This essay investigates the relationship between the internationalization of banks, profitability and shareholder value. We argue that in general internationalization has not contributed to profitability, and shareholders have not gained by investing in banks with more international activities....

This article investigates the building blocks to successful investment strategies for institutional investors. It presents the results of a worldwide survey of investment beliefs, and finds striking differences in how pension funds and commercial asset managers view capital markets. Asset...

This paper addresses the implementation of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) in the investment process. SRI covers a broad range of investment strategies, with different implications for the role of trustees and portfolio managers. We argue that a clear distinction needs to be made between...

AlpInvest was created in 1999 as a joint venture between Dutch pension funds ABP and PGGM to create a strong platform for their private equity investments This case study examines the strategic rationale for setting up this private equity joint venture, and evaluates the pros and cons. We...

We investigate the building blocks for institutional investors' successful investment strategies. We focus on organizations which formulate investment beliefs and define clear views on how the capital markets work. We present the results of a world wide survey of investment beliefs. We find...

Pension funds are increasingly trying to embed long-term investing choices within their portfolios. Many publications focus on the rationale for long term investing; however, it remains unclear what long term investing actually is, what sets it apart from the current way of investing, and how it...

We ask how pension fund trustees deal with the booms and busts that funds encounter, and to what extent the decisions of pension fund trustees are affected by behavioral biases. We examine these issues by using a vignette-method field experiment among Dutch pension fund trustees. We find that...

If Dutch consumers had the opportunity to design pension deals to meet their needs, what sort of pension deals would emerge? What do employers, regulators, and supervisors want to achieve? This paper places the consumer at the centre of the pension system, analyzing trends and determining what...