International Portfolio Investment

The focus of this paper is to analyze the feasibility of international portfolio diversification for a potential US investor with a moderate risk aversion. The first section includes the benefits of international portfolio investment with a special emphasis on the diversification aspect. The changes in correlations over different periods are discussed and the investments time horizon importance is stressed. The second section presents the additional costs incurred by maintaining an internationally diversified portfolio, including the risks and constraints involved. The conclusion contains a set of recommendations for a potential investor interested in internationally diversifying his portfolio.risks, investments, portofoliom, diversification

ACross-Sectional Analysis of CapRates by MSA

Much attention has been paid to capitalization rates or “cap rates?defined as the net operating income over transaction price, also known as a “going-in?current yield on commercial real estate when calculated at the time of purchase. We know that there are a number of global factors that drive capital markets and required rates of return that help to explain observed cap rates over time, but we know little about factors driving the geographical cross-sectional variation of these cap rates. Why are cap rates for similar sized and type property so much lower or higher in one metropolitan statistical area than another? Using data from Real Capital Analytics for multifamily properties we explore several models that combine the expected influences from housing demand growth, supply constraints, liquidity risk and the interaction of these. We document a very strong and robust relation between supply constraints and cap rates as well as evidence of capital flowing from larger markets to smaller markets in recent years. We also find weak but generally supportive evidence of influences from expected growth rates, liquidity and other risk factors.

Does Maturity Matter? The Case of Treasury Futures Volume

We find that Treasury futures volume contains information about future economic and financial market conditions. Short-term and long-term volumes are economically different: A relatively higher volume in short-term (long-term) Treasury futures is counter-cyclical (pro-cyclical), preceding worse (better) economic and financial conditions. Further, we construct a single factor from futures volumes of different maturities that forecasts the performances of Treasury securities and the corporate debt and equity markets, as well as macroeconomic conditions. Our results are consistent with the idea that futures volumes from different market segments signal differences in beliefs and the overall level of risk aversion of investors

Decomposing the Accrual Premium: The Evidence from Two Markets

We decompose the accrual premium and study its components in the debt and equity markets. We show that the importance of each accrual component depends on the sample and the type of market considered. The short‐term accruals component is primarily observed in equity markets, among small and young companies, which is consistent with mispricing arguments. The long‐term accruals premium is consistently positive and significant in different samples and markets. This component reflects growth in capital expenditures, and it is counter‐cyclical and predictable, which is in line with investment‐based explanations. Finally, the financial accruals component does not generate predictability

Decomposing the accrual premium: The evidence from two markets

We decompose the accrual premium and study its components in the debt and equity markets. We show that the importance of each accrual component depends on the sample and the type of market considered. The short‐term accruals component is primarily observed in equity markets, among small and young companies, which is consistent with mispricing arguments. The long‐term accruals premium is consistently positive and significant in different samples and markets. This component reflects growth in capital expenditures, and it is counter‐cyclical and predictable, which is in line with investment‐based explanations. Finally, the financial accruals component does not generate predictability

Who Reacts to News?

We show that the positive relation between firm-level cash-flow news and institutional ownership documented by [Cohen et al., Journal of Financial Economics 66, 409–462.] is mostly driven by short-horizon investors. Short-term institutions trade to incorporate cash-flow related information into prices and potentially reduce under-reaction to cash-flow news. In contrast, long-term institutions are more sensitive to discount-rate news, consistent with the idea that their strategy is to realize the long-term expected returns and that they care more about changes in their opportunity set. Our results support the premise that short- and long-horizon institutions are potentially trading with each other based on their opposing preferences for news