Green Urban Development: The Impact Investment Strategy of Canadian Pension Funds. Issue 1 (31st December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Beath, Alexander D.; Betermier, Sebastien; Van Bragt, Maaike; Liu, Yuedan; Spehner, Quentin
• Is Part Of: Journal of sustainable real estate. Volume 14:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 75
• Page End: 94
• Publication Date: 2022-12-31
• Subjects: Active management -- impact investing -- pension funds -- real estate -- sustainable finance; Real estate development -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Sustainable construction -- Periodicals; Sustainable buildings -- Periodicals; 333.73150286
• DOI: 10.1080/19498276.2022.2125203
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1949-8276

Abstract

Abstract: This paper investigates the investment strategy that large Canadian pension funds implement in the private real estate market. Even though they manage just 6% of global pension assets in our data, Canadian pension funds are responsible for 60% of the total value of private real estate deals that directly involve a pension fund. A key component of their strategy consists of internally developing and greening urban properties in core downtown areas. Using a common benchmarking methodology across funds, we show that this impact strategy delivers superior performance net of fees and drives the green development of major city centers.