the Academy of Financial Services’ Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL in October 2013.

• “Are Lifecycle Funds Getting a Bum Rap? A Comprehensive Comparison of Lifecycle versus Lifestyle Retirement Strategies from Accumulation Through Withdrawal” (co–authored with Qianqiu Liu, Rosita P. Chang, and John H. Robinson) Journal of Wealth Management , Volume 14, No. 2, (Fall 2011), pp. 68–84. This paper was presented in October 2010 at the Academy of Financial Services’ annual meeting in Denver, Colorado where it won a Best Paper Award.