Rotman International Centre for Pension Management spearheads research on investor collaboration

Back in 2007, Rotman ICPM funded a project that culminated in a report entitled: “Identifying and Mobilizing Win-Win Opportunities for Collaboration between Pension Fund Institutions and their Agents”: Link to report
That study set out an 8-step framework for identifying win-win collaborative opportunities that pension funds and their agents could use in designing new, similar initiatives, as well as deciding whether to join existing ones. In bringing together literature on evolutionary psychology, theory of co-operation and evolution of conventions to real world investor collaboration networks, the project brought a different perspective on how collaboration might be utilised to improve the environment that institutional investors operate in. Since the release of that research, investor collaboration in various guises has continued to be part of the Rotman ICPM’s discussion forums and it recently agreed to support a follow on study to continue this inquiry. This project is currently underway and is being conducted in three phases.
The first involves applying the previously developed theoretical framework to a number of existing collaborative initiatives to delve deeper into what initiatives work well, what challenges remain and what opportunities might exist in forming allegiances between different collaborative investor initiatives. This will produce a so-called ‘prediction’ of theeffectiveness of each initiative using the 8-step theoretical framework.
The second phase is a survey of the members of these investor groups, to gauge members’ views and experiences with being part of different collaborative investor groups. The survey is now open and you are invited to complete it by clicking on this link.
The third and final phase will compare the results of the theoretical predictions to members’ opinions. Any divergence between the predicted versus the actual outcomes will be examined, as well as in-sample divergence in views on each collaborative group from the survey responses. The aim is to identify any stand out initiatives that are particularly successful or indeed are in need of some attention! Applied research of this kind, with a strong theoretical foundation combined with members’ opinions, is essential to not only help improve knowledge around institutional investor collaboration but also to contribute practical insights and improve outcomes for institutional investors and their ultimate beneficiaries. It is envisaged that this work will also assist institutional investors and their agents when considering how to improve existing collaborative initiatives that they are members of, or indeed to guide decisions about whether to join (or create) new ones. Finally, it could help shape discussions around alliances between collaborative networks such that the collective power and effectiveness of the networks’ combined effort increases.
Your support and participation is welcome! Your response to the survey will be anonymous and treated in strict confidence. The survey will be open until 1 March 2013. Should you have any questions please direct these to Danyelle Guyatt who is leading the research project via dguyatt@csf.com.au