REIT Characteristics and the Sensitivity of REIT Returns

Previous research on the returns to real estate investment trusts (REITs) has considered whether REITs are systematically exposed to general stock-market risk and interest-rate risk. This study examines how the sensitivity of REIT returns to these factors may be influenced by various REIT characteristics. Using a sample of publicly traded REITs, we estimate the sensitivity of REIT returns to stock market and interest-rate changes. We then propose and implement a model for testing whether differences in asset structure, financial leverage, management strategy, and degree of specialization in the REIT portfolios are related to their sensitivity to interest rate and market risk. Our results permit us to offer some inferences about how REITs can alter their risk exposure by managing these characteristics.     

The market-adjusted investment performance of ADR IPOs and SEOs

Initial public and seasoned equity offerings of American depositary receipts (ADRs) yield significantly positive market-adjusted returns both in early trading and over the longer run. This is in sharp contrast with the long-term performance of initial public offerings and seasoned equity offerings of common stocks in general. In addition, ADRs from emerging markets outperform those originating from developed countries, and those listed on the New York Stock Exchange generate higher after-market returns than those trading on the American Stock Exchange or the National Association of Security Dealers Automated Quotation System.     

The Long Run Share Price Performance of Malaysian Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)

Abstract:  This paper investigates the long run share price performance of 454 Malaysian IPOs during the period 1990 to 2000. In contrast with developed markets, significant over performance is found for equally-weighted event time CARs and buy-and-hold returns using two market benchmarks, though not for value-weighted returns or using a matched company benchmark. The significant abnormal performance also disappears under the calendar-time approach using the Fama-French (1993) three factor model. While the long run performance of Main and Second Board IPOs does not differ, the year of listing, issue proceeds and initial returns are found to be performance-related.     

Ownership Structure and the Life-Cycle of the Firm: A Theory of the Decision to Go Public

This paper presents a theory of initial public offerings based on the ideathat the optimal ownership structure of a company changes over the life cycleof the firm. Insiders take the company public when they have lost thecomparative advantage over outsiders in gathering information to evaluate thefirm's growth prospects. The size of the share sold to the public depends onthe relative abilities of the market and insiders to gather this informationand on the frictions in the going-public process. Intermediaries help toreduce these frictions and lead to a more efficient allocation if IPOs areconducted more frequently. Discrimination between different classes ofinvestors may be beneficial. Learning by the market about projects in a newindustry can lead to a clustering of new issues (hot issue markets).     

我国房地产投资信托基金（REITs）法律制度困境及对策研究

我国房地产融资主要来自商业银行,融资结构与渠道亟待破局。为撬动民间资本,调整房地产融资结构,降低金融机构的信贷风险并拓宽投资者理财渠道,对我国在当前法律制度环境下推行REITs进行可行性分析,并从REITs专项与配套立法、组织结构模式、操作运行模式以及投资报酬设计等几个方面提出我国REITS发展的建设性的意见和建议。     

Underpricing and aftermarket performance of American depositary receipts (ADR) IPOs

American depositary receipts (ADRs) are negotiable instruments representing foreign company shares traded in US dollars in the US capital market. We present comparative analyses of the pricing and aftermarket performance of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) by ADRs and a matching sample of US firms over the 1990–2001 period. Offered by large, well-known multinationals, ADR IPOs go through a detailed scrutiny, and incur significant costs, during the pre-IPO period to recast financial statements in conformity with SEC rules and the US GAAP. This mitigates the information asymmetry between the IPO firm and investors. We categorize the ADR issuing country as developed or emerging, and our sample includes several cases of privatization of state owned corporations. The analyses indicate that (1) ADR IPOs are significantly less underpriced than comparable US IPOs; (2) IPOs from developed countries are more underpriced; and (3) Privatization IPOs are less underpriced than non-privatizations. The lower underpricing of ADR IPOs persists even after differential IPO attributes, the traditional proxies for information asymmetry and, the unique characteristics associated with ADR IPOs, are accounted for. We conclude that extant literature offers only partial explanation for this puzzling phenomenon.     

The Nature and Persistence of Initial Public Offering Aftermarket Returns Predictability

This paper examines the predictability of monthly aftermarket returns of initial public offerings during the first six years of trading. Predictability is tested under the null hypothesis of random walk using a Markov chain analysis. The evidence shows that excess returns of IPOs (adjusted for the return on the equally weighted NASDAQ index) demonstrate non-random walk behavior through the first five years of trading and random walk behavior in the sixth year. This is accompanied by predictability of monthly excess returns conditioned on the two previous months' excess returns. A trading strategy is offered to capitalize on the predictability patterns. Implementing the trading strategy is not possible due to institutional barriers, providing additional explanation for why IPOs do not reach their intrinsic values for extended periods of time.     

The Timing and Subsequent Performance of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange

Companies that have listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange by means of a public offering between 1980 and 1991 have subsequently performed poorly. This long run post issue performance is remarkably consistent with the South African evidence for seasoned rights issuing companies and the international evidence for both initial public offerings (IPOs) and seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). Over the four years post issue, the newly listed companies earned an average return of 18.0% as opposed to 81.5% for a size-matched sample of seasoned companies. This study adds to the increasing body of international evidence suggesting the IPO under performance 'puzzle' referred to by Ibbotson (1975), Loughran and Ritter (1995) and Spiess and Affleck-Graves (1995) is not simply sample or country specific.     

The Pricing of Property Trust IPOs in Australia

Following Brounen and Eichholtz (2002) this paper adds to the international literature investigating the underpricing of REIT initial public offerings (IPOs), with a study into Australian property trusts. This study finds that initial day returns can in part be explained by forecast profit distributions (or dividends) and the market sentiment towards property trusts from the date of the prospectus to the date of listing. There is some support for the “winners curse” explanation of underpricing with evidence that large investor or institutional involvement at the outset of the IPO also has some explanatory power.     

Predicting Subsequent Management Forecasting Behavior at the Date of an Initial Public Offering

In this study, we examine the conditions and choices of firms at dates of initial public offerings (IPOs) as a basis for predicting their likelihood of management earnings forecast disclosure in post-IPO periods. Using a sample of 944 IPOs, we demonstrate that firms choosing to reduce IPO information asymmetries or signal issue quality by choosing prestigious underwriters, high quality auditors, and higher percentages of retained ownership tend to issue management forecasts in the post-IPO period. These relationships exist after controlling for IPO date measures of risk/stability, a construct that prior management forecast research has found to be a key determinant of the forecasting act.     

The Benefit of Excluding Institutional Investors from Fixed-Price IPOs: Evidence from Taiwan

A simple way to mitigate the winner's curse in initial public offerings (IPOs) is to reduce the number of informed investors in IPO markets. In Taiwan, institutional investors are not permitted to subscribe to fixed-price IPOs. Excluding institutional investors raises uninformed investors' allocation rates. We show that the winner's curse is still present in Taiwan's fixed-price IPO markets even without the participation of institutional investors, but that IPO underpricing is reduced by at least 4 percent due to alleviating the winner's curse, as institutional investors are excluded from the fixed-price offerings.     

Conditional Volatility of Equity Real Estate Investment Trust Returns: A Pre- and Post-1993 Comparison

We examine the dynamic behavior of Equity Real Estate Investment Trust (EREIT) volatility in a GARCH context 1972–2006 using monthly EREIT returns, and comparing volatility performance for “early” Equity REITs 1972–1992 with that of “modern” EREITs 1993–2006. Consistent with findings for conventional firms, we find that EREIT conditional volatility is time-varying, persistent, and predictable. There is a positive relationship between expected return and expected risk in EREIT stocks pre-1993, but the relationship disappears after 1993. We find no evidence that negative shocks affect EREIT volatility differently from positive ones in either time period. Different from reported results for conventional firms, we find that changes in the conditional volatility of fundamental macroeconomic variables have strong explanatory value for future changes in EREIT volatility. Finally, comparing EREIT volatility performance with volatility in the Russell 2000 Index, a proxy for small stocks, we find that EREIT volatility behaves differently from that of small stocks in many respects, indicating that risks in the small stock index cannot effectively proxy for risks in the EREIT market.

The underpricing of initial public offerings: A theoretical and empirical reconsideration of the adverse selection hypothesis

In this paper we generalize Rock's theory regarding the underpricing of IPOs. In Rock's model, informed investors have a firm-specific informational advantage pertaining to a firm's cash flow. We derive the new results that the level of beta and the size of the market risk premium positively affect underpricing. These implications extend the adverse selection theory and further distinguish this theory from the current state of signalling theories of underpricing. The results put the “hot and cold” issue markets phenomenon in a theoretical context. Empirical results are consistent with the theoretical propositions and provide support for Rock's theory of underpricing.     

The Diversification Effects of Initial Public Offerings

Abstract:  A firm's stock becomes publicly tradable through an initial public offering (IPO). This study suggests a portfolio diversification perspective to explore IPOs. We examine whether investors can gain diversification benefits by adding an IPO portfolio to a set of benchmark portfolios sorted by firm size and book-to-market ratio. Using US IPOs from 1980-2002, we find that adding a value-weighted IPO portfolio does lead to a statistically and economically significant enlargement of the investment opportunity set for investors relative to investing solely in a set of benchmark portfolios. Specifically, the Sharpe ratio of the tangency portfolio increases by 5.50% on average after including IPO stocks. Furthermore, IPOs associated with prestigious lead underwriters are the main source of this augmentation of the mean-variance investment opportunity set. Finally, our study implies that issuing IPO exchange traded funds or similar products can provide diversification gains to investors.     

Impact of the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program Act 1999 on initial public offering prospectus earnings forecasts

Commencing 13 March 2000, the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program Act 1999 (Cth) introduced changes to the regulation of corporate fundraising in Australia. In particular, it effected a reduction in the litigation risk associated with initial public offering prospectus disclosure. We find that the change is associated with a reduction in forecast frequency and an increase in forecast value relevance, but not with forecast error or bias. These results confirm previous findings that changes in litigation risk affect the level but not the quality of disclosure. They also suggest that the reforms' objectives of reducing fundraising costs while improving investor protection, have been achieved.     

The nature of listed real estate companies: property or equity market?

This paper addresses the question of whether shares of public real estate companies should be treated as real estate or as equity investments. Because theoretical considerations do not suffice for making such a classification, we empirically investigate correlation structures and cointegration relationships of private and public real estate and equity markets for the United States and the United Kingdom. Our results suggest that public real estate stocks show similarities to the general stock market with regard to short-term return co-movements. For long-term investment horizons, the interdependence between direct and securitized real estate is much stronger. However, in the latter case, real estate stocks substantially lead the private property markets.

Short- and Long-Term Performance of Polish IPOs

The paper documents short- and long-run performance of initial public offerings on the Warsaw Stock Exchange from 1998 to 2008. The study reveals positive initial market-adjusted returns of 13.95 percent and significant long-term underperformance with mean of -22.62 percent for the three-year buy-and-hold strategy. We introduce ordinary least squares regressions to find determinants of initial returns. Our findings document strong explanatory power of early aftermarket volatility, issuer's size, growth opportunities, and profitability before the offering. Moreover, those variables that can partly explain differences in initial returns can also help to shed light on the long-term underperformance issue. Our results are thus consistent with Miller's (1977) divergence of opinion hypothesis.     

Patents and the performance of technology firms: Evidence from initial public offerings in Germany

The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between innovation and performance for German firms that went public at the “Neuer Markt” during the period from 1997 to 2002. In the empirical analysis we investigate in particular whether initial public offerings (IPOs) with more or higher quality patents outperformed IPOs with lower quality or no patented technology. For this we measure the impact of patents on underpricing and long-run performance and explain the magnitude of these valuation effects with the Fama–French value and growth factors, with patent-specific variables such as the number of IPC-classes, family size, the number of backward and forward citations, as well as with industry variables. The empirical evidence suggests that patents are a reliable indicator for the success and the short- and long-run performance of start-up technology firms that went public and that the valuation effects are more pronounced for higher quality patents.