<p>This study seeks to evaluate the performance of unit trust managers based on their client affiliation classification. Worldwide, the number of investors investing in unit trusts is on the rise and increasingly they want to be able to evaluate the performance of the managers managing their funds so as to make better investment decisions. This increase in the asset size and number of unit trusts funds could be attributed but not limited to the low capital required for investment by small investors who before could not afford to invest in portfolios requiring large capital (Prather, Bertin, and Henker, 2004). In addition, the fund managers of these units are believed to have special skills such as market timing and stock selectivity which contribute to the performances they achieve. The evaluation of the performance of unit trust fund managers is a largely unexplored area in South Africa. As a result, the study focuses on South Africa fund managers and has as aim to evaluate the performance of two groups of fund managers (independent and dependent) who were classified based on their client affiliation structure. The client affiliation classification is as a result of the fund manager‟s clientele base. The dependent group are those who formed part of a group structure and offer other wealth management services for which their clients or investors in the unit trust services originate from within the group while the independent group are those whose clients are pulled together from diverse individuals or institutions and does not form part of a group or render other services other than fund management. Two fund types were selected namely / general equity funds and balanced funds. It has also examined the underlying skills the different groups of fund managers possess. The performance of unit trust has an effect on many parties who are related in one way or the other to the unit trust funds. The results of this study will inform individual investors, trustees and asset consultants in their decision making process of selecting a fund manager. The results of the study will be of value to the asset management industry in terms of assessing their structures and restructuring the investment service business to meet the expectations of their clients / the investors. It could also be used as a marketing tool. Publicly available historical data on the returns generated by fund managers for a five year period from&nbsp / 2005 to 2009 was obtained. Analyses were done using the independent sampled t-test and the Treynor Mazel model respectively for the different research questions posed. The results obtained indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the performances of independent fund managers with those of dependent fund managers. However, dependent fund managers of equity funds performed better than their counterparts the independent fund managers. In the case of balanced funds, the independent fund managers performed better than their dependent counterparts. On average, both fund&nbsp / manager types possessed selectivity skills for equity funds and none for balanced funds. However for both fund types, the dependent fund manager demonstrated more selectivity skills than their independent counterparts. The results for market timing skills demonstrated that on average, both fund managers did not possess market timing skills for balanced funds while possessing these skills for equity funds. The dependent&nbsp / fund managers demonstrated more market timing skills for balanced funds though negative when compared to that of their counterparts. On the other hand, the equity fund independent fund&nbsp / managers demonstrated more market timing skills than the dependent fund managers.</p>

LAMACZ, L. Private equity funds. Brno: Mendel University in Brno. 2014 The subject of this diploma thesis is investing through Private equity funds. Based on the research of factors that affect the profitability of private equity funds, the author has drawn up an investment recommendation. The research subject is relation between profitability and the denominated currency of the fund, Morningstar rating, the level of market capitalization, dividend yield and domicile of the fund. In diploma thesis, the author also compares the profitability of investments in the sector and regionally focused private equity funds with profitability of investments in stock indexes focused on the same sectors and regions. The thesis also offers an analysis of supply of private equity funds in the US market and analysis of the impact of financial crises that began in the fall of 2007 on the profitability of private equity funds. The final part is devoted to the presentation of the results attained and their discussion with other authors' similar themes.

Submitted by Augusto Henrique Fernandes Vilela (augustohf@gmail.com) on 2015-02-19T19:17:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Augusto Vilela.pdf: 295010 bytes, checksum: 7a2e7467908790bdf45ce9da5a9174fe (MD5) / Rejected by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br), reason: Prezado Augusto, Seu trabalho foi rejeitado, por falta da ficha catalográfica. At Renata on 2015-02-19T20:14:45Z (GMT) / Submitted by Augusto Henrique Fernandes Vilela (augustohf@gmail.com) on 2015-02-19T20:23:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Augusto Vilela.pdf: 296076 bytes, checksum: 56fdb1ac620cae6d9d32ab24dc5a53d4 (MD5) / Rejected by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br), reason: Encaminhado por e-mail. Att Renata on 2015-02-19T21:19:49Z (GMT) / Submitted by Augusto Henrique Fernandes Vilela (augustohf@gmail.com) on 2015-02-19T21:31:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Augusto Vilela.pdf: 872382 bytes, checksum: 7ab83b67c58bc31634560270c8a693fd (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br) on 2015-02-19T21:38:51Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Augusto Vilela.pdf: 872382 bytes, checksum: 7ab83b67c58bc31634560270c8a693fd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-02-20T12:06:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Augusto Vilela.pdf: 872382 bytes, checksum: 7ab83b67c58bc31634560270c8a693fd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-01-26 / This paper aims to study the behavior of investment funds returns in its first years of existence. For this, there were made comparisons between the first year with the second and the first and second combined against the third and fourth also combined. The sample is segmented between Multimarket Funds and Equity Funds. T tests were performed to assess whether the average returns of the periods are significantly different from each other and models of multiple linear regression by the method of ordinary least squares (OLS) were designed to measure the impact of the return of the first period on the second. Evidence was found that in the case of the Equity Funds, the returns are higher in second periods, for Multimarket Funds, the first year provides superior returns than the second. / Este trabalho tem o objetivo de estudar o comportamento dos retornos de fundos de investimento nos seus primeiros anos de existência. Para isso, são comparados os primeiros anos com os segundos e os primeiros e segundos combinados contra os terceiros e quartos, também combinados. A amostra é segmentada entre Fundos Multimercados e Fundos de Ações. Foram realizados testes t para avaliar se os retornos médios dos períodos são significativamente diferentes entre si e desenvolvidos modelos de regressão linear múltipla pelo método dos mínimos quadrados ordinários (MQO) para se mensurar o impacto do retorno do primeiro período sobre o do segundo. Foram encontradas evidências de que, no caso dos Fundos de Ações, os retornos são maiores nos segundos períodos e, para os Fundos Multimercado, o primeiro ano apresenta retornos superiores aos do segundo.

Submitted by Diogo Bahia (dbahia@gmail.com) on 2012-08-27T20:08:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Diogo Bahia - Sorte vs Habilidade.pdf: 758043 bytes, checksum: 6bd1adc62ad396207bcb4032522be0f9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Gammaro (gisele.gammaro@fgv.br) on 2012-08-27T20:16:27Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Diogo Bahia - Sorte vs Habilidade.pdf: 758043 bytes, checksum: 6bd1adc62ad396207bcb4032522be0f9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-08-30T12:57:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Diogo Bahia - Sorte vs Habilidade.pdf: 758043 bytes, checksum: 6bd1adc62ad396207bcb4032522be0f9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-28 / Initially, we test the hypothesis that actively managed funds presents alphas (excess return) when compared to the Brazilian equity indexes used by passive funds. Then bootstrap simulations check if theses alphas can be attributed just to luck. Using this methodology we find that the aggregate portfolio of actively managed Brazilian equity funds has not presented excess of return from the two most important equity indexes in Brazil (true alpha), returns considered after cost and expenses. Bootstrap simulations suggests that a greater number of funds produces better returns adjusted to benchmark than we would expect just because of randomness in the returns. / Neste trabalho testa-se inicialmente se fundos com gestão ativa apresentam alfa (excesso de retorno) em relação aos índices de referência de fundos passivos. Simulações via bootstrap visam indicar se o excesso de retorno apresentado pode ser atribuído apenas à sorte. Com esta metodologia concluiu-se que a carteira agregada de fundos de investimentos de ação com gestão ativa no Brasil não apresenta excesso de retorno em relação aos principais índices da bolsa brasileira, quando líquidos de taxas e despesas. As simulações de bootstrap sugerem que uma quantidade maior de fundos apresenta retornos ajustados ao benchmark do que o esperado pelo efeito da aleatoriedade nos resultados.

Submitted by JOAO MARQUES (jcostamarques@ufrj.br) on 2014-01-06T15:49:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTACAO EPGE MFEE JMCM v.final.pdf: 650494 bytes, checksum: 9679e883b7ef40c0b9da83e7683da08e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vitor Souza (vitor.souza@fgv.br) on 2014-01-22T14:08:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTACAO EPGE MFEE JMCM v.final.pdf: 650494 bytes, checksum: 9679e883b7ef40c0b9da83e7683da08e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-01-23T16:35:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTACAO EPGE MFEE JMCM v.final.pdf: 650494 bytes, checksum: 9679e883b7ef40c0b9da83e7683da08e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-29 / This study analyses the effect of charging a performance fee on Brazilian equity funds. Performance fees charged upon investment funds may be regarded as buying a financial call option. In theory, the value of a call option is directly proportional (ceteris paribus) to the volatility of the underlying asset (i.e. the fund quota, in this case). As it is, there is a clear incentive to increase volatility of the quotas of the funds that charge a performance fee. However, on contrary to expectations, the results indicate that those funds that charge a performance fee have presented not only a smaller risk, but also greater efficiency, measured by the relation risk / return. / Este estudo analisa o efeito da cobrança da taxa de performance sobre os fundos de ações na indústria brasileira de fundos de investimento. As taxas de performance cobradas dos fundos de investimento podem ser equiparadas a uma opção financeira de compra. Em tese, o valor da opção de compra é diretamente proporcional (ceteris paribus) à volatilidade do ativo subjacente (neste caso a cota do fundo). Sendo assim, há um claro incentivo ao aumento da volatilidade das cotas dos fundos de ações que cobram taxa de performance. Entretanto, contrariando as expectativas, os resultados indicaram que os fundos de ações que cobraram taxa de performance apresentaram, não somente, risco inferior, como também, maior eficiência, aferida pela relação risco / retorno.

Magister Commercii - MCom / This study seeks to evaluate the performance of unit trust managers based on their client affiliation classification. Worldwide, the number of investors investing in unit trusts is on the rise and increasingly they want to be able to evaluate the performance of the managers managing their funds so as to make better investment decisions. This increase in the asset size and number of unit trusts funds could be attributed but not limited to the low capital required for investment by small investors who before could not afford to invest in portfolios requiring large capital (Prather, Bertin, and Henker, 2004). In addition, the fund managers of these units are believed to have special skills such as market timing and stock selectivity which contribute to the performances they achieve. The evaluation of the performance of unit trust fund managers is a largely unexplored area in South Africa. As a result, the study focuses on South Africa fund managers and has as aim to evaluate the performance of two groups of fund managers (independent and dependent) who were classified based on their client affiliation structure. The client affiliation classification is as a result of the fund manager's clientele base. The dependent group are those who formed part of a group structure and offer other wealth management services for which their clients or investors in the unit trust services originate from within the group while the independent group are those whose clients are pulled together from diverse individuals or institutions and does not form part of a group or render other services other than fund management. Two fund types were selected namely; general equity funds and balanced funds. It has also examined the underlying skills the different groups of fund managers possess. The performance of unit trust has an effect on many parties who are related in one way or the other to the unit trust funds. The results of this study will inform individual investors, trustees and asset consultants in their decision making process of selecting a fund manager. The results of the study will be of value to the asset management industry in terms of assessing their structures and restructuring the investment service business to meet the expectations of their clients; the investors. It could also be used as a marketing tool. Publicly available historical data on the returns generated by fund managers for a five year period from 2005 to 2009 was obtained. Analyses were done using the independent sampled t-test and the Treynor Mazel model respectively for the different research questions posed. The results obtained indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the performances of independent fund managers with those of dependent fund managers. However, dependent fund managers of equity funds performed better than their counterparts the independent fund managers. In the case of balanced funds, the independent fund managers performed better than their dependent counterparts. On average, both fund manager types possessed selectivity skills for equity funds and none for balanced funds. However for both fund types, the dependent fund manager demonstrated more selectivity skills than their independent counterparts. The results for market timing skills demonstrated that on average, both fund managers did not possess market timing skills for balanced funds while possessing these skills for equity funds. The dependent fund managers demonstrated more market timing skills for balanced funds though negative when compared to that of their counterparts. On the other hand, the equity fund independent fund managers demonstrated more market timing skills than the dependent fund managers. / South Africa

The intent of this thesis is to investigate how US equity funds performance differ due to their standard deviation. In order to accomplish this study, we collected daily data for 99 US equity funds for the period 2011-2020 and divided the funds into three risk classification groups based on their standard deviation for the year 2011. The collected data was used to perform an CAPM regression and to calculate returns on a three-, five- and ten-year basis. The results for the regression and the returns for the funds was later presented as average values for the different risk classification groups. We then compared the average outcomes for the three risk classifications with each other and the index S&amp;P 500. Our result showed that the index S&amp;P 500 outperformed the three risk classification groups average returns for every time period. We also noticed that the difference between the average returns and the index got greater by time. We did not find any big differences between our risk classifications when it comes to their performance. Our regression analysis resulted in many negative alpha values indicating that S&amp;P 500, as many previous studies claims, outperforms actively mutual funds. The conclusion is therefore that we could not show any evidence that the there is a major different in performance between our risk groups but also that it is difficult for fund managers to outperform index.

Sustainability, a multidimensional concept, consist of various environmental, social, and economic factors. Its fundamental principle is to fulfill the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. One popular approach to measure sustainability is the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) measurement. However, a global standardized ESG rating system is currently lacking, leading to variations in scores and methodologies used by different agencies to evaluate a companies' ESG performance. Recognizing the need for a standardized approach, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has emerged as a framework for evaluating sustainability. By adopting the SDGs as a standardized framework, investors, companies, and financial institutions can align their effort and process towards a sustainable future.  Although previous research has explored the relationship between ESG and financial performances, little research has been conducted on the standardized framework of SDGs and its relationship with biodiversity impact. This while it has been proven that biodiversity is the primary driver of sustainability. The objective of the study is to fill the research gap by examining the relationship between SDG commitments and their impact on biodiversity. To achieve this, eight equity funds with varying commitments to SDGs were selected as a sample. The sample comprises 396 companies allocated to 42 countries and 87 industries, with data collected of the year 2022. To align with biodiversity data availability, the time frame was adjusted to match the biodiversity data from the year of 2011.  The study focuses on assessing the annual species loss as an indicator of biodiversity impact for four different levels of SDG commitments. The primary findings indicates that there is no significant relationship between the amount of SDG commitments and the annual species loss. Furthermore, a weak relationship was observed between the cost of goods sold (excluding depreciation) and annual species loss. The secondary findings suggests that the factors of country of operation and industries contributes to biodiversity impact, this while it revealed a high variation of the effecting ecosystem. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the relationship between SDG commitments and biodiversity impact, providing insights into the complex dynamics between sustainability efforts and their environmental consequences.

The consolidation of corporate ownership into the hands of large institutional investors has resulted in growing expectations that actors in the financial system should leverage their positions of ownership to improve corporate sustainability. In other words, institutional investors are expected to take a greater responsibility for the transition towards a greener economy by becoming active owners. However, active ownership is not a uniform concept. Instead, the term can imply many different strategies and tools, raising questions of how investors become active owners in a way that yields maximum influence while economizing their resources. Among all the tools investors have available, shareholder engagement through dialogues is suggested to have many advantages. However, previous research has not provided a clear-cut account of the mechanisms by which shareholder engagement through dialogues unfold successfully. Therefore, this thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of when and how engagement dialogue becomes a powerful tool for shareholders in order to improve corporate sustainability. The study is performed in the context of actively managed equity funds, with interviews from both funds and companies. In order to understand how actively managed equity funds can effectively leverage their ownership through engagement dialogues, the focus of this study has been twofold. First, the research has focused on understanding how the internal structures within funds should be designed to support the engagement process. Second, the research has focused on pinpointing the mechanisms that make engagement dialogue between Swedish equity funds and their portfolio companies successful. This has resulted in the development of three frameworks, aiming to facilitate funds to make conscious decisions regarding how they work with shareholder dialogues. / Aktieägare har en nyckelroll när det kommer till att påverka bolag till att ställa om till en mer hållbar verksamhet genom att praktisera ett aktivt ägandeskap. Att vara en aktiv ägare kan dock betyda många olika saker, och investerare kan använda sig av en uppsjö av olika strategier och verktyg. Därmed väcks frågan hur investerare praktiserar ett aktivt ägandeskap så effektivt som möjligt. Bland de verktyg som investerare har tillgängliga för att bedriva aktivt ägande så föreslås påverkansarbete genom dialog ha många fördelar. Tidigare forskning har dock inte fullgott redogjort för de mekanismer som gör att investerares påverkansarbete genom dialog blir framgångsrikt. Mot den bakgrunden så är syftet med den här uppsatsen att fördjupa förståelsen för hur påverkansdialog blir ett kraftfullt verktyg för investerare när de försöker påverka företag till att bli mer hållbara. Studien har genomförts i den svenska kontexten med fokus på aktivt förvaltade aktiefonder. Genom intervjuer på både investerar- och företagssidan har studien rörts sig i interaktionen mellan fonder och dess portföljbolag. För att förstå hur aktivt förvaltade aktiefonder kan få inflytande genom påverkansdialoger har studien haft ett tudelat fokus. Fokus har legat på att försöka förstå dels hur interna strukturer bör utformas för att stötta påverkansdialoger på bästa sätt, och dels på vilka mekanismer och kritiska faktorer som behövs för att påverkansdialoger ska bli framgångsrika. Detta har mynnat ut i tre ramverk som alla syftar till att underlätta för fonder att göra medvetna val kring hur de arbetar genom påverkansdialoger

Background: In Sweden one of the most common ways of saving money is through funds and investors have many options to choose between. It depends on the risks you are willing to take, the expected return and size of management fees. The fees charged by the management company varies a lot depending on if the funds are managed actively or passively. During the recent years there have been discussions about which type of fund management will be the most profitable in relation to the fee. Actively managed funds are in general more expensive than passively managed. Object: The purpose of this study is to analyze if there is any relationship between the fee and the return while considering the risk. Furthermore, it will be analyzed if actively or passively managed funds generate higher return considering the fees, and if the actively managed funds succeedtheir benchmark index or not. The aim is to find out which type of fund management is the most appropriate to receive the highest return on the investment. Delimitation: The study is limited to Swedish funds that have been on the Stockholm Stock Exchange for at least 10 years and at least 90 % of the fund’s holdings must be invested in Swedish companies. Actively managed funds and index funds are analyzed and the other funds are excluded. Method: The study extends between the years 2011-2015. A correlation analysis has been made to see if there is a relationship between management fees and the return on investment. To get the best possible result,calculations and analysis have been made on both risk and performance measurements. Conclusion: It is more profitable to invest in index funds than actively managed funds. Actively managed funds does not generate a higher return on investment than indexfunds but they have a higher management fee. There is no relationship between the fee charged by the mangementcompanies and what return you get in the funds. / Bakgrund:Fonder ären vanlig sparmetod i Sverige och vid val av fond finns det många möjligheter för investerare. Detta beroende på vilken risk man är villig att ta, hur hög avkastning man förväntar sig samt hur hög fondens avgift är. Förvaltningsavgiften är den kostnad som betalas till fondbolagen för det förvaltningsarbete som utförs. Avgiften varierar beroende på om fonden förvaltas aktivt eller passivt. Under de senaste åren har det förekommit diskussioner kring vilken fondförvaltning som är bäst att välja i förhållande till avkastning och avgift, eftersom priserna för de aktivt och passivt förvaltade fonderna ofta skiljer sig åt. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka om det finns något samband mellan avgift och avkastning i förhållande till tagen risk för de aktivt och passivt förvaltade fonderna. Vidare kommer undersökas om aktiv eller passiv fondförvaltning genererar högre avkastning i förhållande till avgift, samt om de aktivt förvaltade fonderna överträffar sitt jämförelseindex eller inte. Avsikten är att få svar på vilken fondförvaltning som ger bättre resultat och därmed är bäst att investera i. Avgränsning: Studien avgränsas till svenska fonder som funnits på Stockholmsbörsen i minst 10 år och har minst 90 % av innehavet i svenska företag. Aktiv förvaltade aktiefonder och indexfonder undersöks, övriga fonder exkluderas. Metod: Tidsperioden som undersöks är fem år, 2011-2015. En korrelationsanalys utförs för att se samband mellan avgift och avkastning. Även relevanta risk-och prestationsmått räknas på och analyseras för att få svar på vilken fondförvaltning som är bäst att välja för bästa resultat. Slutsats: Det är mer lönsamt att investera i indexfonder med lägre avgift än att betala en hög fondavgift för aktiv fondförvaltning. Aktivt förvaltade fonder lyckas oftast inte slå sitt jämförelseindex och genererar inte en högre avkastning i genomsnitt än indexfonder, som har lägre avgift. Det finns inget samband mellan avgift och avkastning för de undersökta fonderna.