This paper is a review of key issues that have emerged in the development of corporate real estate (CRE) over the past two decades and in particular considers how real estate asset holdings and activities support business objectives. The themes explored include definitions of CRE; the roles, contributions and functions of CRE; the paradigm shift in real estate from being a space provider to a strategic resource; and the strategic management context and strategy formulation.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare corporate real estate (CRE) strategies of companies in a mature market, the UK, with companies in an emerging market, Malaysia, and examine whether CRE strategy impacts on financial performance. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology involved the analysis of the reporting of CRE strategies in company reports for two time periods, 1998 and 2003. Multivariate models were used to test the relationship between CRE strategy and financial performance. Findings – The results show that a high percentage of companies have CRE strategies that map to the Nourse and Roulac framework, though some companies had alternative or no CRE strategies. Variations are apparent between the UK and Malaysia and between the time periods with differences in the clarity of reporting. The contribution of CRE strategy to financial performance is more significant in 2003. Research limitations/implications – The testing of relationships based on another framework, would allow comparisons to be made with the current study in determining the potential of CRE strategy. Originality/value – This study has been the first attempt to identify relationships between CRE strategy and the financial performance of companies and in doing so has raised other potential questions for further research.

This study analyzes the relationship between Corporate Real Estate (CRE) strategy and the financial performance of major companies in the UK for two time periods, 1998 and 2003. The identification of specific CRE strategies is based on the seminal work of Nourse and Roulac (1993). The results indicate that more than 75% of the companies examined had a CRE strategy that could be mapped to the Nourse and Roulac framework and that certain CRE strategies made a contribution in enhancing the financial performance of companies. The relationship was stronger for companies in 2003 than for 1998. This was tested for both share price and profit margin as the dependent variable. This study concludes that CRE strategy can make a limited contribution to company financial performance.

Forecasting stock market crashes is difficult because such events are rare, highly nonlinear, and shaped by latent structural and behavioral forces. This study introduces a calibrated and interpretable Random Forest framework for detecting pre-crash conditions through structural feature engineering, early-warning calibration, and model explainability. Using daily data on global equity indices and major large-cap stocks from the U.S., Europe, and Asia, we construct a feature set that captures volatility expansion, moving-average deterioration, Bollinger Band width, and short-horizon return dynamics. Probability-threshold optimization significantly improves sensitivity to rare events and yields an operating point at a crash-probability threshold of 0.33. Compared with econometric and machine learning benchmarks, the calibrated model attains higher precision while maintaining competitive F1 and MCC scores, and it delivers meaningful early-warning signals with an average lead-time of around 60 days. SHAP analysis indicates that predictions are anchored in theoretically consistent indicators, particularly volatility clustering and weakening trends, while robustness checks show resilience to noise, structural perturbations, and simulated flash crashes. Taken together, these results provide a transparent and reproducible blueprint for building operational early-warning systems in financial markets.

Every investor has a unique choice of investment based on customized needs and goals. Each investment has its characteristics. This study investigates the association between socio-demographic characteristics of individual investors and the objectives of the investments. Employing Pearson’s chi-square test with 125 respondents from securities companies in Indonesia, we suggest that the decision of investors in investing their money depends on the association between sociodemographic characteristics and the characteristics of investments' goals. The results of this study can benefit both individual investors and securities firms. For individual investors, this study can be a guideline for them to make an investment decision by considering an investment objective that suits them the most. While for the securities companies, they can market their products to investors appropriately by looking into the demographic factors of the investors and indirectly know the investors’ investments preference. More, the government needs to enhance the infrastructure of the financial sector in order to increase individuals participation in the sector