Industry Partners

Research Chairs

The EDHEC-Risk Institute research chairs involve close partnerships with their financial sponsors and a commitment from EDHEC-Risk to publishing related articles in international academic journals as well as to releasing the research results to the investment management profession through wide distribution of practitioner-oriented publications and presentations at industry conferences.

The activities of EDHEC-Risk Institute research chairs are threefold:

1. Carrying out the research
Each year, the chair proposes to produce a major research study which will lead to both academic and professional publications. The themes are proposed by EDHEC-Risk and agreed with the sponsor.

2. Organising the dissemination of the research
The research work from the chair is widely promoted on the basis of:

• “Features” in the EDHEC-Risk newsletter;
• A section on the EDHEC-Risk website dedicated to the work of the chair;
• Distribution of the research to European institutional investors;
• Specific actions with European financial newspapers and professional publications.

3. Presentation at conferences/seminars
Each of the chair’s publications will be presented at a conference/seminar organised by the sponsor(s) and aimed at the audience of their choosing (collaborators or clients).

Industrial Partnership

EDHEC-Risk index partnerships involve close collaboration with the sponsor and a commitment from EDHEC-Risk over a minimum of one year leading to the production, maintenance and marketing of index series.

The main objective of an EDHEC-Risk Institute index partnership is to support high quality independent research that will be made public and to provide support for the use of a technique.

The EDHEC-Risk index partnership includes four types of actions:

1. Production and maintenance of the indices

The partnership will lead to the launch of index series and benchmarks for the implementation of meaningful investment solutions. The production will be accompanied by (1)a technical document describing the grand rules on how the indices are calculated, and (2) a non technical document presenting the value proposal of the indices.

2. Organising the dissemination of the indices

Marketing initiatives will be developed to provide broad market visibility to these indices, on the basis of:

• “Features” in the EDHEC-Risk newsletter;
• A section on the EDHEC-Risk website dedicated to the work of the chair;
• Specific actions with European financial newspapers and professional publications.

3. Presentation at conferences/seminars

EDHEC-Risk Institute could provide a representative to present the results of the research (indices) at a conference/seminar organised by the sponsor at a location of their choice in Europe, and aimed at the audience of their choosing (collaborators or clients).

4. Other occasions to be associated with EDHEC-Risk Institute latest academic research

Within the partnership, the sponsor may also be associated with various events organised by EDHEC-Risk Institute around investment solutions and goal-based investing: masterclasses, Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs), conferences, business games, etc.

Consulting Services

In addition to making important public contributions to the advancement of academic research and the improvement of industry practices, EDHEC-Risk Institute also employs its expertise to conduct proprietary research projects for selected partners with a focus on the design of meaningful welfare-improving forms of investment solutions and assist them in the development of innovative products, thus providing them with an edge over the competition.

With the need to supplement retirement savings via voluntary contributions, individuals will increasingly be responsible for their own retirement investment decisions. This global trend already poses substantial challenges to millions of baby-boomers who typically lack the expertise needed to make such educated investment decisions. These concerns have led to a renewed interest in retirement investment products inclusive or exclusive of protection against longevity risk. Unfortunately, these products, which are respectively known as variable annuities and target date funds, often fall short in their current form of implementation of providing satisfactory solutions to the problems faced by individuals when approaching investment decisions in a retirement context.

Within the framework of its relations with the industry, EDHEC-Risk Institute aims to support a limited number of asset owners and asset managers in the design and in the implementation of welfare-improving investment solutions for both institutional and individual investors, with a particularly strong focus on retirement investing solutions.