Sovereign Wealth Funds Targets Selection: A Comparison with Pension Funds

CFA Digest ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark K. Bhasin
Author(s):  
William L. Megginson ◽  
Diego Lopez ◽  
Asif I. Malik

State-owned investors (SOIs), including sovereign wealth funds and public pension funds, have $27 trillion in assets under management in 2020, making these funds the third largest group of asset owners globally. SOIs have become the largest and are among the most important private equity investors, and they are key investors in other alternative asset investments such as real estate, infrastructure, and hedge funds. SOIs are also leaders in promoting environmental, social, and governance policies and corporate social responsibility policies in investee companies. We document the rise of SOIs, assess their current investment policies, and describe how their state ownership both constrains and enhances their investment opportunity sets. We survey the most impactful recent academic research on sovereign wealth funds, public pension funds, and their closest financial analogs, private pension funds. We also introduce a new Governance-Sustainability-Resilience Scoreboard for SOIs and survey research examining their role in promoting good corporate governance. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Financial Economics, Volume 13 is November 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Author(s):  
John A. Sandwick ◽  
Pablo Collazzo

Abstract Despite Muslims comprising a quarter of the world’s population, almost none of the $100 trillion in professionally managed global assets are sharia compliant. Constraints such as ESG and SRI are common among pension funds, endowments and sovereign wealth funds. Typical constraints include alcohol, tobacco, weapons and environmentally damaging activities. Such securities are excluded from morally constrained portfolios. Sharia applies the same, but adds one more key constraint: securities with debt-related features. Otherwise, sharia is identical to most ethical constraints. This study shows the results of constructing optimized, multi-asset, globally allocated portfolios while respecting sharia. The construction of these portfolios follows contemporary regulatory standards and professional best practices that evolved from investment theory. Results indicate multi-asset sharia portfolios have at least equal return and risk characteristics to conventional peers, or are perhaps in some ways superior. Many Muslims profess to care about sharia, including with their savings. This study provides insight for professional asset managers in applying sharia with modern portfolio theory, which could substantially enhance wealth and asset managers seeking business in this sector.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 523-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Newell ◽  
Muhammad Jufri Marzuki

Purpose Amongst the alternative property sectors, student accommodation has recently become an important institutionalised property sector for pension funds and sovereign wealth funds in the global property landscape, particularly in the UK. The purpose of this paper is to assess the significance, risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of student accommodation in a UK property and mixed-asset portfolio over 2011–2017. Drivers and risk factors for the ongoing development of the student accommodation sector are also identified. The question of student accommodation being a proxy for residential property exposure by institutional investors is also assessed. Design/methodology/approach Using annual total returns, the risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of UK student accommodation over 2011–2017 is assessed. Asset allocation diagrams are used to assess the role of student accommodation in a UK property portfolio and in a UK mixed-asset portfolio for a range of property investor types. Findings UK student accommodation delivered superior risk-adjusted returns compared to UK property, stocks and REITs over 2011–2017, with portfolio diversification benefits. Importantly, this sees UK student accommodation as strongly contributing to the UK property and mixed-asset portfolios across the entire portfolio risk spectrum and validating the property industry perspective of student accommodation being low risk and providing diversification benefits. Student accommodation is also not seen to be a proxy for residential exposure by institutional investors. Practical implications Student accommodation is an alternative property sector that has become increasingly institutionalised in recent years. The results highlight the important role of student accommodation in a UK property portfolio and in a UK mixed-asset portfolio. The strong risk-adjusted performance of UK student accommodation compared to UK property, stocks and REITs over this timeframe sees UK student accommodation contributing to the mixed-asset portfolio across the entire portfolio risk spectrum. This is particularly important, as many investors (e.g. pension funds, sovereign wealth funds) now see student accommodation as an important property sector in their overall portfolio. Originality/value This paper is the first published empirical research analysis of the risk-adjusted performance of UK student accommodation, and the role of student accommodation in a UK property portfolio and in a UK mixed-asset portfolio. This research enables empirically validated, more informed and practical property investment decision making regarding the strategic role of student accommodation as an alternative property sector in a portfolio.


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