10 November 2021 (London) – The European Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles (INREV), the Investment Property Forum (IPF) and the Society of Property Researchers (SPR) – co-sponsors of the Nick Tyrell Research Prize – have announced the 2021 winning research paper, awarding the prize to joint authors Franz Fuerst, Nick Mansley and Zilong Wang of the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge.
Entitled ‘Do Specialist Funds Outperform? Evidence from European Non-listed Funds’, the paper explores the extent to which specialisation can lead to outperformance for European non-listed real estate funds. Based on an analysis of the performance of 592 funds over nearly two decades between 2001 and 2019, the research concludes that both country specialisation and a combination of a country and sector specialisation are indeed associated with superior performance, but that sector specialisation alone is not. The empirical evidence points to the fact that specialists exhibit higher total returns both on a raw unadjusted basis and also when accounting for differences in fund and market characteristics. The results indicate the importance of being able to access local knowledge and expertise and that implied information advantages and local investment managers’ market knowledge and networks may be difficult to replicate.
Andrew Smith, Chair of the Judging Panel commented: “This year’s prize attracted some strong submissions on a very diverse range of topics. The winning paper was selected on the basis of both its practical relevance to the industry and the quality of the underlying research, in the best traditions of the Nick Tyrrell Research Prize. Although there is extensive research in the area of fund selection, the authors break new ground by taking account of leverage and other important structural differences between funds that have not necessarily been captured by previous studies. The judges were impressed by a well-written and robustly supported paper, with clear, straightforward and actionable conclusions.”
Speaking on behalf of all three authors of the prize-winning paper, Nick Mansley said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive the prestigious Nick Tyrrell Research Prize. We love doing research which is of interest to both practitioners and academics and really enjoyed examining this challenging issue in a rigorous way. We hope it sparks interesting discussions across the industry about what managers are really good at.”
The winning paper was selected from strong submissions from across the globe. The authors will present their paper at a special industry seminar/webinar on 9 December 2021 and the paper has been published on Science Direct. An abstract is also available on each of the sponsoring organisations’ websites: INREV, IPF, SPR.
The 2021 Judging Panel comprised Andrew Smith (Hearthstone Investments Ltd.) (Chair), Dr Alexandra Krystalogianni, Dr Russell Chaplin (Intrinsic Value Real Estate Advisers) Mahdi Mokrane (PATRIZIA AG) and Prof. Simon Stevenson (Strome College of Business, Old Dominion University). The deadline for the 2022 Prize will be 31 May 2022. All submissions should be made through the secretariat for the prize, which is managed by Dr Paul Kennedy and Iryna Pylypchuk at nicktyrrellprize@inrev.org.
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For further information, please contact
Contact: Johlyn da Prato
Email: nicktyrrellprize@inrev.org / johlyn.daprato@inrev.org
Telephone: +31 (0) 621397456
Notes to editors
About the Nick Tyrrell Research Prize
The Nick Tyrrell Research Prize was established in 2011 to acknowledge innovative and high quality, applied research in real estate investment and is awarded annually. The Prize is in memory of the work and industry contribution of Nick Tyrrell, who passed away in August 2010. Nick Tyrrell was Head of Research and Strategy and a Managing Director in J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s European real estate division. His research work was characterised by a combination of academic rigour and practical relevance.
The Prize includes a cash prize of £2,000, the opportunity to present and discuss the paper at a seminar organised by the sponsoring organisations and the inclusion of the article (or a summary thereof) in one or more of the sponsoring organisations’ publications. The Prize is funded by the Nick Tyrrell Memorial Fund, which is supported by the three sponsoring organisations.
Past Winners
2020: Jean-Christophe Delfim, Prof. Martin Hoesli, ‘Real Estate in Mixed-Asset Portfolios for Various Investment Horizons’
2019: Dr Felipe Carozzi, Prof. Christian A.L. Hilber, and Xiaolun Yu, ‘The Economic Impacts of Help to Buy’
2018: Frank Ametefe, Dr. Steven Devaney and Professor Simon Andrew Stevenson, ‘Optimal Composition of Hybrid/Blended Real Estate Portfolios’
2017: Avis Devine and Erkan Yonder, ‘Decomposing the Value Effects of Sustainable Real Estate Investment: International Evidence’
2015: Pat McAllister and Nanda A, Do Foreign Buyers Compress Office Real Estate Cap Rates?
2014: Paul Schneider, Price Discovery in UK unlisted real estate funds
2013: Aleksander Andanov, Nils Kok and Piet Eichholtz, A Global Perspective on Pension Fund Investments in Real Estate
2012: Martin Hoesli and Elias Oikarinen, Are REITs Real Estate?
About the Sponsoring Organisations
INREV is Europe’s leading platform for sharing knowledge on the non-listed real estate industry. Its goal is to improve transparency, professionalism and best practices across the sector, making the asset class more accessible and attractive to investors. INREV currently has 473 members which include around 113 of the largest institutional investors as well as 40 of the 50 largest real estate fund managers, plus banks and advisors across Europe and elsewhere. www.inrev.org
The Investment Property Forum (IPF) is the leading individual membership organisation for those involved in the UK property investment market. The IPF's mission is to enhance the understanding and efficiency of property as an investment, including public, private, debt, equity and synthetic exposure, for its members and other interested parties, including government. www.ipf.org.uk
The Society of Property Researchers (SPR) is a professional association for practising property researchers. The SPR represents the interest of the property research community by providing a forum for the discussion. The SPR’s mission is to maintain high standards of ability and practice and improve the standing and promote the expertise of the property researcher. www.sprweb.com