RealWorld is the UK’s only conference created by investment property researchers, for investment property researchers...
The financialisation of property – into forward or reverse gear?
Finding the right structures for global property investment
Financialisation: an economic system which attempts to reduce all values to a financial instrument or derivative of a financial instrument; in which leverage tends to over-ride equity capital and financial markets dominate the economy.
“By the time a residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS) backed by US subprime loans was sold by a French hedge fund to a structured investment vehicle (SIV) owned by a medium-sized German industrial bank, neither the buyer nor the seller of the security had any idea as to the quality of the assets backing the security.”
Willem Buiter, 2009
It was subprime RMBS that opened up the cracks in the global financial system. The ensuing economic crisis has checked other forms of property financialisation – a proliferation of indirect investment vehicles, a huge rise in leverage, debt securitisation, derivatives trading - that were widely seen as tokens of the maturity of property as an asset class. In the aftermath of the crisis, RealWorld will work from an analysis of the meltdown to consider whether these forms of property investment and finance were fundamentally flawed and will be reversed, or will be resumed in full vigour with the recovery, or need to be tamed by better information and stronger regulation.
At RealWorld you are part of a widely-drawn gathering of researchers from around the UK and Europe. The conference welcomes the attendance of both seasoned academics and up and coming researchers and will guarantee that all contributions are equally valued. The event takes a research perspective on the latest property investment issues, and explores the most up-to-date thinking on research methods, outputs and theories.
NEW: PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS AT THE REALWORLD CONFERENCE
22 September, St John's College, Cambridge, 11.30-12.45
ONLY £50 + VAT to attend
Prior to the conference there will be 3 short workshop sessions designed as a practical foundation to complement the main conference. The 3 topics are:
Introduction to financial engineering in property: a brief history
Tony Key, Cass Business School
This workshop will explore the evolution of the financial structures that have been developed for property investment over the past 20 years. It will explain the most important structures including property and debt securitisation, unlisted investment vehicles, bank lending and property derivatives. The session will look at the market conditions that have supported the development of particular instruments and the uses to which they have been put by investors.
Measuring risk – for properties and portfolios
Malcolm Frodsham, IPD
Risk can be seen as the probability of financial loss or the failure to meet an expected level of return, but how can it be measured most meaningfully? This workshop will provide a technical introduction to the most commonly used measures of risk, explaining the data inputs used, methods of calculation, and the contribution they can make to understanding investment performance outcomes. The session will also consider how financial structures affect risk.
Regulation and property investment: the key strands
Conor Downey, Paul Hastings
This workshop will identify the elements of financial services regulation that are likely to have the biggest impact on property investment in the future, including Basel II and EU directives on fund vehicles. The session will also focus on regulation with regard to securitisation and debt, setting out the current landscape and how this is set to change going forward.
To register for one of these workshops please contact becci.elson@ipd.com.
