Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-206). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, 2008.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas A & M University, 1989. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-252).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Economics, June 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: drawdowns, maximum drawdowns. Includes bibliographical references (p.23).

Thesis (Ph. D. in Leadership and Policy Studies)--Vanderbilt University, Aug. 2006. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc.)(Project Management)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliography. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

This study was conducted to establish whether risk management strategies could be developed to enable stock market investment portfolio managers to reduce the risk involved in stock market trading. The awareness of stock market risk elevates the requirement for risk management strategies as discussed in Chapter 1. The research scope is identified, and an overview of the study gives further guidance as to what lies ahead. The theory behind macroeconomic forces and how they influence share prices is discussed in Chapter 2. It is established that market sectors and companies within those sectors react differently to macroeconomic forces. Technical analysis is discussed as a mechanism to identify buying and selling signals. In Chapter 3, risk management strategies are developed from the literature. The hypothesis of the study as described in Chapter 4 is that these risk management strategies are able to reduce the risk associated with trading in the stock market. The market simulation in Chapter 5 offers the opportunity to observe the risk management strategies at work in a simulated stock market investment portfolio. In Chapter 6, the outcome of the market simulation is compared to the criteria set in Chapter 4, and the conclusion that the risk management strategies were able to reduce the risk involved in stock market trading is drawn.

This thesis examines the performance of currency-only portfolios with different strategies, in out-of-sample analysis. I first examine a number of passive portfolio strategies into currency market in out-of-sample analysis. The strategies I applied in this chapter include sample-based mean-variance portfolio and its extension, minimum variance portfolio, and equally-weighted risk contribution model. Moreover, I consider GDP portfolio and Trade portfolio as market value portfolio for currency market. With naïve portfolio, there are 12 different asset allocation models. In my out-of-sample analysis, naïve portfolio performs reasonably well among all 12 portfolios, and transaction cost does not seriously affect the results prior to transaction cost analysis. The results are robust across different estimation windows and perspectives of investors from different countries. Next, more portfolio strategies are examined to compare with naïve portfolio in currency market. The first portfolio strategy called ‘optimal constrained portfolio’ in this chapter is derived from the idea of maximising the quadratic utility function. In addition, the timing strategies, a set of simple active portfolio strategies, are also considered. In my out-of-sample analysis with rolling sample approach, naïve portfolio can be beaten by all the strategies discussed in this chapter. In chapter six, the characteristics of currency are exploited to construct a currency only portfolio. Firstly, the pre-sample test proves that the characteristics, both fundamental and financial, are relevant to the portfolio construction. I then examine the performance of parametric portfolio policies. The results show that while fundamental characteristics can bring investor benefits of active portfolio management, financial characteristics cannot. Moreover, I find the relationship between characteristics of currency and weights of optimal portfolio. The overall results show that currencies can be thought of as an asset in their own right to construct optimal portfolios, which have better performance than naïve portfolio, if suitable strategies are used. In addition, ‘lesser’ currencies, indeed, bring significant benefits to the investors.

Diversity has become an essential component in companies. As businesses and industries attempt to appeal to a wider demographic of employees while trying to serve diverse markets, they are also seeking to be representatives of such markets. Internal diversity is essential from a business standpoint. Diverse perspectives and backgrounds are proven to result in advantages for businesses which ultimately increase revenues and profits. The purpose of this study was to address the limited understanding of how White women and women of color navigate the dominant environment in the investment management industry. White men traditionally hold the power in this environment and, as such, are not typically subjected to the same obstacles. The purposely selected sample consisted of seven participants of a program whose mission was to develop women and people-of-color investment managers into more successful investment managers. The research methods included participant interviews and content analysis of documents about the program. Data collections methods included audio-recorded interviews and content analysis of documents about the program. The data were coded and analyzed, first by research question, and then findings were organized into three analytical categories based on the study’s framework. The research revealed two main tensions surrounding being authentic while seeking to raise money from White-male investors and that participants’ gender identity was perceived as an important part of their identity as investment managers. Participants’ capacity to handle these tensions grew after completing the program and they learned to present themselves in an authentic way. Recommendations are offered for educators and women investment managers, and for further research, including: (1) authenticity should be focused on and a key tenet of future programs, (2) having separate cohorts or learning paths for different experience levels, (3) emphasize in person training in order to build relationships with each other and with White-male investors/facilitators, (4) be authentic and run experiments based on being authentic to gauge success, (5) focus on building relationships, (6) think of White males as potential allies instead of adversaries, (7) study authenticity further, (8) expand pool of participants in future studies, (9) integrating future studies into the formal program evaluation, (10) study women professionals in the rest of the investment industry, (11) study White-male investors, and (12) study how subordinate White-males in the industry are treated.