Our publications | CFA Society VBA Netherlands

The future of responsible investing

1 October 2022 in VBA Journaal door Rob Bauer

I am very honoured and thankful that the VBA Journal invited me to contribute to its special 150th edition. In this article, I will share my personal perspective on the responsible investing phenomenon. I will first look back at the past two decades in which responsible investing transformed from a niche product to a hyped set of investment solution services. I will then highlight several implicit trade-offs and conflicts of interest that materialize in the many manifestations of responsible investing such as divestment, engagement, and ESG-integration strategies.

Not yet over: 2008

1 October 2022 in VBA Journaal door Jaap Koelewijn, Director Financieel Denkwerk (former editor-in-chief VBA Journaal winter 2008 up to and including summer 2016)

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.

Signals are green for quant investing

1 October 2022 in VBA Journaal door David Blitz and Pim van Vliet

In this article we will reflect on the developments in the field of quant investing and argue that the future looks bright. With decades worth of experience at actively navigating multiple investment cycles we have learned that a long-term winning formula can sometimes feel like riding a rollercoaster in the short run. Due to this cyclical nature quant investing is often more a test of character than a test of intelligence and ‘strong hands’ are a necessary condition for success.

Broadening our thinking as the basis for finance professionals

1 October 2022 in VBA Journaal door Theo Kocken

Through the various crises in recent decades, it has become clear that the world is fundamentally uncertain – and not stochastically uncertain. With the new insights based on, among other things, complexity theory, it starts to dawn in science and in practice, that we need a greater diversity of models and tools. From Agent Based Modeling and network theory to premortems and scenario thinking. These will enhance financial risk management practices.

DeFi and the foundation of a new finance

1 October 2022 in VBA Journaal door Campbell R. Harvey

Out with the old

The Determinants of Institutional Capital Allocation to Real Estate

1 October 2022 in VBA Journaal door Alexander Carlo, Piet Eichholtz and Nils Kok

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.

Unfortunately people are not donkeys

1 October 2022 in VBA Journaal door Hans de Ruiter

I was editor-in-chief of VBA Journaal from 2001 until 2008. We had just emerged from a period when most of the articles that we received were written by academics. Quite often, this meant that the content of the magazine and the requirements and interests of our readers were not properly aligned. From 2001 onwards it was mainly authors who actually worked in the financial sector that provided us with articles. In the beginning, this took some effort on our part, but the process became easier as time went on – especially because as editors we actively tried to come up with interesting themes and looked for authors to match.

A survey of the developments in quantitative finance

1 October 2022 in VBA Journaal door Mark Geene, Roy Hoevenaars and Sander Nooij

Fast-speaking Koijen talks about the financial markets with great passion. His main focus is why financial markets fluctuate as much as they do. “If on a given day the market rises or falls, you can usually come up with a few possible reasons. But no one really knows. Even when quarterly figures are published, we have a hard time explaining why share prices go up or down. That is one of the crucial questions that my collaborators and I are asking”, says the professor.

Green hydrogen as an investment opportunity

15 April 2022 in VBA Journaal door Richard Braakenburg and Lucas van Berkestijn

According to the World Resources Institute, the energy sector is responsible for approximately 73% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Accordingly, directing capital towards investments that support the transition of the energy sector towards a decarbonised, decentralised, flexible, and consumer-oriented future will be a decisive factor in determining which global warming trajectory we will follow from here on out.

Samenvatting van RBA-scriptie

15 April 2022 in VBA Journaal door Gregory Landbrug is Equity Portfolio Manager bij a.s.r

LANGE TERMIJN SMALL-CAP AANDELENPORTEFEUILLE ALS ALTERNATIEF VOOR PRIVATE AANDELEN

Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know: And Many Others You Will Find Interesting

15 April 2022 in VBA Journaal door Review door Tjitsger Hulshoff, (Delegated) CIO, Fiduciary Manager bij APG Asset Management

De wereld is onvergelijkbaar verbeterd in de afgelopen decennia. Armoede en honger zijn bijna verdwenen, grondstoffen zijn goedkoper, de aarde wordt groener, oorlog is een uitzondering, steeds minder mensen sterven door natuurrampen. Zo was de status althans toen Bailey en Tupy hun boek publiceerden, ruim voor het uitbreken van de Oekraïne crisis begin 2022.

Sustainability embedding in Dutch listed companies

15 April 2022 in VBA Journaal door Constantijn van Aartsen, Rob Bauer, Tereza Bauer and Mieke Olaerts

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.

Het verzoek

15 April 2022 in VBA Journaal door Rik Albrecht, CFA, CPE

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?

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