In two unrelated papers, we examine different aspects of mutual fund performance and other issues. In the first chapter, we look at exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and how they differ from index funds in performance and tracking error. Using daily data and a more comprehensive sample than past research, we find abnormal returns associated with the ETFs are higher than the alphas of the index funds in most cases. The results are much more prevalent in funds that follow the S&P 500 than funds that do not. When examining the tracking errors, we find index funds are able to track their indexes much better than ETFs and domestic ETFs are better than ETFs that track international indexes. In our most significant finding, we find that tracking error affects fund flow in the following period. While fund flows are generally increasing for both ETFs and index funds, funds that track their respective index better increase their net assets by a larger percentage than funds that track their index less well. In the second chapter, we look at the differences in performance and characteristics of mutual funds as they relate to the manager's gender. Using a larger sample and different techniques than have been used in the past, we find some differences in our matched comparison which suggest female managers have a lower risk tolerance than males. Females also tend to hold a higher number of assets (stocks) and fewer assets in their top 10 holdings than do male managers. In, pooled regressions, we find weak, but significant evidence that current female fund managers, when analyzed as a group, show slightly lower performance than male managers. We then analyze performance within funds over time. Our most consistent result is that when changing the composition of fund management, regardless of gender, the new management has significantly greater performance than prior management. We also find some evidence, although not conclusive, that the percentage of female managers managing a fund is negatively related to the fund's performance over time. Finally, we find the determinants of abnormal returns cannot be attributed to the fund manager's gender.

Submitted by Elba Lopes (elba.lopes@fecap.br) on 2017-12-19T23:43:16Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Estev??o Garcia de Oliveira Alexandre.pdf: 334978 bytes, checksum: 69b02b620b3b65622dfb7a5492fa4e21 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-19T23:43:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Estev??o Garcia de Oliveira Alexandre.pdf: 334978 bytes, checksum: 69b02b620b3b65622dfb7a5492fa4e21 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-20 / This study analyzes the Brazilian Multimarket Investment Funds and aims to establish a relationship between characteristics of these funds and their respective financial returns. The variables discussed here are: the number of shareholders, the funds equity, time of existence (age), their administration and the performance fees. Through a sample of 216, we identified multimarket investment funds and the returns presented in the last 10 years. Thus, we performed regression tests (MQO and robust) based on two distinct models, one comprising the five variables studied and a second with analysis of these variables from four different groups. Statistical evidence was found to establish a relationship between fund equity and profitability, age and profitability in the model 1. In the model 2, only the construct fund assets presented some explanation for the four working groups, while the fund age variable had some explanatory power in two of the four working groups. The results are convergent with those obtained by Malaquias and Eid (2014) and Laes and Silva (2014), and the study of these characteristics helps to better understand the market of Multi-Market Investment Funds in Brazil. / Esta pesquisa analisa os Fundos de Investimento Multimercados brasileiros e tem o objetivo de estabelecer rela????es entre caracter??sticas desses fundos e seus respectivos retornos. As vari??veis aqui discutidas s??o: a quantidade de cotistas, o patrim??nio l??quido dos fundos, tempo de exist??ncia (idade), sua taxa de administra????o e a taxa de performance. Utilizando uma amostra de 216 fundos de investimento multimercados, identificaram-se os retornos apresentados nos ??ltimos 10 anos. Para tal, foram realizados testes de regress??o (MQO e robusta), com base em dois modelos distintos, o primeiro compreendendo as cinco vari??veis estudadas e o segundo com as mesmas, mas que foram analisadas em quatro diferentes grupos. Pelo modelo 1, foram encontradas evid??ncias estat??sticas para estabelecer rela????o entre patrim??nio do fundo e rentabilidade, idade e rentabilidade. Pelo modelo 2, apenas o patrim??nio dos fundos apresentou algum poder de explica????o para os quatro grupos de trabalho, enquanto a vari??vel idade do fundo apresentou algum poder de explica????o em dois dos quatro grupos de trabalho. Estes resultados est??o convergentes com aqueles obtidos por Malaquias e Eid (2014) e Laes e Silva (2014). O estudo destas caracter??sticas ajuda a compreender melhor o mercado de Fundos de Investimentos Multimercados no Brasil.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the difference in return between Swedish and Russian hedge funds while considering the risk taken. Method: This study is based on quantitative data on funds' historical returns from the electronic database Morningstar.se. Additional data is taken from the funds websites, the Swedish National Bank and Fondbolagens förening. Result and conclusion: All hedge funds, both the Russian and Swedish performed better thanthe index. The Russian hedge funds nevertheless performed better than their Swedishcounterparts in all three evaluation methods. / Syfte: Syfte med undersökningen är att granska skillnaderna i avkastning med hänsyn till riskenmellan svenska och ryska hedgefonder. Metod: Denna studie grundas på kvantitativ data om fondernas historiska avkastning från den elektroniska databasen Morningstar.se. Ytterligare data är hämtad från fondernas hemsidor, Riksbanken och Fondbolagens förening. Resultat och slutsats: Alla hedgefonder både de ryska och de svenska presterade bättre än index. De ryska hedgefonderna presterade dock bättre än de svenska i alla tre utvärderingsmåtten.

Background: There has been an increase in savings and investment in recent years along with an increased interest in responsible investments. Ethical mutual funds has developed and gained increasingly popularity. Aim: The aim of the study is to examine if ethical mutual funds are an equivalent alternative to traditional mutual funds in terms of return, risk and risk-adjusted return on the Swedish stock market. Theory: Beta, Jensen's Alpha, Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, and Modern Portfolio Theory. Method: Quantitative survey method, a statistical study. Conclusion:The study concludes that there is no significant difference between ethical and conventional mutual funds in terms of return, risk and risk-adjusted return. The small differences that exist between the two fund groups are in favor of the ethical fund group, indicating that funds is a comparable investment option compared to traditional mutual funds.

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.

The presented diploma thesis discusses the framework of public extra-budgetary funds as an element of the system of public finance. Extra-budgetary funds inclusion to the system of public budgets and to the system of relations among them, as well as extra-budgetary funds institutional arrangement, the overview of their activities, the extra-budgetary funds economic results and especially impacts and consequences of all above appointed are extremely relevant topic in the period when increased attention to the stability and sustainability of public budget system is paid.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / Although Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) are not a new phenomenon, they have gained international prominence since 2005 due to their rapid and much publicised growth, as well as government ownership. The objective of this study is to investigate SWFs from the perspective of developing countries and to compare the developing country experience of SWF investment with that of the developed economies of the West. The question that this research report aims to address is whether SWF investment behaviour is more aggressive in developing economies than in advanced economies by being more likely to invest in sensitive sectors of, and to take significant stakes in companies within these sectors in, developing economies? Before this analysis is made, a comprehensive literature study is done consisting of two parts. The first provides an overview of the reasons behind the rise of SWFs and the West‘s discomfort with the phenomenon, focussing on the emergence of state capitalism as a competing socio-political model to free-market democracy. The second part of the literature review gives a broad overview of what constitutes a SWF, its main characteristics and what concerns about SWFs have transpired to date. The researcher uses a narrow definition to differentiate SWFs from other sovereign investor classes, and defines a SWF as a fund: i) owned directly by a sovereign government; ii) managed independently of other state financial institutions; iii) that does not have predominant explicit pension obligations; iv) that invests in a diverse set of financial asset classes in pursuit of commercial returns; and, v) that has made a significant proportion of its publicly-reported investments internationally. The concerns raised in the literature about SWFs as well as the response from the international community and individual recipient countries to these concerns are discussed. In particular, the researcher focuses on the fears expressed by recipient countries that SWFs may invest for non-commercial reasons. To answer the questions raised about SWFs, the researcher assesses the behaviours displayed by these funds by means of an analysis of the transnational transaction data contained in the SWF Institute‘s SWF Transaction Database for the period 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2009. The research results show that SWFs do not appear to target sensitive industries in developing economies more than they would in advanced economies, but it appears that they are willing to gain greater influence and control of the running of the organisations in which they invest if those organisations are based in the developing world.