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Cruise traffic has dynamically advanced worldwide over the past two decades. This maritime business and tourism typology is strongly concentrated in several links that comprise the cruise product. With regard to destination regions, the concentration occurs both in the few worldwide destination regions and in the specific ports within a given destination region. Moreover, in a cruise itinerary’s configuration, there is a strong spatial dependence between the ports that comprise it. Taking these into account, the aims of this paper are to identify the current competitive positions of Spanish cruise ports and to explain the different features of the competitive positions obtained.

A sample of 21 Spanish ports is selected to conduct a competitive positioning analysis. The analysis is developed by applying portfolio analysis based on the “growth-share matrix” adapted to the port industry. Moreover, the sample of ports is divided into three groups based on geographical positions of ports on the Spanish coast, and each group is analysed separately.

The three Spanish coastal areas have a behavioural pattern in which few ports concentrate the greater share of the cruising activity. The highest number of competitive positions are mature leader and high potential. In the three Spanish coastal areas, there are ports with these positions. Additionally, there are homeports available in the three coastal areas.

The paper contributes to the research of the cruise industry sector especially from the point of view of cruise ports. The results obtained may be useful to cruise port managers for developing strategies aimed at increasing cruise traffic in a port.

The cruise tourism industry has experienced a positive evolution, with an average annual growth rate in the worldwide number of cruise passengers of 7.84% between 1990 and 2013. This chapter presents an empirical analysis particular to Spanish cruise ports and their associated tourist hinterlands. With regard to cruise ports, an evolution analysis and port portfolio analysis technique using the growth-share matrix for the period 2000–2013 is applied in order to identify the competitive positions of a range of 18 ports in the Spanish Mediterranean coast. While for the tourist hinterland of each port is characterized the geographical area encompassed. The results obtained identify the different competitive positions of ports and the different types of hinterlands characterized.

Ports and port cities play a pivotal role toward the sustainable development of coastal ecosystems. These ecosystems provide their natural capital by offering favorable locations for industry and accessibility to world markets. While port industrial activities have been reactive to pressure from stakeholders, in more recent years ports have adapted inclusive strategies and seek to align their strategic intentions with stakeholders. Around the world, port authorities are aligning their ambitions toward their contribution to the sustainable development goals (SDGs), such as the World Port Sustainability Program (WPSP) for port authorities and AIVP2030 for port cities. The aim of this chapter is to assess to what extent ports have contributed to the implementation of the SDGs. The analysis is based on a content analysis on a portfolio of 212 projects in which port authorities demonstrate leadership in sustainable development. The results indicate that the contributions of port and port city authorities are generally motivated to “do no harm.” Port authorities also have “do good” intentions for their ecosystems, which are mainly focused on reenforcing connections with communities and less to restore their impact on the biosphere. Furthermore, the findings show that linkages between WPSP projects with the SDGs are rather ambiguous. Directions are given toward a methodology for port authorities (PAs) to establish a stronger link between (monitoring) business strategies with the implementation of inclusive port development strategies to prevent using SDG reporting for greenwashing purposes.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance of European listed infrastructure before, during and after the global financial crisis and the significance of European infrastructure in a mixed asset portfolio. The paper examines the level of correlation of European infrastructure with other major assets classes and substantiates the potential diversification benefits of including European infrastructure within a mixed asset portfolio.

The study uses monthly investment return indices obtained from Thomson Reuters DataStream over a ten year period (2001‐2010). The paper analysed the European listed infrastructure investment return characteristics including average annual return, annual risk, Sharpe indices, mean variance portfolio and maximum return portfolio and computes the efficient portfolio frontiers using the risk solver optimization tool.

This study shows that despite the global financial turmoil, a robust performance was seen by certain infrastructure sub‐sectors particularly European generation utilities, which posted positive annualised returns during the global financial crisis and European “ports” emerged as the overall best performing sub‐asset class during the post‐GFC period. Using the monthly return indices over the ten year period, European infrastructure investment was found to play a significant role in the optimality of multi asset portfolios.

The originality of the paper stems from the analysis of the performance and significance of European listed infrastructure in a multi‐asset portfolio over unique periods which tested the resilience of European listed infrastructure performance over different financial climates including the global financial crisis period. This paper presents European listed infrastructure as an indication of rewarding investment outlets for investors in quest of exposure to the infrastructure industry and for those seeking to enhance investment portfolio performance.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

To comply with the adopted Paris Agreement, global finance flows must be measured against climate scenarios consistent with possible pathways towards limiting global warming to 2°C or less. For this, there must be proven and accepted accounting principles for assessing financial plans of climate relevant actors against climate models. As there are a variety of data sources describing the financial plans of relevant actors, these principles must accommodate a variety of reported information, while still yielding relevant metrics to different stakeholders. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A set of accounting principles tested by governments, financial supervisory bodies and both institutional investors and mangers, covering global-listed equity and corporate bond investment is described.

The application illustrates that a common set of accounting principles can act across both asset classes and provide relevant metrics to multiple stakeholders.

The principles require data of varying quality and are ultimately unverified. Thus, the definitive quality of the output metrics is uncertain and is yet to be characterized. The principles are yet to be applied to the credit market as the information is seldom publicly available, but it too plays an important role in the required market transition and therefore must be incorporated into these guiding principles of analysis.

The principles allow for standardised assessment of financial flows of equity and corporate debt with global climate scenarios.

It illustrates the acceptance of a common set of accounting principles that is relevant across different actors and asset classes and summarizes the principles underlying the first climate finance scenario analyses.

This study aims to analyze the presence of a long-term relationship between precious metal prices, such as for gold, silver, platinum and palladium, and Islamic stock markets of 32 different countries – 21 developed and 11 developing. In this study, the long-term relationship between the precious metal prices and the Islamic stock markets of countries grouped by the Morgan Stanley Capital Index (MSCI) according to their level of development was examined. In the economies included in the study, it is necessary that the Islamic stock index be created by MSCI. It is not a constraint as a Muslim country.

This study used the Pedroni panel cointegration analysis and full modified ordinary least square method. All analyses in this study were performed using monthly data from 2002 to 2015.

According to the Pedroni panel cointegration analysis applied in this study, all four precious metals – gold, silver, platinum and palladium – are effective portfolio diversification tools for developed Islamic stock markets within the analyzed period. However, in developing countries, although gold and palladium are effective portfolio diversification tools, silver and platinum are not.

These results provide practical implications for academicians, practitioners as portfolio managers, policymakers. These implications are related in portfolio risk management, the diversification benefits and to propose new investment tools among developed and developing Islamic markets.

This study is important for investors who assemble portfolios under the restriction of selecting investment tools suitable for Islamic rules. These investors are important in terms of using precious metals that they prefer as an alternative to stock markets to protect against the risks related to their suitable portfolio options. Governments, individuals and institutional investors that use capital stock according to Islamic rules in developed countries can effectively use gold, silver, platinum and palladium as hedging tools. However, this choice is limited to only gold and palladium in developing country markets. Gold continues to be an effective diversification tool in Islamic share markets, as in traditional stock markets.

The author would like to emphasize that this article is second to examine precious metals and Islamic stock markets in literature.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that have influenced the use of implicit (naïve) techniques in property portfolio diversification evaluation in the Nigeria property market. This is necessitated by the need to look at the ways by which the property portfolio diversification evaluation practice in the market could be made to improve and adjust to ever changing global trends in this area.

The authors of this paper administered questionnaires, backed up with interviews, on 28 institutional property investors and 128 real estate practitioners in three locations (commercial nerve centres) of the country, namely, Lagos, Abuja and Port‐Harcourt metropolitan areas. Data were analysed with the use of frequency distribution, mean and standard deviation measures, relative importance index and Pearson Chi‐Square test.

The results of the study in this paper revealed, among others, that lack of time series data and the small size of many of the investors' portfolios in Nigeria encouraged the use of implicit analysis in their property portfolio evaluation techniques. The study also showed that investors and practitioners detest complex calculations and were using traditional evaluation techniques because they considered the methods as needing no pre‐requisite knowledge before they could be used.

The study in the paper concluded that there is the need for a restructuring of the Nigerian real estate education and portfolio evaluation practice and the use of a micro‐real estate specific data derived from local market information to develop property performance indices towards building up functional real estate indices at the regional and national levels.

This paper is a pioneering attempt at establishing the factors that influenced the use of implicit techniques in property portfolio diversification evaluation in emerging property markets like Nigeria.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.