Our Publications
Measuring the Contributions of SRI/ESG Investment Strategies
Philippe Grégoire
ESG investments have grown significantly in recent years and the trend is to accelerate. This article proposes a model that makes it possible to attribute the return associated with the integration of ESG constraints into portfolio management. ESG strategies use objective criteria common to all investors, such as sector or industry classification, on the one hand, and criteria based on scores or ratings and acceptance thresholds on the other. For the former, we propose either to attribute performance against standard indices or to use the current ESG indices. For the latter, we have developed a model based on the creation of successive indices, which make it possible to isolate the impact of the integration of ESG constraints into management and to adapt to the different existing ESG strategies. This approach is the complemented by Brinson-type allocation models or specific models for fixed-income portfolios.
https://spauldinggrp.com/product/measuring-the-contributions-of-sri-esg-investment-strategies/
In this paper, we propose a method to assess the climate risk of a portfolio, and the contribution of each portfolio component to this risk. The data needed to evaluate the risk is not only the carbon emissions of the companies but also the investments made by the companies to reduce their carbon footprint. In the second section, we propose a model that allows us to isolate in the return the component related to the cost of carbon emissions in order to calculate the attribution effects independently of the carbon footprint of the companies.
Risk Attribution
Philippe Grégoire
Hervé van Oppens
In this article, we propose a methodology to measure the effective contribution to the total risk and to the tracking error due to asset allocation or selection. We demonstrate that the portfolio's historical volatility is explained, first by the assets’ volatility and correlation (as for the marginal contribution to risk) and second by the holding’s volatility (portfolio’s turnover). The results highlight that what matters for effective risk contribution is the time series of contribution to return (holdings at each period times periodic return). Applying these results to effective contribution to tracking error (TE) shows that what matters is the time series of excess return times weight differences. This result is different from marginal contribution to the TE, which depends solely on time series of excess return and not on changes in portfolio’s holdings. Our results in risk attribution give an exact decomposition of portfolio’s total risk and TE that complement the return attribution analysis. Exact decomposition refers to the fact that the sum of contributions is exactly equal to the portfolio’s volatility and TE.
In this article, we propose a model for risk attribution that explains the difference between the risk of a portfolio and its strategic asset allocation. A first version of the risk attribution model explains the changes in the risk profile by allocation, diversification and selection decisions. The second version is more intuitive as it attributes the risk, first to tactical allocation decisions and, second to the stock picking. The changes in the correlations or the contribution to the overall risk of the portfolio are measured by a term called ‘diversification effect’. Risk attribution contributes to a better understanding of the sources of performance as it links up the source of active returns to active risk.
In this article, we propose an attribution model for a leveraged or hedged portfolio
that is in line with Brinson et al. The model takes into account the effect of futures in allocation, displays a selection effect that is due solely to securities and not futures, measures the leverage effect, and, finally, isolates the return that is caused by an imperfect correlation between futures and the underlying asset class.
Strategic
Asset Allocation
& Risk Attribution
Philippe Grégoire
Philippe Vandooren
Performance Attribution for Portfolios that Trade Futures Contracts
Philippe Grégoire
Yves Hennard
Climate Risk and Carbon Neutral Performance Attribution
Philippe Grégoire