Public defence in Real Estate Economics, M.Sc. Islam Ibrahim

Title of the thesis: Articles of the Impact of Diversification on Real Estate Firms 

Doctoral student: Islam Ibrahim
Opponent: Professor Martin Hoesli, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Custos: Associate Professor Heidi Falkenbach, Aalto University School of Engineering, Department of Built Environment

Examining the impact of investment strategies on firm performance, cost of finance, and value.

Real estate portfolio diversification is a common investment strategy among real estate firms worldwide. When implemented across markets with imperfectly correlated performance, diversification can reduce a firm's cash-flow volatility, positively impacting its capital costs and overall value. 

However, diversification can also increase agency and information costs, exacerbating issues such as overinvestment and inefficient capital allocation. Therefore, the net effect of diversification on a real estate firm reflects a balance between these potential benefits and costs. Accordingly, this dissertation quantitatively investigates the net effect of different dimensions of diversification on a real estate firm's capital cost and value.

Keywords: real estate; diversification; firm value; cost of debt; operating efficiency; credit risk; risk premium

Thesis available for public display 10 days prior to the defence at: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/doc_public/eonly/riiputus/

Contact information of doctoral student: Islam Ibrahim, islam.ibrahim@aalto.fi, +358449180033

Doctoral theses of the School of Engineering: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/49