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IAS

Institutional Advisory & SolutionsInstitutionalAdvisory&Solutions

The Institutional Advisory & Solutions (IAS) team conducts bespoke, quantitative client research that focuses on asset allocation with public and private assets, strategic portfolio construction, real assets, and manager allocation & selection.

  • Portfolio Research
  • Explore Real Assets
  • Research Bylines
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Source: PGIM IAS. Provided for illustrative purposes only.

Super Funds & Master Trusts in a World of Member Switching, Early Release Schemes & Climate Calamities

Multi-employer retirement plans such as Australian super funds and UK master trusts today face novel liquidity challenges arising from government actions such as “early access programs” that unexpectedly allow participants to withdraw retirement assets without penalty.  By examining the potential tradeoff between the liberality of the early access programs and portfolio performance, we try to help CIOs become more confident in making portfolio allocation decisions and help regulators identify possible portfolio allocation consequences and costs of contemplated rule changes.

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Research Bylines

  • The Rebalancing Conundrum: PE valuations & Market Dislocations
    By Junying Shen and Michelle Teng
     
  • Inflation vs. Stagflation - How do Real Asset Portfolios Differ?
    By Harsh Parikh, PhD
     
  • The Foundation of a Balanced Portfolio May be Shifting - Here's What to Look For
    By Noah Weisberger, PhD
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Portfolio Construction

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Market Narratives Podcast: Institutional Portfolio Construction
Podcast

Market Narratives Podcast: Institutional Portfolio Construction

By Dr. Michelle (Yu) Teng — Nov 17, 2021

Michelle Teng joins Investment Magazine’s Market Narratives podcast for a discussion on allocating to private assets while also managing liquidity risk.

US Stock–Bond Correlation: What Are the Macroeconomic Drivers?
Portfolio Construction

US Stock–Bond Correlation: What Are the Macroeconomic Drivers?

By Junying Shen — May 6, 2021

Stock-bond correlation is not immutable. A shift to positive stock-bond correlation affects the tradeoff between portfolio expected return and risk.

Building and Maintaining a Desired Exposure to Private Markets
Portfolio Construction

Building and Maintaining a Desired Exposure to Private Markets

Nov 9, 2020

This paper describes and simulates a simple commitment pacing plan that is generic, flexible and can be tailored to meet many situations.

Manager Allocation & Selection

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Equity Portfolio Manager Active Risk and Information Ratio
Manager Allocation & Selection

Equity Portfolio Manager Active Risk and Information Ratio

By Wenbo Zhang — Nov 25, 2020

Do high active risk equity portfolio managers realize a higher (or lower) IR compared to low active risk managers?

Measuring the Value of LP Fund-Selection Skill: A Fair Comparison Framework
Manager Allocation & Selection

Measuring the Value of LP Fund-Selection Skill: A Fair Comparison Framework

Apr 6, 2020

Using the IAS fair comparison framework, this publication explores the impact of choices an investor in private markets must make.

What is the Optimal Number of Equity Managers?
Manager Allocation & Selection

What is the Optimal Number of Equity Managers?

By Wenbo Zhang — Feb 3, 2020

Introducing the Manager Allocation Programming (MAP) tool to help CIOs efficiently combine managers of different strategies.

Illiquid Private Assets

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The Rebalancing Conundrum: Private Equity Valuations and Market Dislocations
Illiquid Private Assets

The Rebalancing Conundrum: Private Equity Valuations and Market Dislocations

By Junying Shen — Dec 27, 2021

We show how portfolio rebalancing hinges on the PE valuation approach. CIOs need to understand this connection and how it affects their portfolio’s liquidity.

A Rising Private Asset Class: Core+ Real Estate Debt
Illiquid Private Assets

A Rising Private Asset Class: Core+ Real Estate Debt

By Dr. Michelle (Yu) Teng — Jul 8, 2021

CIOs managing a multi-asset portfolio may wonder how the specific cash flow dynamics of private core+ RE debt affect the portfolio’s liquidity and performance.

Harnessing the Potential of Private Assets: A Framework For Institutional Portfolio Construction
Illiquid Private Assets

Harnessing the Potential of Private Assets: A Framework For Institutional Portfolio Construction

By Junying Shen — Jun 3, 2021

As allocations increase, a portfolio’s liquidity structure changes. How can a CIO increase their confidence with private assets and unlock their potential?

Real Assets

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Explore RASA Interactive
Real Assets

Explore RASA Interactive

Aug 9, 2021

An investment tool to better tailor real asset allocations and real asset portfolio construction based on investment objectives and views.

Next Generation Commodity Benchmarks
Real Assets

Next Generation Commodity Benchmarks

By Dr. Harsh Parikh — Nov 5, 2020

The RASA® framework identifies commodities sensitive to high inflation or low growth and provides commodity weights to construct customized benchmarks.

What's In Your Real Assets Portfolio? Introducing RASA™
Real Assets

What's In Your Real Assets Portfolio? Introducing RASA™

By Dr. Harsh Parikh — May 21, 2020

There is a wide mix of real asset funds, which complicates fund selection, using RASA® investors can identify funds aligned with their investment objectives.

Latest Webinars & Podcasts

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Insight for Outcomes: Liquidity Requirements Are Changing Asset Allocations for DB Funds
Podcast

Insight for Outcomes: Liquidity Requirements Are Changing Asset Allocations for DB Funds

May 16, 2022

Michell Teng discusses how climate change and early release schemes can affect super funds and the global economy.

Market Narratives Podcast: Institutional Portfolio Construction
Podcast

Market Narratives Podcast: Institutional Portfolio Construction

By Dr. Michelle (Yu) Teng — Nov 17, 2021

Michelle Teng joins Investment Magazine’s Market Narratives podcast for a discussion on allocating to private assets while also managing liquidity risk.

Market Narratives Podcast: Inflation and Allocating to Real Assets
Podcast

Market Narratives Podcast: Inflation and Allocating to Real Assets

Sep 10, 2021

Harsh Parikh joins an episode of Investment Magazine’s “Market Narratives” podcast to discuss how real assets can be used as a hedge against inflation.

Case Studies

IAS’ original MBA-style case studies designed to address challenges from the perspective of an institutional CIO, such as liquidity risk with allocations to illiquid private assets, performance and liquidity tradeoffs in the portfolio and overall asset allocation decisions.  

  • Cenland Corporation: The CIO and the Closing of the DB Plan — Dec 2019
  • Cenland Corporation (II): The CIO and the Freezing of the DB Plan — Dec 2020
  • Cenland Corporation (III): The CIO and the Transition to DC — Dec 2021

By Dr. Michelle (Yu) Teng

IAS Real Assets Research Program

Real assets can play a vital role in institutional portfolios, and PGIM’s Institutional Advisory & Solutions (IAS) group has done extensive research estimating real asset sensitivities to both macroeconomic variables and traditional financial market performance.

Be sure to explore RASA® Interactive, a new tool that helps institutional investors successfully invest in real assets.

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REAL ASSETS BLOG

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Pinning the Tail on Inflation
Blog

Pinning the Tail on Inflation

By Dr. Harsh Parikh — May 14, 2021

Many real assets besides gold have positive inflation exposures. This article explores four elements for successful investing in real assets.

Water Risks in Real Assets
Blog

Water Risks in Real Assets

By Dr. Harsh Parikh — Feb 17, 2021

How water scarcity and price variability impact real asset investors and insights on adding water hedges in portfolios to manage risk.

Investing During the Energy Transition
Blog

Investing During the Energy Transition

By Dr. Harsh Parikh — Dec 21, 2020

PGIM IAS provides insights on evaluating the role and composition of energy equities in transition.

Meet the team

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Aili Chen, CFA

Senior Associate

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Harsh Parikh, PhD

Principal and
Head of Real Assets Research Program

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Junying Shen, CFA

Vice President
Co-Head of Private Assets Research Program

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Michelle (Yu) Teng, PhD, CFA

Vice President
Co-Head of Private Assets Research Program

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Noah Weisberger, PhD

Managing Director

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Xiang Xu, PHD

Senior Associate

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Bruce Phelps, CFA

Managing Director,
Head of IAS

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