https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8292-5503
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ABSTRACT
Existing research has shown that pension funds have been adopting financialized real estate governance models and investment practices more concerned with the short-term risk–return performance of the portfolio. This study of the property portfolios of Brazil’s largest pension funds shows that financialization is a powerful force but does not fully explain pension fund commercial real estate investment and management practices which are strongly predicated upon three guiding principles: (1) an awareness of the constraints posed by pension liabilities; (2) a focus on asset-specific competences to increase returns; and (3) a prioritization of in-house investment management. These practices are, however, challenged by a recent Monetary Board decision to ban direct property investment by pension funds and place their resources at the disposal of the financial industry.
摘要
养老基金投资商业地产: 巴西决策和投资实践定性分析。Area Development and Policy. 现有研究表明，养老基金一直采用金融化的房地产治理模式和投资实践，更关注投资组合的短期风险回报表现。本文对巴西最大的养老基金房地产投资组合进行研究，研究表明，尽管金融化是一股强大的力量，但它并不能说明养老基金商业房地产投资和管理实践，这些实践强烈依赖于三个指导原则:(1)意识到养老金负债造成的制约;(2)专注于特定资产的能力以增加回报;(3)优先考虑内部投资管理。 然而，货币委员会最近的一项决定对这些实践提出了挑战，该决定禁止养老基金直接投资房地产，并将其资源交由金融业支配。
RESUMEN
Las inversiones de los fondos de pensiones en el sector inmobiliario comercial: un análisis cualitativo de la toma de decisiones y las pr#ácticas de inversión en Brasil. Pension fund investment in commercial real estate: a qualitative analysis of decision-making and investment practices in Brazil. Area Development and Policy. Las investigaciones existentes han demostrado que los fondos de pensiones han adoptado modelos financiarizados de gobernanza y prácticas de inversión inmobiliaria, más interesados por el riesgo y la rentabilidad de la cartera a corto plazo. Este estudio sobre la gestión de las mayores carteras inmobiliarias de los fondos de pensiones en Brasil muestra que la financiarización es una fuerza poderosa, pero no explica completamente las prácticas comerciales de inversión y gestión inmobiliaria de los fondos de pensiones, que están fuertemente basadas en tres principios orientadores: (1) una conciencia de las limitaciones impuestas por las obligaciones jubilatorias; (2) un enfoque en habilidades específicas a los activos para mejorar los rendimientos; y (3) una priorización de la gestión interna de las inversiones. Sin embargo, estas prácticas están siendo cuestionadas por una reciente decisión del Consejo Monetario que prohíbe la inversión directa en inmuebles por parte de los fondos de pensiones y pone sus recursos a disposición del sector financiero.
Аннотация
Инвестиции пенсионных фондов в коммерческую недвижимость: качественный анализ практики принятия решений и инвестирования в Бразилии. Area Development and Policy. Существующие исследования показывают, что пенсионные фонды внедряют финансовые модели управления недвижимостью и инвестиционную практику, больше заботясь о краткосрочных показателях доходности портфеля с учетом риска. Это исследование портфелей недвижимости крупнейших пенсионных фондов Бразилии демонстрирует, что финансиализация является мощной силой, но не объясняет практику инвестирования и управления коммерческой недвижимостью пенсионными фондами, которая в значительной степени основана на трех ключевых принципах: (1) осознание ограничений, связанных с пенсионными обязательствами; (2) сосредоточение внимания на компетенциях, специфичных для конкретных активов, для повышения доходности; и (3) приоритизация внутреннего управления инвестициями. Однако эта практика оспаривается недавним решением Валютного совета о запрете прямых инвестиций пенсионных фондов в недвижимость и предоставлении их ресурсов в распоряжение финансовой индустрии.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank the journal editor and four anonymous reviewers for their valuable contributions. They are also grateful to Guilherme Muniz Filho for his essential help in collecting and organizing the data.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. Institutional investors are generally understood as those organizations that have a long-term investment commitment and hold large money reserves that are channelled to capital markets. We can consider as institutional investors PFs, sovereign wealth funds, employee funds, insurance companies and endowments, but also the asset management firms that help these organizations secure returns on their investments (Clark & Monk, Citation2017, p. 20).
2. Until recently funds could largely rely on government bonds to provide the returns needed to fund pensions. This started to change in 2015–16 as interest rates declined substantially. It was mostly the largest PFs (PREVI, Petros and Funcef) that ventured significantly into asset classes such as shares, property and infrastructure before 2015.
3. Due to regulatory constraints in Brazil, PFs only invest in domestic property, in both the direct and the indirect channels. Regarding data, little information is available about the past investments of PFs, as it was only relatively recently that PFs were required to provide more systematic information on their balance sheet.
4. Scandals involving PFs have also taken place throughout the 1990s, as these organizations were directed to purchase stakes in state-owned enterprises that were privatized (Grün, Citation2003). Several of the investigations carried out by the recent operation Car Wash (Lava Jato), as it was called, have been tainted by evidence of collusion between prosecutors and judges to achieve political goals (Londoño & Casado, Citation2019).
5. Among the largest PFs, only Petros has faced corruption charges concerning its investments in property. The PF was accused of overpaying for an office complex built in the city of Salvador by government contractors involved in kickback schemes (Goulart, Citation2020; Schmitt, Citation2018).