Alternatives and Liquidity: Will Spending and Capital Calls Eat Your “Modern” Portfolio?

An award for the academic paper with the most relevance to institutional investors, as judged by a panel including the chief investment officers of three large European pension funds, has been awarded to Laurence B Siegel, for his paper “Alternatives and Liquidity: Will Spending and Capital Calls Eat Your ‘Modern’ Portfolio?” published in the Journal of Portfolio Management.

Siegel, who has authored more than 70 articles and one book, Benchmarks and Investment Management, was a previous member of the editorial board of the Journal of Portfolio Management and the Journal of Investing.

The inaugural EDHEC Robeco Journal of Portfolio Management Award is awarded to the author of the academic paper
published in the Journal of Portfolio Management in the previous calendar year which, in the opinion of the jury, has had the most relevance for institutional investors.

Siegel’s paper was chosen following a two-stage selection process, firstly involving a panel of academic experts who
drew up a shortlist of potential winning papers, and then a final vote from a jury made up of three chief investment officers from leading European pension funds.

The pension fund representatives on the selection committee were: Johan van der Ende, chief investment officer, PGGM, Frederic Methlow, chief investment officer, AVS-AHV Compensation Fund, and Tom Steenkamp, chief investment officer for asset allocation and research, APG.

Siegel, who is renowned as a “bull”, was appointed as research director of the Research Foundation at the CFA Institute in 2005, he has also served as the director of research in the investment division of the Ford Foundation, and was a former managing director of consulting firm Ibbotson Associates.

Sponsored Content

Part of his (voluntary) role at the Research Foundation was to emphasise research of practical value to investment
professionals, while exploring new and challenging topics that provided a unique perspective.

At the time of his appointment to the CFA’s Research Foundation he said: “Some thoughtful investors have expressed concern that the “glory days” of discovery in finance are in the past, beginning in the 1950s with Harry Markowitz’s work and ending in the 1970s with the Black-Scholes option pricing formula.

“While these founding events are monumentally important, discovery has continued, practical financial innovation
has greatly accelerated, and the direct impact of finance on people’s lives has dramatically increased. The monograph series will both reflect these innovations and try to advance them further.”

He received both his BA and his MBA from the University of Chicago.

His winning paper can be found at http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/abs/10.2469/dig.v39.n2.14

Leave a Comment

Sort content by

No free lunch in asset allocation

In his editorial for the November/December issue of the Financial Analysts Journal, Richard Ennis confidently consigns the term “uncorrelated return” to the scrap heap of asset allocation lingo, reminding readers there is no free lunch in asset allocation, and that in order to collect the risk premium, investors must also bear the risk.mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content

Japan’s pension giant hires, fires managers while buying up domestic bonds

The world’s largest institutional investor, the Â¥122,100 billion ($1.4 trillion) Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan (GPIF), has increased its allocation to domestic bonds and short-term assets at the expense of international bonds and domestic and international equities in the six months since the end of its fiscal year, a period which saw 12 managers

Around the world with 12 themes

The stockpicking view of Mark Tinker, global portfolio manager of Axa Framlington, has been greatly influenced by his career on the sell side of the investment management business. He spoke to Amanda White about a thematic approach to global equities and why, uniquely, two new themes have emerged in the wake of the financial crisis

Bahrain SWF may sell 25pc of Gulf Air

The $9 billion Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, is considering selling a stake in national carrier Gulf Air as it eyes more liquid investments. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Mubadala builds stadium for Abu Dhabi

Mubadala Development, the $14 billion strategic investment arm of the Abu Dhabi, has invited contractors to submit design and construction plans for a 65,000-seat sports stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

CalPERS backs internal, external FI managers amid liquidity ‘conundrum’

After missing the strong rally in the US high yield debt market, the $201.3 billion CalPERS’ global fixed income program, which manages about a quarter of the fund’s assets, has extended its mandates with external managers and will continue actively managing its US debt portfolio internally. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Previous