HEC Montréal and Desjardins Global Asset Management (DGAM) today announced that DGAM is making a $250,000 donation to HEC Montréal with the goal of stimulating research into alternative investments.
DGAM will be supporting research work on the identification of new benchmarks for evaluating investment strategies used by portfolio managers working with alternative investments. The diversity and complexity of such strategies and the assets involved make it difficult to use the usual performance measurements. DGAM plans to apply these methods directly for purposes of portfolio management, risk control and product development.
As HEC Montréal Director Michel Patry noted, “Strong growth in the market for alternative funds and extensive media coverage of their results are encouraging investors to choose their portfolio managers and their strategies more carefully. HEC Montréal is proud to contribute to research in this field and very grateful to DGAM for this donation and for its involvement in the research effort, which will strengthen the School’s commitment and leadership with regard to research.”
“Desjardins Asset Management and its subsidiary Desjardins Global Asset Management are keenly interested in fundamental research in the field of asset management,” emphasized Gérard Guilbault, President and Chief Operating Officer at Desjardins Asset Management. “Developing and mastering new analytical methods for use in the alternative investment sector are major asset management issues today. This partnership will give our management teams unique leading-edge research findings in this growing field and is sure to contribute to the development of new investment products.”
The research team will be headed by Nicolas Papageorgiou, Associate Professor with the Department of Finance, and Bruno Rémillard, Full Professor with the Department of Management Sciences. Other members of the research group will be Iwan Meier, Assistant Professor with the Department of Finance, Florent Salmon, Vice-President, Alternative Investment Management, DGAM, and Frank Leclerc, Senior Portfolio Manager, Alternative Investments, DGAM.
Other expected benefits also include the publication of working papers and submission of research papers to refereed journals, as well as scholarships and possible practical training for students involved in the project. Note that the first scholarship recipient is Alexandre Hocquard, a doctoral student at HEC Montréal.
About Desjardins Global Asset Management
Desjardins Global Asset Management (DGAM) is the Desjardins Asset Management subsidiary responsible for the management and development of activities related to securities and alternative investments. DGAM's main areas of expertise are management of securities investments, including money market securities, bonds and index-linked equities; multi-management, which makes it possible to select some of the world's best managers in traditional and alternative management segments; and development of innovative concepts and sophisticated software. Recognized for its expertise in alternative investment and financial engineering strategies, DGAM is also a prominent player in financial product development.
From left to right: Bruno Rémillard, Full Professor, Department of Management Sciences; Iwan Meier, Assistant Professor, Department of Finance; Gérard Guilbault, President and Chief Operating Officer, Desjardins Global Asset Management; Florent Salmon, Vice-President, Alternative Investment Management, Desjardins Global Asset Management; Nicolas Papageorgiou, Associate Professor, Department of Finance; Frank Leclerc, Senior Portfolio Manager, Alternative Investments, Desjardins Global Asset Management; Michel Patry, HEC Montréal Director; Moréno Dumont, Director, Financial Management, Budget and Development Office; Benoit Aubert, Director, Research Office; Louis Larivière, Director, Development Office, HEC Montréal.
