EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centre and Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) have created a new research chair titled Financial Engineering and Global Alternative Portfolios for Institutional Investors.
The research chair is a three-year research programme piloted by a joint MSIM/EDHEC committee.
The EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centres team, led by the centres Scientific Director, Lionel Martellini, will research new forms of welfare-improving financial innovation through the engineering of alternative solutions for institutional portfolios. The study will look at whether alternative investment strategies, such as hedge funds, commodities, real estate and private equity, can be useful in both the core and the satellite components of a performance-seeking portfolio. It will also look at where these strategies can potentially bring beta and alpha benefits respectively, given that their impact on relative and absolute risk budgets must be assessed properly.
“The search for alpha is fast becoming a key driver in the investment process and is driving the need for more investment options than just skilled management within the traditional asset classes. We look forward to partnering with EDHEC as they study how new asset classes, from hedge funds to commodities, offer diversification and non-correlation benefits to the asset allocation mix,” says Jim Dilworth, managing director and CEO, MSIM Europe, Middle East and Africa.