A.    EDHEC-Risk Institute

EDHEC developed a European excellence strategy for a number of years, and this led it to create the EDHEC-Risk Institute in 2001 with Noel Amenc, EDHEC Finance Professor. It now counts 35 professors, engineers and associate researchers, and boasts the largest European asset management research team. Its activities have been extended with research Chairs in governance and regulations, like the Regulation and Institutional Investment Chair in partnership with AXA Investment Managers, and Core-Satellite and ETF Investment in partnership with Amundi ETF, and many others. EDHEC-Risk Institute is present in Nice, London and Singapore.

It has its own dedicated website:
www.edhec-risk.com

B.    Research:  "The Performance of Socially Responsible Investment and Sustainable Development in France: An Update after the Financial Crisis", September 2010.

EDHEC-Risk Institute recently drew up a further analysis of socially responsible investment to that developed by the research centre in 2008. The initial study concluded that no SRI fund produced a positive alpha performance within a six-year period (alpha represents the relative performance) and the extension covered a further two more years. It concluded that the SRI factor does not create significant value. The funds fail to protect from the vagaries of the market and therefore do not provide additional financial value. In conclusion, EDHEC-Risk is not against SRI being included in a portfolio but should not claim to enhance performance. Such funds can be included in a well-diversified portfolio only on a basis of additional financial criteria.

The original English version of the research paper can be downloaded from the Edhec-Risk website.

C.    Events: "EDHEC-Risk Institutional Days" conference  in Monaco on 8 and 9 December 2010

The EDHEC European ETF Survey 2010 will report on the findings of its exclusive survey on developments observed in institutional management in terms of ETF as well as the advantages and drawbacks of ETF compared to other indexation products.
The results of the exclusive EDHEC-Risk European Index Survey on the use of indexes by institutional investors and the impact on management processes will also be discussed.
EDHEC's Risk Survey of European Pension Fund Asset and Liability Management Practices, a benchmark pan-European study on pension fund asset liability management practices, suggests that, despite the professionalization of asset-liability management shown by institutional investors and their service providers, controlled risk investment strategies are not adopted sufficiently.
A study on the legislation and non-financial risks of the European management industry attempted to answer the following question: should we manage non-financial risks or should we protect them?
EDHEC-Risk Institute research on new generation lifecycle fund management was also presented by Lionel Martellini, Academic Director of EDHEC-Risk Institute.
Finally, the findings of an exclusive study on the adaptation of institutional management practices for optimum risk management of private clients were presented during the Private Wealth Management Seminar.

For more information, please contact Carolyn Essid
E-mail: carolyn essid@edhec-risk.com
Phone: +33 (0)4 93 18 78 24