Revisiting performance persistence in real estate funds

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2005.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-47).In this thesis, real estate opportunity fund returns were analyzed for evidence of persistence in subsequent funds from the same manager; it is designed to update and enhance a prior thesis performed by Cathy C. Hahn (2003), using both parametric and non-parametric tests. Tests were performed on gross and net returns covering the period from 1991-2004. These tests confirm the prior finding that past fund performance is a significant indicator of future fund performance within the same firm. Our study also found the strongest evidence of persistence to exist in the extreme performers ranking in the top and bottom quartile amongst their vintage year peers. Additional tests for persistence, as well as effects of fund characteristics on performance, were employed using a methodology similar to that performed on private equity funds by Kaplan and Schoar (2003). Our tests yielded similar results to those found by Kaplan and Schoar(2003), but were not substantiated with statistical significance.by Robert A. LaFever and Luis Canizo.S.M

The DESI experiment part I: science, targeting, and survey design

DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) is a Stage IV ground-based dark energy experiment that will study baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and the growth of structure through redshift-space distortions with a wide-area galaxy and quasar redshift survey. To trace the underlying dark matter distribution, spectroscopic targets will be selected in four classes from imaging data. We will measure luminous red galaxies up to $z=1.0$. To probe the Universe out to even higher redshift, DESI will target bright [O II] emission line galaxies up to $z=1.7$. Quasars will be targeted both as direct tracers of the underlying dark matter distribution and, at higher redshifts ($2.1 < z < 3.5$), for the Ly-$\alpha$ forest absorption features in their spectra, which will be used to trace the distribution of neutral hydrogen. When moonlight prevents efficient observations of the faint targets of the baseline survey, DESI will conduct a magnitude-limited Bright Galaxy Survey comprising approximately 10 million galaxies with a median $z\approx 0.2$. In total, more than 30 million galaxy and quasar redshifts will be obtained to measure the BAO feature and determine the matter power spectrum, including redshift space distortions

The DESI Experiment Part II: Instrument Design

DESI (Dark Energy Spectropic Instrument) is a Stage IV ground-based dark energy experiment that will study baryon acoustic oscillations and the growth of structure through redshift-space distortions with a wide-area galaxy and quasar redshift survey. The DESI instrument is a robotically-actuated, fiber-fed spectrograph capable of taking up to 5,000 simultaneous spectra over a wavelength range from 360 nm to 980 nm. The fibers feed ten three-arm spectrographs with resolution $R= \lambda/\Delta\lambda$ between 2000 and 5500, depending on wavelength. The DESI instrument will be used to conduct a five-year survey designed to cover 14,000 deg$^2$. This powerful instrument will be installed at prime focus on the 4-m Mayall telescope in Kitt Peak, Arizona, along with a new optical corrector, which will provide a three-degree diameter field of view. The DESI collaboration will also deliver a spectroscopic pipeline and data management system to reduce and archive all data for eventual public use