European real estate associations announce the 2018 research award winner

The Nick Tyrrell Research Prize recognises the best in real estate investment research

1 October 2018, London – Industry associations and the sponsors, the European Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles (INREV), the Investment Property Forum (IPF) and the Society of Property Researchers (SPR), have awarded the 2018 Nick Tyrrell Research Prize to joint authors Dr Frank Ametefe and Dr Steven Devaney, both of the Henley Business School, University of Reading, with Professor Simon Stevenson of the University of Washington, for their paper, ‘Optimal Composition of Hybrid/Blended Real Estate Portfolios’.

The paper considers an optimum mix of liquid, publicly traded assets that may be added to a property fund portfolio to provide the enhanced liquidity required by institutional investors such as UK defined contribution pension funds which use these funds to gain exposure to real estate as an asset class. The performance and liquidity of various investments has become an issue of concern among investors, especially as the ability of investors to exit these funds has frequently been compromised in periods following market shocks. The research indicates that applying formal optimisation techniques leads to a considerable improvement in the ability of the returns of blended real estate products to track the underlying benchmark property index even with significant addition of liquid, publicly traded assets.

Dr Paul McNamara, Chair of the Judging Panel commented, “This is a well-written paper where the methodology and results are well explained.  It is highly relevant to members of organisations that sponsor this Prize.  The paper addresses a perennial topic for fund managers in a discerning manner with respect to the methodology chosen and positions itself well against prior studies in this area. The paper was selected from a total of 14 submissions from across the globe and the Judging Panel was delighted to be able to award the 2018 Prize to this paper”. 

Accepting the award, corresponding author, Dr Frank Ametefe said, “We are delighted to have been awarded the Nick Tyrrell Research Prize. Our work was motivated by practical concerns and issues facing open-ended real estate funds who need to hold a proportion of liquid assets, but who wish to minimise tracking error and/or loss of returns from doing so. We hope that the work will be of interest to investors, fund managers and the academic community alike”.

Submissions for 2019 Prize

The Nick Tyrrell Research Prize is awarded annually to reward innovative and high-quality, applied research in real estate investment. The deadline for the 2019 Prize is 31 May 2019 and all submissions should be made through the secretariat for the Prize, Dr Paul Kennedy and Rita Gosrani at nicktyrrellprize@sprweb.com.

About the Nick Tyrrell Research Prize

The Nick Tyrrell Research Prize was established in 2011 to acknowledge innovative and high quality, applied research in real estate investment. The Prize is in memory of the work and industry contribution of Nick Tyrrell, who passed away in August 2010. Nick Tyrrell was Head of Research and Strategy and a Managing Director in J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s European real estate division. His research work was characterised by a combination of academic rigour and practical relevance.

The Prize includes a cash prize of £2,000, the opportunity to present and discuss the paper at a seminar organised by the sponsoring organisations and the inclusion of the article (or a summary thereof) in one or more of the sponsoring organisations’ publications. The Prize is funded by the Nick Tyrrell Memorial Fund, which is supported by the three sponsoring organisations. The management of the 2018 Prize was handled by Sue Forster, Chief Executive of the IPF and Dr Paul Kennedy, Head of Real Estate Strategy for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

The 2018 Judging Panel comprised Dr Paul McNamara (Chair), Professor Marc Francke (University of Amsterdam), Professor Martin Hoesli (University of Geneva), Dr. Alexandra Krystalogianni (Allianz Real Estate GmbH), Nick Mansley (University of Cambridge) and Andrew Smith, (Hearthstone Investments plc).

About the Sponsoring Organisations

INREV is Europe’s leading platform for sharing knowledge on the non-listed real estate industry. Its goal is to improve transparency, professionalism and best practices across the sector, making the asset class more accessible and attractive to investors. INREV currently has 453 members which include around 75 of the largest institutional investors as well as 40 of the 50 largest real estate fund managers, plus banks and advisors across Europe and beyond. www.inrev.org

The Investment Property Forum (IPF) is the leading individual membership organisation for those involved in the UK property investment market. The IPF's mission is to enhance the understanding and efficiency of property as an investment, including public, private, debt, equity and synthetic exposure, for its members and other interested parties, including government. www.ipf.org.uk

The Society of Property Researchers (SPR) is a professional association for practicing property researchers. The SPR represents the interest of the property research community by providing a forum for the discussion. The SPR’s mission is to maintain high standards of ability and practice and improve the standing and promote the expertise of the property researcher. www.sprweb.com 

Past Winners of the Nick Tyrrell Research Prize:

• 2012:   Martin Hoesli and Elias Oikarinen, Are REITs Real Estate?
• 2013:   Aleksander Andanov, Nils Kok and Piet Eichholtz, A Global Perspective on Pension Fund Investments in Real Estate
• 2014:  Paul Schneider, Price Discovery in UK unlisted real estate funds
• 2015: Pat McAllister and Nanda A, Do Foreign Buyers Compress Office Real Estate Cap Rates?
• 2017: Avis Devine and Erkan Yonder, ‘Decomposing the Value Effects of Sustainable Real Estate Investment: International Evidence’.