Practitioners' Perspective on Protecting Freshwater Biota and Habitats at Flood‐Relief Pumps in New Zealand

Unbundling fees for financial services – e.g., separating payments for third-party research from commissions for trade execution – is in the long-term best interests of institutional asset owners: it can increase both transparency and alignment with intermediaries, such as external asset managers. Yet how unbundling takes place can be a major determinant of when its benefits for asset owners are realized. That is, for asset owners, long-term gains from unbundling can come at a cost of short- term pain – as recent experiences under MiFID II demonstrate. In this paper, we explore paths for increasing transparent alignment between asset owners and their external asset managers over both short and long horizons. We argue that ‘research budgets’ are a crucial tool to this end, because they could support deeper relational contracts between asset owners and managers. We discuss how emerging lessons from MiFID II show a need for institutional asset owners to take a proactive role in understanding not only their asset managers’ spending on third-party research, but also how that research generates value-for-money in terms of alignment with those managers’ intended investment strategies and processes. More participatory research budgeting could also help asset owners’ relationships with their external asset managers in areas beyond research spending, e.g., in better controlling style drift, monitoring ESG efforts, and doing more rigorous performance attribution.

International Facility Management Association (IFMA) traditionally divides the management of real estate into asset, property and facility management. The paper explores how the emergence of building information modelling (BIM) has influenced the distribution of information about the building among the stakeholders. As-built BIM in industrial buildings is a significant part of digital transformation of industrial assets and emergence of Industry 4.0. The tendency of transferring the ownership of information from facility manager to asset manager as well as the increase of transparency is analysed in the recent literature. The development of as-built BIM has given the possibility to the owners of real estate to become not only the owners of the assets themselves but also the owners of digital assets. In order to clarify current situation in the scientific community, the research interest in building information modelling among the studies mentioning facility management, asset management and property management has been analysed. The role of information about the building components as well as practical examples of operational expenditures reduction are explored and discussed.

Development of a Building Information Modelling Asset (BIMAsset) value realisation model

Purpose Currently, building information modelling (BIM) is largely seen as a 3D model, not as an information model or information management tool. This wrong perception of BIM and low interest in 3D asset management (AM) is one of the major reasons for the slow adoption by clients in the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. The purpose of this paper is to identify the techniques and strategies of streamlining AM systems for BIM-based integration, and how the information is captured from physical assets towards BIM-based integration for clients to derive value from BIM investments. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study strategy was used to study the strategic implementation process of integrating BIM with AM systems and the business value of BIM in AM by a large asset owner in the UK. Findings The paper identifies key strategies in the adoption of BIM-based processes by an asset owner, the implementation process, the challenges and the benefits attained. Several barriers were identified as the challenges of adopting BIM-based processes in AM: complexity and cost associated with BIM; irrelevance of 3D geometric data in AM processes; nature of asset ownership structure; managing the asset handover process; managing change within the organisation. Organisations will have to consider the following issues in streaming asset information with BIM: the development for a clear strategy prior to adoption; connecting the strategy to the business goals; and conducting the discovery exercise to identify organisational information needs. Originality/value The research addresses a significant gap in the development of techniques and strategies for asset owners to streamline BIM with AM systems and derive business value from such integration. The research context is a case study involving a large owner-operator in the UK that has been able to derive value from BIM systems in their AM processes. The key value of the paper is improving asset owners’ understanding of BIM in AM by demonstrating the implementation strategies, linkage to organisational objectives, challenges, value management process and business value of BIM in AM. Another contribution of the paper is improving the understanding of BIM, which is usually viewed as 3D models and that 3D geometric data do not have much value for AM tasks.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate and identify the activity systems that drive building information modelling (BIM) business value in asset management (AM). The utilisation of BIM has widened in scope, functionality, flexibility and interoperability to support the AM business process. However, research concerning BIM business value in AM has been inadequate despite its considerable potential and significance in the attainment of organisational objectives. The realisation of BIM business value requires a concerted effort by the asset owner to be able to determine and appraise the critical activities that drive business value in AM. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a qualitative research approach based on a multi-case study strategy that aimed to identify the key business processes that drive BIM business value in AM. The study involved a three-stage research design using interviews and document analysis to facilitate a cross-case analysis from the perspective of the activity systems and dimensions of BIM governance. Findings The paper identified six critical activity systems that drive BIM business value for an asset owner: BIM strategy, contract management, lifecycle management, maintenance management, work-order management and value realisation management. The study found that the most developed activity system is the BIM strategy, and the least is value realisation management across all cases. Also, the paper points out that the most proficient BIM governance dimension is process, and the least is people across the three cases. The study noted that the ability of an asset owner to realise BIM business value has maturity undertones and that the asset owner could derive BIM business value, if the six activity systems are effectively executed and continuously improved to an advanced stage of maturity. Originality/value An original contribution of the study is the development of the understanding of asset owners in relation to the discovery of key activity systems that drive BIM business value in AM. Another significant contribution of this paper is the demonstration of a novel approach to evaluate organisational maturity of asset owners from the perspectives of the activity systems and BIM governance dimensions of people, process and technology.

Research has shown that the way asset owners deal with their asset managers often leads to adverse outcomes for themselves and their asset managers. This paper introduces an innovative framework which plays a key role in achieving a stronger alignment between an asset owner and their asset manager. The framework has been designed to offer a strong theoretical foundation to determine the asset owner’s optimal set of investment strategies across multiple asset classes. Based on this framework, the paper offers an asset owner a coherent set of alignment strategies which contribute to a better alignment with the asset owner’s investment objectives.

Research has shown that the way asset owners deal with their asset managers often leads to adverse outcomes for themselves and their asset managers. This paper introduces an innovative framework which plays a key role in achieving a stronger alignment between an asset owner and their asset manager. The framework has been designed to offer a strong theoretical foundation to determine the asset owner’s optimal set of investment strategies across multiple asset classes. Based on this framework, the paper offers an asset owner a coherent set of alignment strategies which contribute to a better alignment with the asset owner’s investment objectives.

This paper provides a retrospective overview of asset management in the construction industry. Emphasis is placed on assessing decision-support tools for municipal infrastructure planning. The study identifies the extent of the asset management market in North America, addresses the need for decision-support tools for municipal-type organizations, and identifies the challenges for maintenance, repair, and renewal planning faced by asset owners and managers. Integration with existing systems such as computerized maintenance management, geographic information, and corporate legacy systems is seen as the largest challenge for developing and using decision-support tools in the area of asset management. The present study classifies various stages of implementation for asset management using the six “whats”—questions that an asset manager should ask about the status of his portfolio. Finally, the activities of a consortium in the area strategic asset management are introduced. The investigation leading to this ...

INTRODUCTION: Sexual and gender minorities continue to face social stigma and discrimination in countries that have progressively passed legislation designed to support their wellbeing and social inclusion. This article explores the impact of similar legislative changes in Aotearoa New Zealand through the reflections of older sexual and gender minorities.METHODS: Semi-structured interviews with older sexual and gender minorities were conducted in multiple locations across Aotearoa New Zealand. Associations between legislative changes, social policy, and stigma and discrimination were examined in relation to the contemporary and historical experiences of older sexual and gender minorities.FINDINGS: Findings indicated that changes in legislation and social policy have not protected older sexual and gender minorities from social stigma and bias, and that social workers need to be active about their role in promoting a critical awareness of these intersections.CONCLUSIONS: With a growing number of older adults who identify as sexual and gender minorities in Aotearoa New Zealand, it is important that social workers promote a critical perspective about relying on legislation as the sole benchmark for social change.

The move to catalyze a global energy transition is underpinned by the collective need to limit the most severe impacts from climate change as well as fostering more sustainable economic growth. Floating photovoltaic power stations on Chinese lakes, integrated carbon capture technology on large-scale power plants in Canada, and decentralized urban wind turbines on Singaporean rooftops, are just a few examples of how the global energy transition is being fueled by radical innovation in the clean energy technology landscape (WEF 2017, Natural Resources Canada 2013, Karthikeya et. al. 2016). Bringing cutting-edge technology from the lab to the global energy market requires a supportive ecosystem: innovation must be matched by enabling technological development, market readiness to adopt disruptive technologies, local capacities to scale up new energy projects, energy policies with climate objectives, as well as sufficient and “aligned” investment capital. This article focuses specifically on the latter requirement; the characteristics of investment capital needed to support clean energy innovation. Investors are key players in the future of energy, as they must drive innovation in the financial system in order to meet the scale of capital needed to transform the energy industry. Important technological leaps in sustainable energy have been hindered by a lack of or a misalignment of investment capital (WEF 2018, Bloomberg Finance New Energy Finance 2010, Monk et al. 2015). One evident example is the severe financing shortage in commercializing novel sustainable energy technologies. This so-called “valley of death” between early-stage cleantech and full-sized deployment is the result of many causes, but a common thread among them is increasing financial risks in the energy industry, as well as opacity within the energy ecosystem (In and Monk 2018). We approach this funding shortage and widening valley of death in the energy sector from a newer perspective. We investigate underlying structural and organizational barriers in today’s capital markets, and discuss how to innovate the financial industry. Our discussion attempts to move the focus of current energy finance and investment research from a deal-by-deal perspective to a continuous process that involves asset owners, asset managers and entrepreneurs. This shift in perspective is important because “investors are often presented with a ‘deal’ rather than a historical understanding of a company, while entrepreneurs themselves are often faced with countless types of investors, from pensions and sovereigns to tax-equity providers” (In and Monk 2018, page 26). In our view, long-termism has been continuously undervalued as a key success factor, despite its strong potential to align various players in the ecosystem. Instead, asset owners and managers are often forced to rely on short-term and costly financial products and services to fund the long-term global project of energy transformation. The financial innovations described in this article thus focus on how to foster long-termism and catalyze patient and smart long-term investment capital to support energy innovation, by innovating governance, management and operations of investors via new collaboration and cooperation among asset owners and managers.

Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) have recently generated much interest among asset owners, managers and academicians. Though the Efficient Market Theory suggests that stock prices fully reflect all available information, few existing studies indicate that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) portfolios deliver superior risk‐adjusted performance. ESG investing is at a nascent stage in India but is growing rapidly, especially after the COVID‐19 pandemic. Asset managers always face the dilemma of choosing between different screening methods, screening intensities and stock weighting schemes to deliver outperformance. Our study attempts to investigate the impact of these portfolio construction criteria on the risk‐adjusted performance of ESG portfolios in India. Our results show that there exists a trade‐off between superior investment performance and unsystematic risk of ESG portfolios. Investors can benefit from investing in equally‐weighted best‐in‐class portfolios constructed using ESG scores. We highlight the implications of our findings for asset owners, managers, index providers and regulators, and also provide directions for future research in the area of ESG portfolio management.

Decision-support tools for municipal infrastructure maintenance management

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the processes, tools and techniques of strategic asset information management (AIM) for built assets, and how the asset information content enhances the proficiency of asset managers to effectively manage their assets throughout their life cycle by utilising building information modelling (BIM) and asset management (AM) systems. For most asset managers, the problem is not the lack of information about their assets, but the abundance of it, and most especially the absence of established processes and protocols to effectively manage large sets of asset data. Therefore, it is crucial to develop a strategy to control and manage this information in order for asset managers to harness its potential and realise value from their organisation’s information assets..Design/methodology/approachA qualitative case study strategy was used to investigate the effective management of asset data in an AIM system. Seven sets of interviews were conducted and nine respondents were interviewed. These were analysed through qualitative thematic analysis using the NVivo software.FindingsThe paper identifies six dimensions of value that BIM contributes to AM, which are: management, commerce, efficiency, industry, user and technology value. Also, the paper demonstrates that there is real value to be derived by the asset owner from the effective management of asset information. The study highlights that the value of BIM is not inherent but would require many other processes to deliver value to the organisation.Originality/valueThe key value of the paper is that it identifies important techniques for managing asset data and how asset information is collected, organised, stored, controlled, analysed, secured, shared and reported within a virtual AIM system for strategic management-based decisions.

This article identifies the factors behind a shift to collaborative planning in regional freshwater management. The Canterbury Regional Council, a local government agency in the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand, was struggling to exercise authority and autonomy over freshwater management in the region during the 1990s and 2000s. The case study explores the regional council’s failure to create authoritative policy, which resulted in policy being rewritten and modified through litigation in the courts. In response, the regional council pursued collaborative planning mechanisms, which co-opted competing pro-development and pro-conservation interest groups, for freshwater management in the region.

This paper presents the general principles and functions of asset management for irrigation and drainage infrastructure: Asset planning and creation strategies, operation and maintenance, performance monitoring, accounting and economics and audit and renewal analysis. The various elements of the program are conceptually defined and their application is illustrated with the asset management program (AMP) formulated for the La Khe Irrigation System in Vietnam. It also identifies the role of the AMP within the framework of service oriented management of irrigation and drainage services. An infrastructure and investment profile developed from the asset survey identified the investment requirement over the next 40 years. The analysis of cost of service and revenues shows a shortfall of US£17.00/ha/annum to meet the investment requirement over this period. The asset audit and renewal analysis shows the upgrades of the main system needed to improve the current level of service.