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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

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

Beleggen met impact in Nederlands zorgvastgoed

15 April 2022 in VBA Journaal door Joep Munten

STABIELE INKOMSTEN DOOR TE INVESTEREN IN VERDUURZAMING EN ENERGIETRANSITIE

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.

Zoeken naar voorspelbare cashflows bij infrastructuur

15 April 2022 in VBA Journaal door Door David van Bragt en Ronald Kok

Het VBA Journaal sprak voor deze editie met Patrick Kanters, Managing Director Global Real Estate & Infrastructure bij APG Asset Management. Hij is bij APG AM verantwoordelijk voor de beleggingen in “real assets”, het onderwerp van dit nummer. In het geval van APG zijn dit met name beleggingen in vastgoed, infrastructuur maar ook zogenaamde “natural resources”. Deze laatste categorie omvat investeringen in onder meer bosbouw en agrarische grond. Patrick is, naast de real assets tak, ook verantwoordelijk voor private equity. Zijn team opereert vanuit drie kantoren: Amsterdam, New York en Hong Kong.

Insights on existing and new drivers for impactful infrastructure investments

15 April 2022 in VBA Journaal door Dennis Jong and Mark Vuurberg

In today’s environment of volatile macro-economic policies and political swings, demand for investments yielding predictable and attractive stable returns is higher than ever. However, many low-risk instruments such as bonds continue to yield negative inflation-adjusted returns across Europe. Infrastructure may offer investors a balanced solution to manage these challenges. Infrastructure comprises physical assets which provide basic services required for a society to function, such as (toll) roads, electricity grids or power generation. These assets offer highly predictable revenues for multiple reasons; all income is contracted with reliable counterparties, sensitivity to economic cycles is limited as these assets tend to have monopolistic characters due to prohibitive costs of building competition and inflation protection is strong as infrastructure revenues are often linked directly or indirectly to inflation.

Bosbouw, meer dan het planten van bomen

15 April 2022 in VBA Journaal door Arie Gravendeel en Mark de Nooij

Voor beleggers in Europa was Bosbouw lange tijd vooral een verhaal van ‘onbekend maakt onbemind’. Gemotiveerd door de duurzame toepassingsmogelijkheden van hout, het behoud van bossen en de natuurlijke CO2-opslag, krijgt Bosbouw nu ook hier meer aandacht. Zeker met ‘Glasgow’ vers in het geheugen. Bomen slaan immers veel CO2 op. Oftewel, er is een ‘carbon sink’, wanneer het materiaal duurzaam wordt toegepast, zoals bij de bouw van huizen of voor meubelen. Ook lopen institutionele investeerders meer warm voor Bosbouwinvesteringen.

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