Public and private actors have suggested using the community land trust (CLT) model as a remedy for a number of housing related issues. This is based primarily upon the documented successes of CLT homeownership programs. Some caution that the growth of CLTs and the increased use of the CLT model beyond homeownership may stretch organizations beyond their capacity or force them to consider how to provide stewardship and community control. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) has been used by a handful of CLTs and there are reasons to believe that more CLTs may utilize it in the future. This thesis explores the opportunities and challenges that using LIHTC may present for CLTs through case studies with two different types of organizations--a grassroots CLT in Athens, GA and a nonprofit housing developer with a CLT program in Park City, UT--that have used it as a funding source.

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance. 28th September 2015 / National real estate markets are globally recognized as essential segments of an economy and major contributors to national aggregate outputs. However, Africa’s national real estate markets are largely underdeveloped mainly because capital is in short supply. In this study, we examine the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI), foreign portfolio investments (FPI) and remittances on Africa’s real estate markets. We also sought to establish the financial market channels of capital inflows that are especially important for the real estate markets. In 1980s and 1990s, the widespread influence of the Bretton Woods institutions’ policy prescriptions saw many African countries implement far-reaching financial liberalization reforms. These reforms were meant to address low domestic savings and investments by opening the capital accounts of nations as to enable inflow of foreign capital. In this study, we test the externalities of these inflows. Specifically, we examine the effects of foreign capital inflows on African real estate markets by estimating a structural investment model using a pooled feasible generalized least square and general method of moment estimators in a panel set-up. We use data from Botswana, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa for this test. Second, we examine causality relationships between real estate investments and foreign capital inflows using vector autoregressive (VAR) models and the Bai-Perron threshold test. Third, using the optimal general method of moment estimators and interactive term approach, we model the most important channel for foreign capital inflows’ externalities on the real estate markets. The panel results show that FDI and remittance do not have favourable associations with residential and non-residential real estate investments during their initial period of inflow, but in later periods, they correlate positively and significantly with real estate investments. The relation between FPI and the real estate investments is inconclusive. The VAR test suggests that the effects of foreign capital inflows on both residential and non-residential real estate investments vary across countries and markets. In some cases, the effects are time-varying and size-dependent, but in the majority of the cases, the effects are contingent on the size of the inflows. In respect of the most important channel(s) reflective of effects of cross-border flows on real estate markets, the results appear largely country-dependent: the credit market channel appears to stand out in reflecting most favourable externalities from cross-border flows. Further, evidence on the direct channel effect also varied from country to country. The indirect channel of the equity market is only important in South Africa, especially, when remittances are funnelled via the equity market channel. Based on the forgoing, it appears clear that in order to fast-track growth in national real estate markets, we should recommend that African countries put policies in place to motivate direct foreign capital inflows, encourage channelling of foreign capital inflows, particularly remittances and FDIs through the financial markets, with emphasis on credit markets. / MT2016

A research report submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Building Science in Property Development and Management to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2018 / In April 2013, the South African listed property sector converted from Property Unit Trust and Property Loan Stock investment structures into a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) structure that is understood globally. This conversion spurred consolidations in the property market in the form of mergers and acquisitions. Research shows that mergers and acquisitions tend to have high failure rates as growth strategies. It remains unknown how sufficient traditional due diligence is and how it can be improved to enhance the chances of successful corporate marriages within the South African REIT market. This paper reviews the aspects of the traditional due diligence scope which generally comprises of financial, legal and commercial due diligence in order to determine its adequacy as a decision making tool that helps reduce the risk of failure in REIT merger and acquisition transactions in South Africa. There is consensus in the literature that due diligence is a means to reduce the risk of merger and acquisition failure, some studies suggest that failure occurs when due diligence is not done well. This paper uses interviews conducted with due diligence professionals from seven REIT companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange who were involved in large merger and acquisition transactions in the preceding four years. The interviews were used to ascertain how the professionals perform due diligence, whether or not they think that traditional due diligence is sufficient for REIT mergers and acquisitions and to solicit their views on how the due diligence scope can be expanded. Transcribed data from each of the interviews was analysed based on three concurrent sub-processes adapted from the works of Miles and Huberman (1994) which consist of data reduction, data display and drawing and verifying conclusions. The results show that the traditional due diligence scope is not sufficient for REIT merger and acquisition transactions, a majority of the respondents agree with this observation. Encouragingly the professionals within the South African REIT market have a due diligence scope which is already much wider than the iii traditional scope, be that as it may, there is still a high failure rate of 59% observed in the sample analysed. Due diligence professionals have a low regard for understanding and resolving the different companies cultural issues, this is cited in the literature as one of the contributing factors for merger and acquisition failure. This is an area that can possibly augment the due diligence cycle and professionals should focus on it in order to improve the chances of success. The research proposes expanding the due diligence scope by incorporating strategic due diligence which is forward looking and it overcomes the challenges of traditional due diligence of relying on historic information. Strategic due diligence assists the acquirers understand the target’s future prospects, and it allows the acquirers to determine if the target prospects fit with their own strategic objectives. This together with a higher focus on understanding and resolving cultural issues of the merging companies should augment the traditional scope and ultimately lead to transactions that yield higher shareholder value. / XL2018

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Management in Finance and Investments In the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management University of the Witwatersrand, Wits Business School, 2016 / This paper presents a first time application of a variant of the concepts underpinning the Fed Model, amalgamated with the Bond-Stock Earnings Yield Differential, by applying it to the dividend yields of REIT indices. This modification is termed the yield gap, quantitatively constructed and adapted in this paper as the Reverse REIT-Bond Yield Gap. This metric is then used as the variable of interest in a multivariate Markov regime switching model framework, along with a set of three regressors. The REIT indices trailing dividend yield and associated metrics are the FTSE/EPRA NAREIT series. All data are from Bloomberg Terminals. This paper examines 11 markets, of which the EMEs are classified as Brazil, Mexico, Turkey and South Africa, whereas the advanced market counterparts are Australia, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The time-frame spans the period June 2013 until November 2015 for the EMEs, whilst their advanced market counterparts time-span covers the period November 2009 until November 2015. This paper encompasses a tri-fold research objective, and aims to accomplish them in a scientifically-based, objective and coherent fashion. Specifically, the purpose is in an attempt to gauge the reasons underlying EMEs observed anomalies entailing reverse REIT-Bond yield gaps, whereby their tenyear nominal government bonds out-yield their trailing dividend yields on their associated REIT indices; what drives fluctuations in this metric; and whether or not profitable tactical asset allocation strategies can be formulated to exploit any arbitrage mispricing opportunities. The Markov models were unable to generate clear-cut, definitive reasons regarding why EMEs experience this anomaly. Objectives two and three were achieved, except for France and Mexico. The third objective was also met. The REIT-Bond Yield Gaps static conditions have high probabilities of continuing in the same direction and magnitude into the future. In retrospection, the results suggest that by positioning an investment strategy, taking cognisance of the chain of economic events that are likely to occur following static REIT-Bond Yield Gaps, then investors, portfolio rebalancing and risk management techniques, hedging, targeted, tactical and strategic asset allocation strategies could be formulated to exploit any potential arbitrage profits. The REIT-Bond Yield Gaps are considered highly contentious, yet encompasses the potential for significant reward. The Fed Model insinuates that EME REIT markets are overvalued relative to their respective government bonds, whereas their advanced market counterparts exhibit the opposite phenomenon. / XL2018

Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, 2016 / Purpose - The paper provides an investigation of the relationship of macroeconomic risk factors and REITs. The study considers the conditional volatilities of macroeconomic variables on the excess returns and conditional variance of excess returns in developing and developed markets and provides a comparison thereof. Methodology approach - The study employs three-step approach estimation in the methodology (Principal Component Analysis, GARCH (1,1) and GMM) to estimate the asset pricing model. The preliminary study indicated that there are only two developing economies (Bulgaria and South Africa), as defined by National Association of Real Estate Investment Trust (NAREIT), with REIT indices. We additionally included the United States as the developed economy. Findings – Our results indicate that the real economy and business cycles (proxied by GDP growth rate and industrial production index), price stability (proxied by the GDP deflator), exchange rates and interest rates do not explain developing country REIT returns represented by Bulgaria and South Africa, as well as in developed markets, represented by the US. However unlike the developing markets, changes in industrial production and inflation are important variables that affect the conditional variance of REIT returns in the US. / GR2018

A real property law inglesa é um tema pouco estudado na tradição jurídica de base romanística, e menos ainda no Brasil. Mesmo a literatura comparatística tem minimizado, ou mesmo omitido, o estudo abrangente das fontes inglesas ao analisar o tema, resultando na ausência de trabalhos escritos desde uma perspectiva do direito privado continental que analisem com maior profundidade os principais elementos formativos dos direitos reais sobre bens imóveis de matriz inglesa. As referências e alusões ao sistema do common law, contudo, são hoje cada vez mais freqüentes nos ordenamentos de matriz civilística, principalmente em razão da maior interação entre ordenamentos pertencentes a sistemas jurídicos de tradição histórica diversa. Portanto, para estabelecer diálogos relevantes, deve-se dedicar atenção especial aos principais elementos de formação do sistema de direito inglês, de modo a desvendar sua particular estrutura e terminologia. O primeiro passo para estabelecer esse diálogo é conhecer os elementos que deram origem ao sistema do common law. Dado o forte vínculo do direito inglês com a sua história, torna-se necessário o estudo da real property law por meio de uma análise das suas fontes históricas que revele tanto a estrutura conceitual quanto o sentido das expressões e dos institutos mais típicos do sistema do common law. É esse estudo que pretendemos realizar neste trabalho, mediante a análise da formação histórica das tenures, dos estates, da equity e dos trusts. Uma pesquisa baseada nas fontes relativas à formação da real property law traz a vantagem adicional de fornecer uma visão ampla acerca da natureza e o funcionamento do sistema do common law como um todo, na medida em que o desenvolvimento primário do direito inglês esteve associado à estrutura dos direitos reais sobre bens imóveis na Inglaterra. Desse contexto derivam, em larga medida, as particularidades e as características que tornam o sistema do common law, em muitos aspectos, diverso dos sistemas jurídicos de tradição romanística. A busca por uma aproximação entre os sistemas pertencentes a essas duas tradições jurídicas exige uma compreensão dos elementos que deram origem à diversidade entre elas. Nossa proposta é, justamente, identificar esses elementos e torná-los compreensíveis desde uma perspectiva civilística, por meio de uma análise das fontes inglesas mais relevantes para o tema. / English real property law is not a subject very often studied in the legal tradition based on Roman law, and even less so in Brazil. Even comparative writers have tended to minimize, if not altogether omit, a comprehensive study of the English sources when discussing the subject, resulting in a lack of literature, written from the perspective of continental private law, that analyses in greater depth the main formative elements of the law of real property based on the English legal model. The references and allusions to the common law legal system, however, have become increasingly more frequent in civil law contexts, largely due to the greater degree of interaction between legal systems belonging to different historical traditions. Thus, in order to establish meaningful dialogues, special attention must be given to the main factors that shaped the English legal system, thereby unveiling its specific structure and terminology. The firs step towards establishing such a dialogue is to understand the elements that gave birth to the common law legal system. Given the strong connection English law has with its history, it is necessary to study the real property law through an analysis of its historical sources, which will reveal the conceptual structure and the meaning of the most typical expressions and institutions of the English legal system. That is the task undertaken herein, to be accomplished through the study of the historical inception of the doctrine of tenures, the doctrine of estates, equity and trusts. A study based on the sources regarding the formation of the real property law brings the additional advantage of providing a broad outlook on the nature and operation of the English legal system as a whole, as the primary development of English law was associated to the structure of rights over land in England. That context is the cause, to a large extent, of the peculiarities and characteristics that make the English legal system, in many ways, different from legal systems based on Roman law. The pursuit for a closer interaction between the legal systems that belong to those two legal traditions requires an understanding of the elements that determined their differences. The object of this research is to identify those elements and make them comprehensible from a civilian perspective, by means of an analysis of the most relevant English sources on the subject.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-04T11:45:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Regina_Galhardi_de_Camargo.pdf: 603725 bytes, checksum: c70c2b715bbf9202b54c36c60a7cfded (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-08-30 / Due to difficulties faced by the Brazilian official social security, the government has been supporting the expansion of the private social security. Through regulatory and legal agencies, the Brazilian official social security has been being given more transparency, security and flexibility. As part of the situation, the pension funds, also named EFPC, have the basic function of providing social security complementary benefits to the employees of an enterprise (or sponsor). As a way of guaranteeing the future payment of offered benefits to participants, the complementary pension entities manage investments which arise from sponsors and employees?? contributions. Those investments are associated in portfolios, and their arrangement limits and diversification established by SPC. According to ABRAPP data, on February 2005, Brazilian pension funds invested eighty one billion reais in the application of resources in a variable income segment, 31% of their total investments. The aim of this work is to propose a model for the investments portfolio in variable income of the pension funds, whose building was made possible through a bibliographical research. This research had the objective to provide a theoretical and specific review of risk, value, valuation and opportunity cost. The contribution of this work is the transition from the theoretical model to the practical application The model was applied to enterprises connected to Previ??s investments portfolio of variable income, and the conclusion is: through the use of such a model, managers of pension funds can sustain their acquisition, maintenance and investments write off decisions, parts of that entities??variable income portfolio. / Diante das dificuldades enfrentadas no Brasil pela previd??ncia oficial, o Governo tem incentivado a expans??o do sistema previdenci??rio privado, conferindo-lhe, por meio dos ??rg??os normativos e legais, maior transpar??ncia, seguran??a e flexibilidade. Nesse cen??rio, inserem-se os fundos de pens??o, tamb??m chamados de entidades fechadas de previd??ncia complementar - EFPC, que t??m a fun????o b??sica de propiciar benef??cios previdenci??rios complementares aos empregados de uma empresa, chamada de patrocinadora. Para garantir o pagamento futuro dos benef??cios oferecidos aos participantes, as entidades de previd??ncia complementar gerenciam os investimentos decorrentes do patrim??nio formado pelas contribui????es dos patrocinadores e empregados. Esses investimentos s??o agregados em carteiras, cujos limites de composi????o e diversifica????o s??o estabelecidos pela SPC - Secretaria da Previd??ncia Complementar. Conforme dados da ABRAPP - Associa????o Brasileira das Entidades Fechadas de Previd??ncia Complementar, em fevereiro de 2005, os fundos de pens??o brasileiros possu??am cerca de R$ 81 bilh??es de recursos alocados no segmento de renda vari??vel, o que significava 31% da totalidade de seus investimentos. Este trabalho prop??e um modelo para a carteira de investimentos em renda vari??vel dos fundos de pens??o, cuja constru????o deu-se a partir de uma pesquisa bibliogr??fica, objetivando uma revis??o te??rica e espec??fica sobre os temas: risco, valor, avalia????o de empresas e custo de oportunidade. O modelo foi aplicado para empresas que fazem parte da carteira de investimentos de renda vari??vel da Previ - Caixa de Previd??ncia dos Funcion??rios do Banco do Brasil, e ?? a conclus??o do trabalho. Ou seja, por meio da ado????o do modelo constru??do, ?? poss??vel aos gestores dos fundos de pens??o modelar as decis??es de aquisi????o, manuten????o ou baixa de investimentos que comp??em a carteira renda vari??vel dessas entidades.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Thelma E. Pittman Etheridge. / M.C.P.

This research examines how two prominent foundations (the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Lumina Foundation) identify problems, develop potential solutions, and attempt to foster their adoption across states and higher education institutions. As foundations play an increasingly central role in shaping how education institutions are funded, how they deliver course content, structure academic programs, and deliver student support services, the importance of these questions increases as well. This study draws on interviews with current and former foundation employees, as well as interviews with actors in consulting, advocacy, policy and research organizations, and extensive document analysis, to look beyond the foundations’ financial investments to examine how foundations and their grantees develop policy goals, strategies, and seek to affect education policy through ideas, research, and advocacy. This study finds that foundations are undergoing a policy learning process, whereby they modify strategies based on new information, input from partner organizations, and past investments. Limits and challenges to this process are also observed. How foundations grapple with new information is important, because this study also finds that foundations are influential political actors within the higher education completion agenda. In partnership with intermediary organizations, foundations raise awareness of their goals, problem definitions, and solutions, and take an active role in seeking out support for their higher education agendas, affecting both state policy and higher education institutions.

The purpose of this dissertation is to determine whether size and book value to market value (BV/MV) effects dominate the property effects in the return generating process for Listed Property Trusts (LPTs) in Australia.The study endeavours to answer a critical question regarding listed property investment vehicles. That is, are they stocks or property? The approach, however, differs from previous studies in that it avoids utilising direct property data because of the inherent valuation-smoothing problems.Instead, it develops unique specialised indices for LPTs by size and BV/MV ratios. The analyses are conducted in four different ways. Amongst other findings, it is suggested that the two well known stock market effects, namely size and BV/MV effects, are significant in LPT returns. As such, by way of inference, it is suggested that property effects in LPT returns are subsumed under the effects of these two factors. The findings support the hybrid-asset hypothesis for LPTs; that is, LPTs are an asset class of its own, sharing to an extent, the characteristics of both shares and property direct. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)