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

How many top100 sustainable companies do you invest in?

The most sustainable 100 companies in the world, as measured by Corporate Knights, outperformed the MSCI by 12.4 per cent since the list’s inception in February 2005, it was announced at Davos last week. From February 1, 2005, to December 31, 2011, the “Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations” list has achieved a total return of

Real economy the focus of bankers at Davos

A strong financial services sector is an integral part of solving the world’s “real challenges” of unemployment, poverty and global imbalances Josef Ackermann, chief executive of Deutsche Bank and chair of the financial services governor’s group at the World Economic Forum, says. Speaking at the 2102 annual meeting in Davos last week, Ackermann, says “we

Do you get what you pay for?

A pay-for-performance measure of chief investment officers in the US has revealed paying more for an executive does not translate to better performance. Developed by executive recruitment firm, Charles Skorina & Company, the index is calculated by assessing an institution’s investment returns over the past five years, and measuring it against the salary of the

How to tackle pay structures

The remuneration of pension fund investment executives is a sticking point in the industry. To compete with the open market, attract and retain a certain calibre of executive, and compensate them for the peculiarities of being a fiduciary, there is a certain minimum required. At the same time this has to be balanced with communication

Investors collaborate on governance guide

A practical guide to good governance for pension board trustees was one of the results of the Rotman ICPM Board Effectiveness Program which included participants from 21 funds from nine countries.

Can stability bonds save the eurozone?

A majority of investors believe “stability bonds” could provide a partial solution to the euro zone sovereign debt crisis, but are concerned that these bonds carry a high moral-hazard risk, a CFA institute poll reveals. The poll found 55 per cent of European investment professionals believe that the common issuance of stability bonds can help

Previous