Issues in Benchmarking Commodity Performance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Filbeck
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Investors ◽  
Portfolio Diversification ◽  
Exchange Traded Funds ◽  
Barriers To Entry ◽  
Index Funds ◽  
Asset Class ◽  
Asset Classes ◽  
Alternative Sources ◽  
The Many

Commodity investments have continued to gain traction in diversified portfolios since the 1990s. Historically low correlations relative to traditional asset classes, different fundamental drivers, and investor demand for alternative sources of return have brought commodity investments forward as a solution that provides overall portfolio diversification while maintaining similar long-term return streams. A large inflow of institutional investors and noncommercial traders has increased demand and lowered barriers to entry. Many of these investors simply want exposure to commodities as an asset class, often investing in index funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In some cases, investors assume that the underlying commodity indexes that these investment vehicles track represent appropriate benchmarks asset class performance. In reality, the many different commodity indexes available make benchmarking asset class performance more difficult.

Commodity Exchange-Traded Funds

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Milliken
Keyword(s):  
Portfolio Diversification ◽  
Futures Contracts ◽  
Spot Price ◽  
Exchange Traded Funds ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Regulatory Structure ◽  
Commodity Exchange ◽  
Asset Class ◽  
Exchange Traded Fund

Commodity exchange-traded funds (ETCs), which debuted in 2004, enable investors to access an asset class previously difficult or expensive to access. Although a small segment of the overall exchange-traded fund (ETF) universe, ETCs have grown in popularity with both speculators and investors looking for long-term portfolio diversification. Examples of the types of commodities that are now accessible through ETCs include gold, oil, and agricultural. The literature on ETCs is limited, but academic and industry work has centered on using futures contracts to replicate the performance of the underlying commodities spot price as well as the effect additional capital has had on the integrity of the futures market. This chapter covers this topic by reviewing the growth, investment strategies, and regulatory structure of ETCs as well as the underlying effects these funds have had on the underlying markets with which they engage.

A global investment opportunity in non-listed infrastructure for institutional investors

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Jufri Marzuki ◽  
Graeme Newell
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Investors ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Portfolio Diversification ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Smoothing Effects ◽  
Asset Class ◽  
Asset Classes

PurposeInfrastructure investment is one of the few high-calibre real alternative assets with a strong prominence in the portfolios of institutional investors, especially those with a liability-driven investment strategy. This has seen increased institutional investor interest in infrastructure for reasons such as diversification benefits and inflation hedging abilities, resulting in the substantial growth in non-listed and listed investment products offering access to the infrastructure asset class, and complementing the existing route via direct investment. This paper aims to assess the investment attributes of non-listed infrastructure over Q3:2008–Q2:2019, compared with other global listed assets of infrastructure, property, stocks and bonds.Design/methodology/approachQuarterly total returns were derived from the valuation-based MSCI global non-listed quarterly infrastructure asset index over Q2:2008–Q:2019, which were then filtered to decrease the valuation smoothing effects. A similar set of returns data was also collected for the other global asset classes. The average annual return, annual risk, risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits for non-listed infrastructure and other asset investment classes were then computed and compared. Lastly, a constrained optimal asset allocation analysis was performed to validate the performance enhancement role of global non-listed infrastructure in a mixed-asset investment framework.FindingsGlobal non-listed infrastructure delivered the strongest average annual total return performance, outperforming the other asset classes and provided investors with total returns that linked strongly with inflation. Global non-listed infrastructure also provided investors with one of the least volatile investment returns because of its ability to ensure predictable total returns delivery. This means that on the Sharpe ratio risk-adjusted return basis, non-listed infrastructure was also the strongest performing asset. This performance was also delivered with significant portfolio diversification benefits with all assets, resulting in non-listed infrastructure contributing to the mixed-asset portfolios across the entire portfolio risk spectrum.Practical implicationsAside from better risk-return trade-offs, institutional investors are getting more secular with their portfolios for alternative assets that are able to provide other investment benefits such as predictable long-term performance and inflation-linked returns. A further improvement in performance and diversification benefits could be achieved by enriching existing investment portfolios with real alternative assets, one of which is the infrastructure asset class. For institutional investors, having exposure to and being part of the development, delivery and management of infrastructure assets are important, as they are one of the few real assets having considerable significance in the context of society, economy and investment needs.Originality/valueThis is the first research paper that empirically investigates the investment attributes of the non-listed infrastructure at a global level. This research enables empirically validated, more informed and practical decision-making by institutional investors in the infrastructure asset class, especially via the non-listed pathway. The ultimate aim of this paper is to empirically validate the strategic role of non-listed infrastructure as an important alternative asset in the institutional real asset investment space, as well as in the overall portfolio context.

Institutional equity investing in Britain from 1900 to 2000

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Morecroft ◽  
Craig Turnbull
Keyword(s):  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Institutional Investors ◽  
Equity Markets ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Asset Class

In Britain around 1900, established financial institutions for long-term savings such as life assurers, and pension funds which were just in their formative phase, did not make material allocations to publicly quoted equity markets or ordinary shares; long-established life assurers, for example, had less than 3 per cent allocated to the asset class (Baker and Collins 2003). Over the following 100 years, this picture radically changed, with equities emerging as the central asset class for many institutional investors and the term ‘the cult of (the) equity’ was coined (Scott 2002; Avrahampour 2015). As the century progressed, institutional investors superseded private individuals and became the dominant holders of British publicly quoted companies (Cheffins 2010). Despite the attractions of the asset class and their generally high returns, within a relatively short period by the end of the century, institutional equity exposure had peaked and was in decline both at life assurers and within pension funds. Here we highlight, and link together, the key actuarial (Turnbull 2017) and investing (Morecroft 2017) ideas that were influential in these developments. We also identify the main individuals who were instrumental in the application of equity investing to institutional portfolios. The article has an emphasis towards years from 1920 to 1960 when most of the changes to investment practice and actuarial theory occurred.

scholarly journals Global Portfolio Diversification and Equity Market: Evidence from Trading Partners of Pakistan

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-34
Author(s):  
Muhammad Husnain ◽  
◽  
Ume Habiba ◽  
Shahnaz Arifullah ◽  
Izhar Muhammad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Portfolio Management ◽  
Equity Markets ◽  
Equity Market ◽  
Portfolio Diversification ◽  
Weekly Basis ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Portfolio Managers ◽  
Asset Classes

The influential work of Markowitz (1952, 1959) provides foundation to modern investment philosophy. Investors can reap the potential benefit of portfolio diversification only if the involved asset classes in investment basket are not perfectly correlated. Objective of this study is to empirically investigate the cointegration among equity market of Pakistan and its major trading partners (China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, UK and USA). Sample period of study starts from 2004 to 2015, on weekly basis. Bivariate cointegration (Johansen, 1991, 1995) analysis reveals that equity market of Pakistan has no long term relationship with any of the equity markets of its major trading partners. Therefore, we recommend to potential investors, portfolio managers, and policy makers that prospective benefit of portfolio diversification can be achieved by investing in the equity markets of major trading partners of Pakistan. Further, they should be vigilant regarding the co-movement among equity markets during portfolio management decisions.

scholarly journals Infrastructure Indices: Comparative Analysis of Performance, Risk and Representation of Global Listed Proxies

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitar Lambrev
Keyword(s):  
Interest Rates ◽  
Risk Characteristics ◽  
Low Interest Rates ◽  
Market Beta ◽  
Asset Class ◽  
Infrastructure Investments ◽  
Alternative Sources ◽  
Equity Index ◽  
Analysis Of Performance

Abstract Faced with historically low interest rates, investors are looking further into illiquid assets such as infrastructure in search of alternative sources of income, better diversification and a long-term investment perspective. This paper analyzes the key performance and risk characteristics of the EDHECinfra global unlisted infrastructure equity index when compared to the main global listed infrastructure indices during the 2001-2018 period. The descriptive statistics method is applied to determine the representation of the benchmarks commonly used by investors considering infrastructure investments. For the purpose of the market beta analysis, the MSCI World index is also used as a global equities proxy in a linear regression model. Listed infrastructure is often considered as an income-yielding and defensive equity strategy that provides a liquid proxy for alternative assets (e.g., infrastructure). However, the paper results indicate that the net effect of investing in listed infrastructure remains questionable, even unknown. Recent empirical findings demonstrate divergent stands on benchmarking infrastructure. The high correlation of the main listed infrastructure indices with the broad equity index MSCI World and the inconsistency of research results thus far suggest that infrastructure is an ill-defined investment category within the listed infrastructure space with lacking reliable and useful benchmarking. The commonly used and far-reaching classification of companies with broad industrial nature and business activities that are less relevant to infrastructure may affect the overall representation of the legitimate characteristics of the infrastructure asset class amid the growing enthusiasm among investors.

Emerging Market Sovereign Debts as a Means for Profit Maximization and Portfolio Diversification

2016 ◽  
pp. 334-354
Author(s):  
Abdurahman Jemal Yesuf
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Portfolio Diversification ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Asset Class ◽  
Asset Classes ◽  
International Investors ◽  
Sharpe Ratios

The case for emerging markets debts (EMD) has convinced many investors. This is an asset class that has been experiencing an increase in inflows and is getting international investors attention. During the past two decades, cross-border inflows into ‘emerging market' debt instruments have rose rapidly. Over twelve trillion dollar is currently invested in ‘Emerging Markets' debt. This asset classes has delivered strong returns over time and deserves consideration. Therefore, this paper is intended to show how and why Emerging Market debts are vital instrument in portfolio diversification by using descriptive analysis. The performance assessment has made by noting the unique statistical attributes of ‘emerging market' bond returns, such as their correlation with other asset classes and also by taking their annualized volatility rate and Sharpe ratios. The assessment has done based on compiled data from known sources such as JP Morgan, Bloomberg and other well known secondary data sources.

scholarly journals Assessing the Time-Frequency Co-Movements among the Five Largest Engineering Consulting Companies: A Wavelet-Base Metrics of Contagion and VaR Ratio

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 504
Author(s):  
Marcos Albuquerque Junior ◽  
José António Filipe ◽  
Paulo de Melo Jorge Neto ◽  
Cristiano da Costa da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Risk ◽  
Investment Horizon ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Engineering Consulting ◽  
Country Factors ◽  
Asset Class ◽  
Asset Classes ◽  
International Assets ◽  
Portfolio Return

Diversification in a portfolio is an important tool for the systematic risk management that is inherent to different asset classes. The composition of a portfolio with domestic and international assets is seen as one of the main alternatives for building a diversified portfolio, as this approach tends to reduce portfolio return exposure depending on country factors. However, in scenarios where industry factors are predominant, international diversification can increase systematic risk in a portfolio centered on a single asset class. This study is a pioneer in using wavelet-based methods to identify intersectoral co-movements, based on a portfolio of shares of the world’s top five consulting engineering companies, providing an innovative way to be applied to this phenomenon. Our evidence indicates that companies share a strong pattern of co-movements among themselves, especially in cycles of 32 to 64 days, suggesting a higher exposure to risk for portfolios with an investment horizon in long-term cycles.

Correlation of Uncorrelated Asset Classes

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Jeffry Haber ◽  
Andrew Braunstein
Keyword(s):  
Portfolio Theory ◽  
Portfolio Diversification ◽  
Random Numbers ◽  
Statistical Measure ◽  
Modern Portfolio Theory ◽  
Investment Return ◽  
Key Driver ◽  
Asset Classes

Diversification of a portfolio has long been held as one of the cornerstones of modern portfolio theory and a key driver of investment return over the long term. Correlation is the statistical measure used to quantify diversification. The degree to which asset classes correlate will determine the degree of portfolio diversification (or lack thereof). Many investment products are being sold that claim of correlation utilizing two series of random numbers, as well. For and misleading.

Institutional investor management of Australian healthcare property assets as a pandemic-proof asset class

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Jufri Marzuki ◽  
Graeme Newell
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Investors ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Institutional Investor ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
Portfolio Diversification ◽  
Portfolio Optimisation ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Asset Class

PurposeAs the prolonged effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has materially impacted investment returns significantly, it is more crucial than ever for institutional investors to redefine their property portfolios using assets with better investment management potential and meaningful diversification benefits. The “alternative asset revolution” is gaining traction in the property investment space internationally among institutional investors due to the shifting investment attitudes towards the alternative property sectors. Australia's $205bn healthcare property sector is at the forefront of this revolution due to its societal significance, as well as its attractive investment qualities. This paper investigates the institutional investor management of the Australian healthcare property sector via both the direct and listed channels and empirically analyses its investment attributes.Design/methodology/approachUsing the unique Morgan Stanley Capital International/Property Council of Australia quarterly data set for Australian direct healthcare property over 2006–2020, the risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification potential direct healthcare property and listed healthcare were assessed. A constrained mean-variance portfolio optimisation framework was used to develop a six-asset portfolio scenario to analyse the portfolio added-value benefits of both direct healthcare property and listed healthcare in a mixed-asset investment strategy. A similar set of analysis was performed using the post-global financial crisis (GFC) quarterly time series of 2009–2020 to investigate the healthcare asset class' performance dynamics in the post-GFC investment timeframe.FindingsThe results indicate that direct healthcare property and listed healthcare offer two key advantages for institutional investors in managing their property portfolios: (1) a stable yet superior risk-adjusted performance and (2) significant portfolio diversification potential in managing their property portfolios. Importantly, both direct healthcare property and listed healthcare provided valuable contributions in strengthening an investment portfolio's performance. The post-GFC sub-period analysis revealed a consistent conclusion regarding the healthcare asset class's performance attributes.Originality/valueThis is the first research that provides an independent empirical examination of the strategic importance of Australian healthcare property as a maturing alternative property sector that can serve both investment and environmental, social and governance goals of investors. This research presents a positive investment prognosis for the Australian healthcare property sector to achieve its institutionalised status as a mainstream asset class of the future.

Emerging Market Sovereign Debts as a Means for Profit Maximization and Portfolio Diversification

2017 ◽  
pp. 2278-2298
Author(s):  
Abdurahman Jemal Yesuf
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Portfolio Diversification ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Asset Class ◽  
Asset Classes ◽  
International Investors ◽  
Sharpe Ratios

The case for emerging markets debts (EMD) has convinced many investors. This is an asset class that has been experiencing an increase in inflows and is getting international investors attention. During the past two decades, cross-border inflows into ‘emerging market' debt instruments have rose rapidly. Over twelve trillion dollar is currently invested in ‘Emerging Markets' debt. This asset classes has delivered strong returns over time and deserves consideration. Therefore, this paper is intended to show how and why Emerging Market debts are vital instrument in portfolio diversification by using descriptive analysis. The performance assessment has made by noting the unique statistical attributes of ‘emerging market' bond returns, such as their correlation with other asset classes and also by taking their annualized volatility rate and Sharpe ratios. The assessment has done based on compiled data from known sources such as JP Morgan, Bloomberg and other well known secondary data sources.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document