With the issuing of Pension Funds circular PF117 in 2004 in South Africa, regulation required valuation assumptions for defined benefit pension funds to be on a best-estimate basis. Allowance for prudence was to be made through explicit contingency reserves, in order to increase reporting transparency. These reserves for prudence, however, were not permitted to put the fund into deficit (the no-deficit clause). Analysis is conducted to understand the risk that PF117 poses to pension fund sponsors and members under two key measures: contribution rate risk and solvency risk. A stochastic model of a typical South African defined benefit fund is constructed with simulations run to determine the impact of the PF117 requirements. Findings show that a best-estimate funding basis, coupled with the no-deficit clause, results in significant risk under both contribution rate and solvency risk measures, particularly in the short-term. To mitigate these risks, alternative ways of introducing conservatism into the funding basis are required, with possible options including incorporating margins into investment return assumptions or the removal of the no-deficit clause.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Credentialing has become an established albeit voluntary—and often debated— part of the fundraising profession. Despite this, scholarly attention to the phenomenon of credentialing for fundraising professionals has been woefully lacking. While the literature has discussed what the benefits of credentialing are to fundraisers and the general public, it has failed to research how particular credentials came to be and why they were created at a particular place and time. This study analyzes the origins of the first fundraising credential, the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential, which was first awarded in 1981. While touching briefly on the phenomenon of mass philanthropy that paved the way for the birth of fundraising as a profession in the early twentieth century, the study concentrates on the way in which early practitioner associations such as the American Association of Fundraising Counsel and the National Association of Fund Raising Executives worked to establish fundraising as a legitimate profession. They fended off external threats from government regulation and capitalized on opportunities to give shape to the profession through the development of criteria for determining professional standing, codes and standards of practice and, eventually, the self-regulatory mechanism of voluntary credentialing. The principal results and conclusions of this study are: 1) while the fundraising profession has been witness to major events impacting American philanthropy in the twentieth century, including the reification of philanthropy as an economic “third sector” through the impact of the Tax Reform Act of 1969, the fundraising profession as a whole has been largely disengaged from these events except when they have directly threatened the economic welfare of the profession; and 2) the creation of the CFRE credential was largely spurred by increased calls for self-regulation of fundraising in the late 1970s.

Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2013. / The recent market turmoil caused by the subprime crisis highlighted the fact that an inappropriate liquidity risk management process may strongly affect the capacity of banks to maintain their financial equilibrium and economic performance under stress conditions. In addition, it has been observed that the most significant challenge facing banks when they are adopting new regulations such as Basel I, Basel II and now Basel III is the imminent threat of imbalances between the interests of the shareholders and those of the regulator (Chabanel, 2011). This thesis proposes a framework on liquidity risk management in the banking book that a bank may adopt so as to improve the way in it could manage the anticipated changes within tits regulatory environment.

Problem. The problem of this study addressed the increased need for qualified professional fund raising administrators during a time when formal academic programs are not readily available. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to develop a model curriculum at the Master of Arts level as a professional academic program in fund raising administration. Objective. The objective of the study was to draw from a qualified sampling sufficient data to formulate the recommended model graduate curriculum. Procedure. A researcher-designed survey questionnaire was validated and mailed to chief Development officers at American colleges and universities raising a minimum of one million dollars per year for current use at institutions with enrollments of one thousand or more. A return rate exceeding forty percent was considered sufficient for the results to be valid. One hundred eighteen returns provided the data for computer processing. A review of literature provided an historical background of philanthropy, the role and profession of Development and the professional educational programs currently available. The researcher compiled from the literature on workshop-type programs and texts, a list of the salient topics to be evaluated in the Questionnaire at levels of importance. Descriptive statistics were used. Findings. The respondents were ninety-six percent male. Their average age was forty-seven with approximately fourteen years of experience. The institutions represented had an average of ten professionals on their staffs, but less than six percent offered any course work in institutional advancement. Generally the mean score ratings of the sixty-six topics under twelve categories were rated in the medium high level by the respondents. Conclusions. A Master of Arts degree is perceived to be the appropriate program to professionally prepare qualified fund raising administrators. A field experience/practicum with written reports/case studies should be required in lieu of the traditional thesis. Faculty teaching should be required to have substantial fund raising experience. Topics were only included in The Model Curriculum if they were recommended important at the medium-high mean score of 3.50 or higher on a five point scale.

Infrastructure construction underpins China’s socioeconomic development, and it is also an important guarantee for China to perpetuate sustainable economic growth in the long run. Fortified infrastructure construction projects, especially people’s livelihood projects, can not only fuel the healthy and sustainable development of China’s economy, but also complement the shortfall in comprehensively building a well-off society and effectively uplifting people’s inner fulfillment and happiness. Infrastructure construction highlights large capital investment and long recovery time in terms of capital utilization. Therefore, the investment in infrastructure construction in China has long relied on government fiscal funds. However, as infrastructure construction accelerates in China, local governments’ debts are growing bigger with higher risks behind and the central government has called local governments to deleverage and reduce debt. This was accompanied by increasingly prominent bottleneck of insufficient infrastructure construction funds. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to study how to expand financing channels for infrastructure construction to alleviate the pressure on government capital investment with innovative ways of thinking.This article uses a case study approach. Based on the in-depth analysis of the characteristics and investment preference of foreign insurance funds, this paper analyzes the significance and feasibility of introducing foreign insurance funds to invest in China's infrastructure construction. At the same time, this paper demonstrates the irreplaceable role of financial leasing companies funded by foreign insurance funds in connecting foreign insurance funds and domestic infrastructure construction, so as to build an innovative financial leasing model for infrastructure construction to attract foreign insurance funds to invest in China’s infrastructure construction. / Business Administration/Finance

No description available.

This thesis examines three important topics in corporate governance: the relationship between activist hedge funds and other institutional investors, the role of perks in the market for CEO talent, and public scrutiny and the changing nature of perks. First, I provide an in depth study of the interaction between activist hedge funds and other institutional investors. Hedge funds are more likely to target firms with high levels of institutional ownership, and demonstrate a preference for short term focused institutional investors. Hedge fund activism generates short run and long run abnormal returns without increasing stock return volatility. Regardless of investment horizon, volatility is inversely related to prior period institutional ownership. The trading behavior of institutional owners with different investment horizons is consistent with hedge fund activism creating value. These findings hold regardless of whether investment horizon is based on portfolio churn rate or type of institution. Overall, the results suggest a mutually beneficial relationship between activist hedge funds and other institutional investors. Second, in a coauthored paper with Drs. Seungijn Han and Jiaping Qiu, I provide the first comprehensive analysis on how CEOs’ wage and perks are jointly determined in a competitive CEO market. The underlying theory shows that in equilibrium, firm size, wage, perks and talent are all positively related. Perks are more sensitive than wage to changes in firm size. The more perks enhance the CEO’s productivity, the faster perks increase in firm size. Closed form solutions allow the recovery of the cost function of providing perks. I examine the determinants of CEO perquisite compensation using hand-collected information for S&P 500 companies and find consistent empirical evidence. Third, I examine the impact of public scrutiny on CEO compensation using the unique opportunity provided by the 2008 financial crisis, government support, and legislated compensation restrictions. I introduce novel data on executive perks at S&P 500 firms from 2006 to 2012. Overall, my results are consistent with increased public scrutiny having lasting impact on perks and temporary impact on wage, and with legislated compensation restrictions having temporary impact on wage. Changes in specific perks items provide evidence on which perks firms perceive as excessive and which provide common value. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Senior and the City investigate the question; what does it mean to age with dignity in the city? With recent years of pandemic precautions, as senior citizens were subdivided into a high-index group, a greater focus was set upon their living conditions due to the protection. The protective isolation bore discussions about loneliness and the value of social contact arose.  In my thesis project I have made a case study of the senior living home the Flower Fund. Through my research and the pre-conditions of the Flower Fund I have made three public gestures with the aim to link the activity within the buildings to the public life of the streets-cape without. Proposing architectural means which are effective in creating public spaces that is somehow generous and beneficial for both seniors and the city.

As personal backgrounds and experiences vary, emotions stemming from exposure to violence shape a manager's risk perception and investment strategies. We document significant variation in the risk exposure of managers who were raised in states with higher per capita violence rates than those who were not. Although managers exposed to violence tend to hold more stocks in their portfolios, take less idiosyncratic risk, hold portfolios with betas closer to 1, and have less concentrated portfolios, these managers' risk-adjusted performance is not statistically different than that of their counterparts who were not exposed to violence.

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) came into worldwide attention in 2018, when over $11.6 billion flowed through them. The CME Group launched Bitcoin futures contracts in December 2017, giving large funds their first regulated exposure to digital assets. As digital assets move towards the mainstream of finance, institutional investors have followed. This study comparatively analyzes Hedge Fund investment in digital assets against that of other institutional investment firm types (Private Equity and Venture Capital) by analyzing their crypto holdings and rebuilding an equally weighted portfolio for each fund. Under these conditions, the study succeeds in finding significant differences between hedge fund results in the sample and those of private equity/venture capital firms. Specifically, this study shows through the composite portfolios built that digital asset investments made by hedge funds generate a much higher return than that of private equity and venture capital firms. Average hedge fund investments have much higher trading volumes and market capitalizations than those made by private equity and venture capital firms, suggesting that PE and VC firms are taking higher risks by investing in new and little-known crypto projects. The results of this study signal that the hedge fund business model is much better suited for the high-risk, high-volatility cryptocurrency market than strategies employed by venture capital and private equity firms.