Publications

I had only just started as editor in chief of VBA Journaal when the credit crisis (‘the global financial crisis’) erupted. This event had a huge impact on both my professional life and my personal life. The investment funds that I oversaw were at risk of collapsing, banks were being held afloat with all sorts of buoyancy aids and the media were asking me to explain all this. My children, who were still very young at the time, wondered whether cash machines would continue to dispense money and whether their grandparents’ pensions were safe. My own portfolio halved in value. Through robust government intervention, the problems were controlled relatively quickly.

Pension funds around the world are increasingly investing in alternative assets, and the most important of these “alternatives” is real estate. We employ the CEM global pension fund database to shed light on the determinants of pension fund allocation to real estate, both over time and in the cross-section. We find that pension funds’ strategic allocation to real estate – net of return effects – is the result of the historical performance of real estate relative to other asset classes, and that pension funds quickly adjust their actual allocation rate to their strategic allocation decisions.

LANGE TERMIJN SMALL-CAP AANDELENPORTEFEUILLE ALS ALTERNATIEF VOOR PRIVATE AANDELEN

Dutch listed companies have, over the past decades, become increasingly engaged with the social and environmental footprints of their activities. This engagement has varied in intensity, with some companies leading international sustainability rankings while others are just getting started. Despite these efforts, it is clear that governments, investors, customers and society at large are demanding more corporate responsibility for global issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss and human rights abuses.

Johan is beleggingsdeskundige en adviseert pensioenfondsen bij BM Fiduciair Beheer. Pensioenfonds SAGA is Johans grootste klant. Tijdens de laatste bestuursvergadering bespreekt het bestuur een investering in een infrastructuurproject waar Johan een analyse voor geschreven heeft. Op basis van grondig, zorgvuldig en behoedzaam onderzoek van alle relevante kenmerken van de belegging is Johan tot de conclusie gekomen dat dit infrastructuurproject in de context van de totale portefeuille geen meerwaarde heeft voor Pensioenfonds SAGA. Het bestuur besluit toch de investering te doen en het vraagt Johan een analyse te schrijven waaruit blijkt dat dit een geschikte belegging is voor SAGA zodat het besluit goed onderbouwd wordt. Moet Johan aan het verzoek van zijn klant gehoor geven en de positieve analyse schrijven?