Crown Financial Asset Management: Objectives and Practice

This paper analyses key issues that may be relevant to setting the Crown's overall objectives and practices for financial asset and liability management. It examines implications of the nature of the Crown's balance sheet for asset and liability management and investigates the appropriate approach of the Crown towards managing risk (concluding that a risk averse approach is warranted). The issue of centralisation versus decentralisation of Crown asset and liability management is analysed both from a portfolio management perspective and from an organisational design perspective. Insights from private sector financial conglomerates are also incorporated. The paper concludes that individual Crown financial entities should each continue to be responsible for setting their own strategic asset allocation, after taking into account the nature of their liabilities. A central Crown body should, however, monitor and aggregate information from each of these entities and be delegated the responsibility and power to manage risks to the overall Crown balance sheet.Crown balance sheet; Public debt management

What international monetary system for a fast-changing world economy

Though the renminbi is not yet convertible, the international monetary regime has already started to move towards a 'multipolar' system, with the dollar, the euro and the renminbi as its key likely pillars. This shift corresponds to the long-term evolution of the balance of economic weight in the world economy. Such an evolution may mitigate some of the flaws of the present (non-) system, such as the rigidity of key exchange rates, the asymmetry of balance of-payments adjustments or what remains of the Triffin dilemma. However it may exacerbate other problems, such as short-run exchange rate volatility or the scope for â??currency warsâ??, while leaving key questions unresolved, such as the response to capital flows global liquidity provision. Hence, in itself, a multipolar regime can be both the best and the worst of all regimes.Which of these alternatives will materialise depends on the degree of cooperation within a multilateral framework.

Responsible Investment: A Vehicle for Environmentally Sustainable Economic Growth in South Africa

This paper explores whether any investment products or strategies in South Africa take environmental sustainability into account. By looking at how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are used in investment decision making, we found that most socially-responsible investment products and responsible investment strategies largely focus on infrastructure, development, and black economic empowerment. Environmental criteria do not yet receive comparable attention from South African asset managers and owners. Mainstreaming responsible investment principles will need to come from either an increase in demand for such practices by asset owners or from company positions on ESG issues.responsible investment, socially responsible investment, pension funds, asset managers, screening, active share ownership

Tax and Corporate Governance: The Influence of Tax on Managerial Agency Costs

This chapter of the Oxford Handbook on Corporate Law and Governance canvasses a broad range of ways that tax influences managerial agency costs, focusing especially on the United States. In doing so, this chapter has two goals. The first is to help corporate law experts target managerial agency costs more effectively. The analysis here flags when tax is likely to exacerbate agency costs, and when it is likely to mitigate them. Armed with this information, corporate law experts have a better sense of how vigorous a contractual or corporate law response they need. In some cases, a change in the tax law may also be justified. This chapter’s second goal, then, is to enhance our understanding of tax rules, shedding light on a set of welfare effects that are important but understudied. After all, tax policy is more likely to enhance welfare if policymakers weigh all possible welfare effects, including managerial agency costs. Overall, the U.S. tax system’s record in influencing agency costs is not encouraging. After all, a tax system’s priority is not to reduce agency costs, but to raise revenue efficiently and fairly. Government tax experts do not usually have the expertise or motivation to tackle corporate governance problems. Tax also is a poor fit because it typically applies mandatorily and uniformly, while responses to agency cost should be molded to the context. For example, promoting stock options or leverage will be valuable in some settings, but disastrous in others. There also are political hurdles to be overcome. Accordingly, when tax rules target agency costs, the results often are poorly tailored or even counterproductive. Even so, the effects are not all bad. On the positive side of the ledger, U.S. tax rules encourage performance-based pay, albeit in blunt ways. In addition, by taxing intercompany dividends, the U.S. keeps block-holders in one firm from indirectly controlling other firms. U.S. tax rules also encourage leverage, which usually (but not always) mitigates managerial agency costs. Likewise, some tax rules favor long-term ownership, which can motivate shareholders to monitor management more carefully. The need to disclose financial information on a corporate tax return can also discipline management. Discouraging the use of offshore accounts and off-balance sheet entities can keep managers from cheating shareholders, as well as the fisc. On the other side of the ledger, U.S. tax rules can be a reason (or excuse) for flawed pay. Managers also can use tax as a pretext to retain earnings, and also to oppose takeovers that put their jobs at risk. Tax also can be invoked to justify “empire building” acquisitions as well as hedging, each of which appeals more to undiversified managers than to diversified shareholders. U.S. tax rules also encourage firms to incorporate offshore or to use pass-through entities, even though these steps can weaken shareholders’ corporate law rights

Financing Water in Africa

Despite repeated policy initiatives from donors and governments, the human and economic cost of continued lack of access to safe water and sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa remains high. Progress is in large part constrained by a persistent ‘financing gap’. This paper shows that a radical reorientation of policy is needed to achieve a significant increase in investment finance in order to raise access levels. Rather than continuing to pursue policies that have failed for the past two decades, such as attempting to attract the private sector and raising prices to cost recovery levels, attention needs to shift to wider aspects of domestic revenue mobilization to support public investment

The use of listed real estate securities in asset management

Investors have historically used listed real estate to achieve a number of outcomes, ranging from general exposure to the asset class to meeting specific returns characteristics such as inflation hedging and taxefficient income generation. However, following the events of the last five years, in common with other asset classes there is currently a re-assessment of the risk and return profile of listed real estate. The purpose of this study is twofold: (i) to conduct a review of academic literature and evidence on the use and performance of listed real estate, both as a separate asset class and in multi-asset portfolios, and (ii) to examine in detail how institutions are using listed real estate to achieve their investment objectives, and the role listed real estate is playing in the new fund structures they are creating to meet investor objectives. A review of the literature suggests that in the short-term listed real estate displays similar risk and return characteristics to the stock market rather than the direct property market, with higher levels of observed volatility and high positive correlations to the stock market. However, an analysis of returns over longer time periods indicate that there is a common real estate factor that drives the returns of both the direct and listed markets and that pricing in the listed market leads direct market indices. Whether this can lead to arbitrage is much less clear, as direct market indices may lag the direct market. In a multi-asset portfolio the inclusion of listed real estate can provide both return enhancement and risk reduction to the portfolio, although recent evidence suggests that the diversification benefits may be reduced during periods of financial distress, with the correlation and sensitivity to movements in the stock market increasing. When including both direct and listed real estate in a multi-asset portfolio there is some evidence to suggest that the inclusion of both enhances the overall portfolio return and reduces (diversifies) portfolio risk. With regard to practical applications, we find that listed real estate is being used to fulfil an increasing number of investment objectives, both as a separate asset class and in conjunction with other assets such as unlisted funds, direct property, and infrastructure/commodities. The reason for this popularity with both asset allocators and retail investors lies in the specific and definable investment characteristics which listed real estate can provide; greater liquidity than direct real estate, the returns that are linked to it, an above-average and secure dividend stream, a form of protection against future inflation shocks, and a geared exposure to improving asset prices

Spin offs: Implications for corporate policies.

Management; Economy; Structure; Startups; Policy; Implications;