IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v63y2024ics1544612324004112.html

Addressing climate challenges through ESG-real estate investment strategies: An asset allocation perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Biasin, Massimo
  • Delle Foglie, Andrea
  • Giacomini, Emanuela

Abstract

Real estate plays a major role in environmental impact, contributing to nearly 39 % of global emissions and significantly influencing climate change. Using a sample of European REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) and real estate companies, this study examines the risk-adjusted performance of real estate investments concerning their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) performance, comparing the diversification benefits of conventional versus ESG real estate investments, with a specific focus on the environmental (E) aspects. The portfolios' asset allocation is designed using the Mean-Variance and the Risk Parity models. Simulations are run using a rolling-window technique, covering the entire sample period along with three different sub-samples. According to our findings, high ESG score real estate portfolios perform similarly to the overall sector, while portfolios with environmental scores above the sample average offer enhanced diversification benefits. This finding is particularly significant, as such portfolios have the potential to generate positive externalities by reducing climate impact through lower emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • Biasin, Massimo & Delle Foglie, Andrea & Giacomini, Emanuela, 2024. "Addressing climate challenges through ESG-real estate investment strategies: An asset allocation perspective," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:63:y:2024:i:c:s1544612324004112
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2024.105381
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612324004112
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2024.105381?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dirk Brounen & Gianluca Marcato & Hans Op ’t Veld, 2021. "Pricing ESG Equity Ratings and Underlying Data in Listed Real Estate Securities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, February.
    2. Robert F Engle & Stefano Giglio & Bryan Kelly & Heebum Lee & Johannes Stroebel, 2020. "Hedging Climate Change News," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 1184-1216.
    3. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2021. "Sustainable investing in equilibrium," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 550-571.
    4. Jody Grewal & Clarissa Hauptmann & George Serafeim, 2021. "Material Sustainability Information and Stock Price Informativeness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(3), pages 513-544, July.
    5. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4688 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Gunnar Friede & Timo Busch & Alexander Bassen, 2015. "ESG and financial performance: aggregated evidence from more than 2000 empirical studies," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(4), pages 210-233, October.
    7. Konstantinos Ferentinos & Alex Gibberd & Benjamin Guin, 2021. "Climate policy and transition risk in the housing market," Bank of England working papers 918, Bank of England.
    8. Marcelo Cajias & Franz Fuerst & Patrick McAllister & Anupam Nanda, 2014. "Do responsible real estate companies outperform their peers?," International Journal of Strategic Property Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 11-27, March.
    9. Samuel M. Hartzmark & Abigail B. Sussman, 2019. "Do Investors Value Sustainability? A Natural Experiment Examining Ranking and Fund Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(6), pages 2789-2837, December.
    10. Margherita Giuzio, 2017. "Genetic algorithm versus classical methods in sparse index tracking," Decisions in Economics and Finance, Springer;Associazione per la Matematica, vol. 40(1), pages 243-256, November.
    11. Louis K.C. Chan & Jason Karceski & Josef Lakonishok, 1999. "On Portfolio Optimization: Forecasting Covariances and Choosing the Risk Model," NBER Working Papers 7039, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Shirley Kempeneer & Michaël Peeters & Tine Compernolle, 2021. "Bringing the User Back in the Building: An Analysis of ESG in Real Estate and a Behavioral Framework to Guide Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-12, March.
    13. Anderson, Robert M. & Bianchi, Stephen W. & Goldberg, Lisa R., 2012. "Will My Risk Parity Strategy Outperform?," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt23t2s950, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    14. Abdessamad Ouchen, 2022. "Is the ESG portfolio less turbulent than a market benchmark portfolio?," Risk Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(1), pages 1-33, March.
    15. Roncalli, Thierry, 2013. "Introduction to Risk Parity and Budgeting," MPRA Paper 47679, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Andrea Delle Foglie & Gianni Pola, 2021. "Make the Best from Comparing Conventional and Islamic Asset Classes: A Design of an All-Seasons Combined Portfolio," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, October.
    17. Eichholtz, Piet & Kok, Nils & Yonder, Erkan, 2012. "Portfolio greenness and the financial performance of REITs," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1911-1929.
    18. Philipp Krueger & Zacharias Sautner & Laura T Starks, 2020. "The Importance of Climate Risks for Institutional Investors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 1067-1111.
    19. Zaghum Umar & Dennis Olson, 2022. "Strategic asset allocation and the demand for real estate: international evidence," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(5), pages 2461-2513, May.
    20. Broadstock, David C. & Chan, Kalok & Cheng, Louis T.W. & Wang, Xiaowei, 2021. "The role of ESG performance during times of financial crisis: Evidence from COVID-19 in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    21. Pedersen, Lasse Heje & Fitzgibbons, Shaun & Pomorski, Lukasz, 2021. "Responsible investing: The ESG-efficient frontier," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 572-597.
    22. Jean-Charles Richard & Thierry Roncalli, 2019. "Constrained Risk Budgeting Portfolios: Theory, Algorithms, Applications & Puzzles," Papers 1902.05710, arXiv.org.
    23. Bruder, Benjamin & Roncalli, Thierry, 2012. "Managing risk exposures using the risk budgeting approach," MPRA Paper 37246, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    24. Chan, Louis K C & Karceski, Jason & Lakonishok, Josef, 1999. "On Portfolio Optimization: Forecasting Covariances and Choosing the Risk Model," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(5), pages 937-974.
    25. Martin Hoesli & Jon Lekander & Witold Witkiewicz, 2004. "New International Evidence on Real Estate as a Portfolio Diversifier," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 26(2), pages 161-206.
    26. Pavlova, Ivelina & de Boyrie, Maria E., 2022. "ESG ETFs and the COVID-19 stock market crash of 2020: Did clean funds fare better?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    27. Julian Amon & Margarethe Rammerstorfer & Karl Weinmayer, 2021. "Passive ESG Portfolio Management—The Benchmark Strategy for Socially Responsible Investors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Afees A. Salisu & Ahamuefula E. Ogbonna & Elie Bouri & Rangan Gupta, 2024. "Climate Risks and Prediction of Sectoral REITs Volatility: International Evidence," Working Papers 202434, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    2. Wei, Xiaohui & Li, Jian & Li, Yuanhaocheng, 2025. "Institutional environment, credit risk expectations, and firms' investment strategies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Hau, Liya & Ge, Yao & Zhang, Yongmin & Zhu, Weineng, 2025. "Dynamic tail risk connectedness among green REITs, sustainability products, and fossil energy assets under external shocks," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Dongna & Dai, Xingyu & Wang, Qunwei, 2025. "Do green assets enhance portfolio optimization? A multi-horizon investing perspective," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(5).
    2. Cheng, Louis T.W. & Cheong, Tsun Se & Wojewodzki, Michal & Chui, David, 2025. "The effect of ESG divergence on the financial performance of Hong Kong-listed firms: An artificial neural network approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    3. Giglio, Stefano & Maggiori, Matteo & Stroebel, Johannes & Tan, Zhenhao & Utkus, Stephen & Xu, Xiao, 2025. "Four facts about ESG beliefs and investor portfolios," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    4. Ferriani, Fabrizio, 2023. "Issuing bonds during the Covid-19 pandemic: Was there an ESG premium?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Muck, Matthias & Schmidl, Thomas, 2024. "Comparing ESG score weighting approaches and stock performance differentiation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(PB).
    6. Alves, Rómulo & Krüger, Philipp & van Dijk, Mathijs, 2025. "Drawing up the bill: Are ESG ratings related to stock returns around the world?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    7. Horn, Matthias & Oehler, Andreas, 2024. "Constructing stock portfolios by sorting on ESG ratings: Does the rating provider matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    8. Wang, Ren & Bian, Yuxiang & Xiong, Xiong, 2024. "Impact of ESG preferences on investments and emissions in a DSGE framework," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    9. Andrea Jacob & Martin Nerlinger, 2021. "Investors’ Delight? Climate Risk in Stock Valuation during COVID-19 and Beyond," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, November.
    10. Chen, Shu & Han, Xiaoyan & Zhang, Zili & Zhao, Xuejun, 2023. "ESG investment in China: Doing well by doing good," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    11. Esparcia, Carlos & Diaz, Antonio & Alonso, Daniel, 2023. "How important is green awareness in energy investment decisions? An environmentally-based rebalancing portfolio study," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    12. Cortez, Maria Céu & Andrade, Nuno & Silva, Florinda, 2022. "The environmental and financial performance of green energy investments: European evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    13. Draganac, Dragana & Lu, Kelin, 2025. "Pricing asset beyond financial fundamentals: The impact of prosocial preference and image concerns," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    14. Sirin, Selahattin Murat & Yilmaz, Berna N., 2025. "Tech firms and the renewable energy sector: Exploring the moderating effects of institutional ownership on financial connectedness," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    15. Kim, Sehoon & Kumar, Nitish & Lee, Jongsub & Oh, Junho, 2025. "ESG lending," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    16. Tristan Jourde & Arthur Stalla-Bourdillon, 2026. "Environmental preferences and sector valuations," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 162(1), pages 45-85, February.
    17. Lestari, Jenjang Sri & Frömmel, Michael, 2024. "Socially responsible investments: doing good while doing well in developed versus emerging markets?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    18. Zwetelina Iliewa & Elisabeth Kempf & Oliver Spalt, 2025. "Corporate Actions as Moral Issues," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2025_649v2, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany, revised Apr 2025.
    19. Bissoondoyal-Bheenick, Emawtee & Brooks, Robert & Do, Hung Xuan, 2023. "ESG and firm performance: The role of size and media channels," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    20. Avramov, Doron & Cheng, Si & Lioui, Abraham & Tarelli, Andrea, 2022. "Sustainable investing with ESG rating uncertainty," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 642-664.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G2 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:63:y:2024:i:c:s1544612324004112. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.