Search results

Socially responsible investment (SRI) is now a well established part of equities investment. Questions are now being raised over property investment and whether similar attempts to be “socially responsible” should be incorporated into investment practice. This paper aims to examine the investment practices of large fund managers for both equities and property in order to identify products and activities which are contributing to the progress of SRPI.

Analysis was conducted of equities SRI, and potential SRPI activities, for the top ten UK property fund management using publicly available company literature. This was analysed using simple matrices to understand common activities, industry application, and market‐leading innovations. Relationships between progress in SRI and SRPI, are also explored, along with the consideration of SRPI actions in the context of SRI concepts.

Market leaders were established in terms of their equities SRI products and services, though this did not necessarily equate to progress in the field of SRPI. Only one potentially SPRI product was identified. However this does not represent the overall consideration of sustainability issues in relation to property investment practices. Half of the companies studied were found to be taking actions which demonstrate attempts to consider the impacts associated with property investment.

This paper reflects a call from key SRPI thinkers to assess the current extent of SRPI practices, which will be a useful starting point for further analysis/debate of the most appropriate SRPI methods. It should therefore be of interest to both SRI and general property investors alike.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has taken on increased stature and importance in recent years, as property investors have given an increased priority to environmental, social and corporate governance issues in their property investment decision‐making. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the impact of CSR factors and financial factors on the performance of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in Australia (A‐REITs) and assess whether these three CSR factors are separately priced by A‐REIT investors in uniquely adding value to A‐REIT investment performance.

Using CSR rating factors and financial factors for the 16 A‐REITs in the ASX200, cross‐sectional multi‐factor models are employed to identify the separate pricing of these CSR factors in A‐REIT performance over 2005‐2010.

The empirical results show that the environmental, social and corporate governance dimensions of CSR are not currently separately priced by A‐REIT investors, with most of the A‐REIT performance accounted for by the financial factors. Amongst the three CSR dimensions, corporate governance is seen to be the most influential CSR factor on A‐REIT performance.

This paper empirically determines that the CSR dimensions of environment, social and corporate governance are currently less influential than the financial factors of size, book‐to‐market value, gearing and beta in influencing A‐REIT performance. Given the increased role of CSR amongst A‐REITs, corporate governance is seen to have a more influential role in A‐REIT pricing than either environmental or social factors. This finding also has practical implications for CSR practices in other REIT markets internationally.

This paper is the first published property research analysis on the separate role of CSR factors, compared to the traditional financial factors, in the performance of A‐REITs. Given the increased focus on CSR by property investors, this research enables empirically‐validated and practical property investment decisions by A‐REIT investors regarding the separate pricing of these CSR factors in A‐REIT performance.

This paper has three principal aims – to examine the development of international policy direction for sustainability in the built environment; to highlight the contribution that the legacy stock could make to the various sustainability targets through sustainable refurbishment; and to review the UK government's direct and indirect support of sustainable refurbishment.

The paper critically reviews international and national policy documents and associated professional commentary.

The general conclusions are that the international targets for energy efficiency and carbon dioxide reduction within the built environment are focused on new‐build schemes. The annual replacement rate of the existing stock is minimal; thus the legacy stock will dominate for a considerable time. Sustainable refurbishment could provide significant financial benefits to investors and occupiers in addition to positively contributing to various sustainability targets. The UK government could do more to actively support sustainable refurbishment activity through direct and indirect initiatives.

The paper offers an applied examination of the level of support offered by the UK government to the commercial sector that has the potential to make a significant contribution to the broader targets.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of conversion to REIT status by former listed property companies in the United Kingdom on the level of institutional ownership during the period of 2007–2016.

This paper uses an event study framework to track the change in institutional ownership three years before and after a REIT conversion event. This event study approach circumvents the sample selection bias issue associated with the conversion event wherein the decision to convert to REIT is likely to be endogenous.

Panel regression analysis reveals that changing to REIT status led to a 12.8 and 15.2% increase in institutional ownership and number of institutional investors, respectively. The first order of priority in institutional investors' investment in REIT shares is their preference for liquidity. Further analysis shows that institutional investors changed their preferences towards characteristics associated with systematic risk, firm age and liquidity after the conversion event by becoming less averse to firm-specific risk, placing more emphasis on firm age and less emphasis on systematic risk and liquidity.

Overall, conversion to REIT status helps increase former property companies' investor base, which is in line with the regulator's aim to open up the property market to a wide range of investors through the introduction of a REIT regime. Findings from this paper also have policy implications for countries that are considering a REIT regime for their capital market and existing REIT regimes without a formal conversion mechanism.

This paper offers, for the first time, evidence on 1) how conversion to REITs influences firms' institutional ownership and 2) the determinants of converted REITs' institutional ownership.

The purpose of this paper is to report results from a survey on emerging climate changes and the risks to the operation of building assets in the UK. The property sector is facing major challenges as a result of projected climate change scenarios. Predictions concerning future climate change and the subsequent impact on building operations are still subject to a high degree of uncertainty. However, it is important that building stockholders consider a range of possible future risks that may influence the operation of their assets.

The literature review and questionnaire are used to elicit and assess the likelihood of occurrence of climate change risks impacting building operations. The survey was carried out among building stockowners and professionals in the UK. Statistical methods were used to rank and compare the findings.

The majority of the respondents strongly agreed that the list of risks that were elicited from the literature will have an impact on their building assets within a 0-5 years’ time horizon. It was found that the professionals were most concerned about higher energy prices and an increase in operation costs in general; they were least concerned about an electricity blackout.

This paper is limited to the UK, and regional variations are not explored. Nevertheless, the buildings’ operation risk study provides a starting point for further investigations into the emerging risks from climate change, and their impact on the operation of building stock. Future work could investigate direct mapping between climate risks and the financial value of properties.

Findings of this paper can help professionals and building stockowners improve their understanding of climate change risks and the impact on their assets. This paper could also help these individuals to formulate appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies.

As the prolonged effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has materially impacted investment returns significantly, it is more crucial than ever for institutional investors to redefine their property portfolios using assets with better investment management potential and meaningful diversification benefits. The “alternative asset revolution” is gaining traction in the property investment space internationally among institutional investors due to the shifting investment attitudes towards the alternative property sectors. Australia's $205bn healthcare property sector is at the forefront of this revolution due to its societal significance, as well as its attractive investment qualities. This paper investigates the institutional investor management of the Australian healthcare property sector via both the direct and listed channels and empirically analyses its investment attributes.

Using the unique Morgan Stanley Capital International/Property Council of Australia quarterly data set for Australian direct healthcare property over 2006–2020, the risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification potential direct healthcare property and listed healthcare were assessed. A constrained mean-variance portfolio optimisation framework was used to develop a six-asset portfolio scenario to analyse the portfolio added-value benefits of both direct healthcare property and listed healthcare in a mixed-asset investment strategy. A similar set of analysis was performed using the post-global financial crisis (GFC) quarterly time series of 2009–2020 to investigate the healthcare asset class' performance dynamics in the post-GFC investment timeframe.

The results indicate that direct healthcare property and listed healthcare offer two key advantages for institutional investors in managing their property portfolios: (1) a stable yet superior risk-adjusted performance and (2) significant portfolio diversification potential in managing their property portfolios. Importantly, both direct healthcare property and listed healthcare provided valuable contributions in strengthening an investment portfolio's performance. The post-GFC sub-period analysis revealed a consistent conclusion regarding the healthcare asset class's performance attributes.

This is the first research that provides an independent empirical examination of the strategic importance of Australian healthcare property as a maturing alternative property sector that can serve both investment and environmental, social and governance goals of investors. This research presents a positive investment prognosis for the Australian healthcare property sector to achieve its institutionalised status as a mainstream asset class of the future.

This study seeks to provide a review of the background and context to the engagement of RICS members with the sustainability agenda, and to examine the extent to which the surveying profession uses relevant information, tools and techniques to achieve the key objectives of sustainable development (or sustainability).

The paper analyses results from a major international online survey of 4,600 RICS respondent members, supported by 31 structured telephone interviews.

The results suggest that, although sustainability is highly relevant to RICS members' work, a lack of knowledge and expertise is making it more difficult for sustainability tools and other information to be used effectively.

The survey is based on a substantial number of responses which are broadly representative of the global RICS population. A key implication is that “laggard” faculties include the disciplines of commercial property and valuation.

The research suggests that key stakeholders must work together to provide better information, guidance and education and training to “hardwire” the sustainability agenda across RICS faculties.

This is the first truly global survey of its kind and focuses particularly on those faculties that play a major role in property investment and finance (i.e. valuation and commercial property), comparing their position with that of other faculties in an international context.

Within the past ten years, the design, procurement and management of “green” buildings has evolved from something of a “fringe” activity into a new and increasingly popular approach to the provision of commercial property. Many UK Government agencies, and international corporations, now include green buildings as part of their property portfolios and green issues are already influencing many aspects of the property development process. This paper explains some of the background to this more environmentally responsible approach to property, identifies the potential benefits to owners and occupiers and discusses some of the building‐related environmental issues which could provide a basis for ongoing research. The paper concludes that the way commercial buildings are conceived, located, designed and managed is changing, often incorporating new technologies, to meet a new set of project‐specific and organisational environmental objectives.

Provides a critique of the conventional approach to property management, highlighting the inadequacies of this approach in accommodating the needs of modern property owners and users. Explains inadequacies in relation to the management of property portfolios where high performance is demanded and greater reliance on professional judgement is required.