This paper presents a variation of the Black-Litterman Model (B&L) for portfolio construction and global asset allocation practices. The methodology proposed retains the Bayesian approach of the original B&L model and, in particular, the derivation of the Posterior Vector of expected market...

We propose a new method to capture changes in hedge funds' exposures to risk factors, exploiting information from relatively high frequency conditioning variables. Using a consolidated database of nearly 15,000 individual hedge funds between 1994 and 2009, we find substantial evidence that hedge...

We propose a new method to model hedge fund risk exposures using relatively high frequency conditioning variables. In a large sample of funds, we find substantial evidence that hedge fund risk exposures vary across and within months, and that capturing within-month variation is more important...

We introduce a simple definition of carbon-intensive firms to measure institutional investors' exposure to the emission intensities of portfolio companies. The definition is based on major emission industry sectors identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). All firms in...

Interest in measuring companies’ behavior along economic, social, and governance (ESG) criteria reflects two important objectives: social values and financial performance. Nevertheless, measuring these has been difficulty, leading to confusion about ESG investing’s effectiveness. New data...

We test relative illiquidity, exemplified through a temporary lock-up, as a partial explanation for the gap between theoretical and empirical weights for real estate in a multi-asset portfolio. Since asset correlations are known to increase in bear markets, reducing their diversification...

In this paper, we investigate the performance persistence of hedge funds over time horizons between 6 and 36 months based on a merged sample from the Lipper/TASS and CISDM databases for the time period from 1994 to 2008. Unlike previous literature, we use a panel probit regression approach to...

This paper investigates the alpha generation of the hedge fund industry based on a recent sample compiled from the Lipper/TASS database covering the time period from January 1994 to September 2008. We find a positive average hedge fund alpha in the cross-section for the majority of strategies...

Recent academic research predicts that (i) equity mutual funds have a systematically better performance during periods of economic downturn and (ii) investors are willing to pay high fees for funds that provide recession insurance. In this paper, we test these hypotheses using international fund...

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) have become active investors on the financial markets. This working paper meets the increasing thirst for information on the investment activities of Sovereign Wealth Funds, their legal environment and the implications on German stock listed corporations. Thus, this...