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The asset allocation decision for a pension portfolio needs to consider several, sometimes conflicting, aspects. Most pension managers use models and processes that are developed for the traditional asset classes for analyzing this problem. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how real estate is included in this process, for what purpose and how the real estate portfolio is constructed.

Seven individuals responsible for the asset allocation process were interviewed, and their responses were analyzed with regards to organizational options and their real estate strategy.

It was found that real estate is held for three different purposes, risk diversification, inflation hedging/liability matching and return enhancement and that the allocation has increased over time. The allocation strategy has evolved at least in part in conjuncture with the organizational structure set in place to overcome real estate market frictions.

The interviews were geographically limited to pension funds domiciled in Sweden and Finland.

It is concluded that the organizational capabilities of the pension fund of handling real estate is an important consideration for the ensuing real estate portfolio.

The originality of this paper lies in that it is based on interviews with individuals who are responsible for the asset allocation decision at large pension funds. The findings of the paper identify areas of interest for future research.

After the great economic crisis of 2008 the absolute outcome of which is still argued, the topic of alternative investment possibilities, such as business angels, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer investments, were broadly highlighted in the European Union member states. Few suggest that in spite of the floating understanding of the topic, alternative investments managed to significantly increase the access to finance for start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) providing the overall support to economic recovery. The positive effects of alternative investment market development is now a matter of fact – recent studies suggest European alternative finance market to reach 2,957 million of euro by 2014. On the other hand, the absence of overall awareness of entrepreneurs about the alternative investment possibilities, still weak legislative regulation, market specifics, and other challenges alike are hindrances that do persist. The main aim of this paper is, while acknowledging the key aspects of crowdfunding, to form a grounded understanding to what extent crowdfunding might support SMEs on their way to solve the challenges of access to finance. In order to reach the goal of the research an analysis of investment specifics, prior experience of the crowdfunding investments as well as core financial needs of SMEs will be acknowledged. The main finding of the paper suggests that crowdfunding while being an excellent tool for social or entertainment project financing can hardly be a significant financing tool for the European SMEs.

This paper aims to review, systematize and integrate existing research on alternative investments. This study conducts performance analysis comprising production timeline, country-wise contributions, analysis of sources, affiliations, the geography of authors and citations of studies on alternative investments.

This study adopts a thematic and bibliometric analysis methodology on 570 papers identified from mainstream literature on alternative investments. This study provides an analysis of science mapping, including co-citation analysis, bibliometric coupling, word analysis and trending topics on alternative investments. In addition, the study presents thematic analysis by classifying existing studies into nine themes.

Alternative investments provide diversification benefits and play a critical role in portfolio construction, and the research on alternative investments has gained momentum in recent times. This study finds that hedge funds, private equity, artwork, collectibles, commodities, fine wine and venture capital have remained prominent themes in the field. Investments in cryptocurrencies are an emerging area in the research on alternative investments.

This study limits itself to the papers published in the area of finance and economics listed on the Scopus database.

This study provides quantitative bibliometric analysis and thematic analysis of the extant literature on alternative investments and identifies the areas that could be developed to advance research on alternative investments.

The purpose of this paper is to study LEGO sets as a potential alternative asset class. An exhaustive sample of 10,588 sets is used to generate inferences regarding long-term LEGO performance, its diversification benefits and return determinants.

LEGO set performance is studied in terms of equal- and value-weighted portfolios, sorts based on set characteristics and cross-sectional regressions.

Over 1966–2018, LEGO value-weighted index accounted for survivorship bias enjoys 1.20% inflation-adjusted return per annum, well below 5.54% for equities. However, the defensive properties of LEGO are considerable, as including 5%–25% of LEGO in a diversified portfolio is beneficial for investors with varying levels of risk aversion. LEGO secondary market is relatively internationalised, with investors from larger economies, countries with higher per capita incomes and less income inequality are shown to trade LEGO more actively.

LEGO investors derive non-pecuniary utility that is separable from their risk-return profile. LEGO is not exposed to any of the Fama-French factors, however, set-specific size and value effects are also well-pronounced on the LEGO market, with smaller sets and sets with lower price-to-piece ratio exhibiting higher yields. Older sets are also enjoying higher returns, demonstrating a liquidity effect.

This is the first study to investigate the investment properties of LEGO as an alternative asset class from micro- and macro-financial perspectives that overcomes many survivorship bias limitations prevalent in earlier research. LEGO trading is shown to be an important source of valuable data to enable original robustness checks for prominent theoretical concepts from asset pricing and behavioural finance literature.

To provide a practical look at the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive 2011/61/EU (AIFMD) and other regulatory requirements as they pertain to marketing funds in Europe.

A series of questions and answers exploring some of the principal issues to be aware of when raising a fund in Europe. AIFMD is the key focus, but we also examine other financial regulation that may apply alongside AIFMD, as well as cross-border implications of any marketing initiative.

One of the original aims of AIFMD was to harmonise the management and marketing of alternative investment funds in Europe so that a uniform set of rules will eventually apply. However, in the meantime, the law and regulations relating to marketing are particularly complicated, with a wide range of different requirements that may apply depending on who you are and where you are marketing.

Practical guidance from experienced investment management and financial regulatory lawyers.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of the markets in financial instruments directive II (MiFID II) on investment services in the Baltic states.

The authors take an exploratory, qualitative approach, based on data conducted from interviews with nine investment industry professionals using the laddering technique. The pool of experts was selected using the purposeful sampling method, and experts must have had a minimum of five years investment experience in the Baltics, working familiarity with MiFID II, and a university education in the fields of finance or economics.

The strict requirements of MiFID II reduce the range of available investment products and services for customers in the Baltics. Also, the profitability of Baltic investment companies decreased due to high compliance costs and bans on inducements. The results indicate that this may lead to increased barriers to entry and mergers and acquisitions for small investment companies.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to research the implications of MiFID II implementation in the Baltic states. The qualitative approach chosen offers a unique opportunity to highlight the critical effects of MiFID II on financial intermediates in smaller geographical markets.

The paper aims to help explain how certain smaller university endowments are able to provide investment results that are more typical of much larger endowments. Investment teams' characteristics and risk-reward perceptions are examined in relation to portfolio composition and performance.

This exploratory study uses a grounded-theory approach consisting of 20 in-depth interviews of financial officers at US colleges and universities with assets between $100 million and $200 million. Ten were conducted from the top performance quartile and ten from the bottom quartile. Interviews were transcribed and coded; afterward, emerging themes and constructs were identified. Objective investment performance over a ten-year period was employed from a well-known industry survey.

Top-performing endowments were described as having endowment teams with greater investment expertise, efficacy, decision-making independence and learning commitment than teams from the low-performing endowments. Teams from top-performing endowments assessed alternative investments more favorably and made greater portfolio allocations to them as compared to teams from low-performing endowments.

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may not be generalizable.

The paper includes implications for colleges and universities in the management of their endowments, and particularly in the selection of committee and other team members.

The paper is original in exploring certain team characteristics and practices of institutional investment decision-makers and their relationship to portfolio composition and performance.

The Alternative Investment Market (AIM) is an important UK growth-focused stock market. The purpose of this paper is to assess the significance, risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of property companies on the AIM stock market over 2005-2015. The post-Global Financial Crisis (GFC) recovery of property companies on AIM is highlighted, as well as their performance compared with property companies on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) main board.

Using monthly total returns, the risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of property companies on the AIM stock market over 2005-2015 are assessed and compared with a range of other asset classes. Sub-period analysis is used to assess the post-GFC recovery of the property companies on AIM.

Property companies on AIM delivered poor risk-adjusted returns over 2005-2015, with limited portfolio diversification benefits with the overall AIM stock market. However, since the GFC, property companies on AIM have delivered strong risk-adjusted returns, with improved portfolio diversification benefits with the overall AIM stock market. This post-GFC performance is shown to be more than a small cap effect, reflecting the property portfolios in these AIM property companies. Despite this strong post-GFC performance, the AIM property companies under-performed property companies on the LSE main board on a risk-adjusted basis.

AIM provides an important platform for property companies seeking start-up and growth opportunities in a less-regulated funding environment. This has been reinforced by strong risk-adjusted performance in a post-GFC context. However, the stronger risk-adjusted performance of LSE listed property companies and their superior scale, resources and higher quality property portfolios present challenges for increased investor support for the AIM property companies going forward.

This paper is the first published empirical research analysis of the risk-adjusted performance and diversification benefits of property companies on the AIM stock market. This research enables empirically validated, more informed and practical property investment decision-making regarding the strategic role of property companies on the AIM stock market in a portfolio.

To explain recent regulatory guidance for different types of stakeholders, including asset managers, fund complexes, and institutional investors.

Summary of recent regulatory guidance and explanation for different types of stakeholders, including asset managers, fund complexes, and institutional investors.

While the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) letter does not open the door to direct access to Private Market Investments by 401(k) plan participants, it does provide a framework for the expanded use of private equity and, we believe, other types of Private Market Investments in managed asset allocation funds such as target date funds.

Practical guidance from experienced asset management and investment funds and ERISA lawyers.