Using NCRIEF farmland and timberland smoothed indices over the period from 1992Q1 to 2012Q3 and a new de-smoothing approach offered by Fisher et al. (1994), we explore the mean-variance diversification features of farmland and timberland assets. Our empirical results show that diversification...

The paper extends the Black-Litterman model from elliptical distributions to the extended skew-normal and extended skew-student-t distributions. In addition to fat-tails, a non-Gaussian distributional feature already captured by the elliptical family, the extended model analytically incorporates...

Recent research has shown that 'rich' households save at much higher rates than others (see Carroll (2000); Dynan Skinner and Zeldes (1996); Gentry and Hubbard (1998); Huggett (1996); Quadrini (1999)) This paper documents another large difference between the rich and the rest of the population:...

Investments in socially responsible investments (SRI) are still a small, but growing segment of international capital markets. This study analyses whether a SRI screening process applied to equities results in a different performance outcome compared to relevant conventional benchmark indexes....

Economists are beginning to investigate the causes and consequences of financial illiteracy to better understand why retirement planning is lacking and why so many households arrive close to retirement with little or no wealth. Our review reveals that many households are unfamiliar with even the...

Individuals are increasingly put in charge of their financial security after retirement. Moreover, the supply of complex financial products has increased considerably over the years. However, we still have little or no information about whether individuals have the financial knowledge and skills...

In this paper I investigate the investment behavior of SRI investors based on SRI mutual fund flows. Specifically, I analyze how SRI investors react to past performance and ethical standards. This empirical study shows that over the years along with the development of the SRI fund market, the...

The art market has seen boom and bust during the last years and, despite the downturn, has received more attention from investors given the low interest environment following the financial crisis. However, participation has been reserved for a few investors and the hedging of exposures remains...

We investigate US households' direct investment in stocks, bonds and liquid accounts and their foreign counterparts, in order to identify the different participation hurdles affecting asset investment domestically and overseas. To this end, we estimate a trivariate probit model with three...

Die strategische Asset Allokation ist die für den langfristigen Anlageerfolg wichtigste Entscheidung eines Kapitalanlegers. Eine fundierte Entscheidung erfordert einen mehrstufigen, strukturierten Prozess. Der Anleger muss sich mit den realistischen Chancen des Kapitalmarktes und mit seinen...