Hedge funds report performance information voluntarily. When they stop reporting they are transferred from the "live" pool of funds to the "defunct" pool. Consequently, liquidated funds constitute a subset of the defunct pool. I present models of hedge fund survival, attrition, and survivorship bias based on liquidation alone. This refines estimates of predictor variables in models of survival, leads to attrition rates of hedge funds to be roughly one half those previously thought, and produces larger estimates of survivorship bias. Survival models based on liquidated funds only, lead to an increase in survival time of 50 to 100 percent relative to survival based on all defunct funds. / In addition to refining estimates of survival time, it is useful to examine how the double fee structure of hedge funds and Commodity Trading Advisors (CTA) affects the incentives of their managers. Young CTAs are usually very small --- they hold few financial assets --- and may not meet their operating expenses with their management fee alone, so their incentive is to take on risk and post good returns. As they grow, their incentive to take on risk diminishes. CTAs in their fifth year diminish their volatility by 25 percent relative to their first year, and diminish returns by 70 percent. We find CTAs to behave more like indexers as they grow, concerned with more with capital preservation than asset management. / Operational risk is a major cause of hedge fund and CTA liquidation. In the banking industry, regulators have called upon institutions to develop models for measuring capital charge for operational losses, and to subject these models to stress testing. Losses are found to be inversely related to GDP growth, and positively related to unemployment. Since losses are thus cyclical, one way to stress test models is to calculate capital charge during good and bad economic regimes. We find loss distributions to have thicker tails during bad regimes. One implication is that banks will likely need to increase their capital charge when economic conditions deteriorate.

Thesis (M.Com. (Economics & Economic History)) - Rhodes University, 2009. / A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Commerce (Financial Markets)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-101).

O desenvolvimento econômico de um país tem, entre seus pilares, o consumo das famílias como fomento à atividade econômica. Desse modo, a atividade de intermediação financeira, típica da atividade bancária, executa o papel de aproximar o crédito do consumo, portanto contribuindo para o crescimento da economia. Com o tempo, as atividades financeiras tornaram-se complexas e riscos se originam associados a este cenário, entre os quais, o risco operacional. O risco operacional, por definição, resulta da perda em processos internos organizacionais, de falhas de pessoas, de sistemas inadequados ou de fraudes. Assim, para regular o ambiente de riscos e manter a saúde financeira das instituições financeiras, o Acordo de Basileia II, editado em 2004, trouxe parâmetros que definem premissas e modelos para o gerenciamento dos riscos e, em particular, do risco operacional. O Brasil, por sua vez, aderiu ao Basileia II e estabeleceu o primeiro semestre de 2013 para que as exigências de capital, para cobertura de riscos operacionais, passassem a vigorar. Nessa linha, este estudo apresenta uma pesquisa exploratória, aplicada a um caso múltiplo nas Financeiras do Rio Grande do Sul, com a utilização de técnicas estatísticas (descritiva, séries temporais e cálculos de probabilidades), combinadas com equações dos modelos de Basileia, onde identificam-se as estruturas de gerenciamentos de riscos operacionais, as perdas de natureza operacional e os Modelos de Basileia utilizados pelas Financeiras do RS; bem como, os respectivos resultados da combinação das perdas operacionais com os volumes alocados de capital. Por fim, conclui que os Modelos de Basileia utilizados, pelas Financeiras pesquisadas, estão em desacordo com as realidades de perdas operacionais experimentadas, portanto, sugerindo recomendações e melhorias em trabalhos futuros. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-06T13:02:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Edeni Malta da Silva.pdf: 1717259 bytes, checksum: 03b2871965612692c230202c9cfb5668 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-06T13:02:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Edeni Malta da Silva.pdf: 1717259 bytes, checksum: 03b2871965612692c230202c9cfb5668 (MD5) / The economic development of a country has, among its pillars, household consumption as encouraging economic activity. Thus, the financial intermediation activity, typical of banking, performs the role of bringing the credit consumption, thus contributing to the economy growth. Over time, financial activities have become complex and associated risks arise from this scenario, including the operational risk. Operational risk , by definition, results in loss of internal organizational processes, failure of people, inadequate systems or frauds. Thus, to regulate risk environment and maintain the financial health of the financial institutions, the Basel II Accord, published in 2004, brought parameters that define assumptions and models for risk management and, in particular, the operational risk . Brazil joined the Basel II and established the first half of 2013 for the capital requirements to cover operational risk. So, this study presents an exploratory research applied to multiple case, on the Financeiras of the Rio Grande do Sul, with the use of statistical techniques (descriptive, time series and probability calculations) combined with Basel models equations, that identified: the structures of operational risk management, the loss operational and the Basel models used by Financeiras RS, as well as the results of the combination of operating losses with volumes allocated capital. Finally, it concludes that the Basel models used by the financial surveyed, are at odds with the realities of experienced operating losses, thus suggesting improvements and recommendations for future work.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing is growing rapidly. Previous research in the area, has mostly been centered around ESG/CSR and its link to corporate financial performance, cost of capital and idiosyncratic risk. Furthermore, relevant previous research is presented that in part challenges the traditional market models and suggests that total risk is a relevant risk factor, instead of only the systematic risk, as proposed by normative theory. In this study, we develop two separate panel regression models, with separate dependent variables. Realized volatility and a GARCH (1,1) estimate of volatility. This is done in order to gain insight into if there is, as propositioned, a negative relation between high ESG/CSR performance and volatility of the shares, i.e. the total risk of the shares. The study uses ESG and financial data from Thomson Reuters Eikon database. The sample size is 481 firms from the S&P 500 Index, for the years 2009-2016. The results of this study indicate that there is a statistically significant negative relationship between high ESG/CSR performance and share price volatility. This result adds to the discussion that challenges existing theory.

O desenvolvimento econômico de um país tem, entre seus pilares, o consumo das famílias como fomento à atividade econômica. Desse modo, a atividade de intermediação financeira, típica da atividade bancária, executa o papel de aproximar o crédito do consumo, portanto contribuindo para o crescimento da economia. Com o tempo, as atividades financeiras tornaram-se complexas e riscos se originam associados a este cenário, entre os quais, o risco operacional. O risco operacional, por definição, resulta da perda em processos internos organizacionais, de falhas de pessoas, de sistemas inadequados ou de fraudes. Assim, para regular o ambiente de riscos e manter a saúde financeira das instituições financeiras, o Acordo de Basileia II, editado em 2004, trouxe parâmetros que definem premissas e modelos para o gerenciamento dos riscos e, em particular, do risco operacional. O Brasil, por sua vez, aderiu ao Basileia II e estabeleceu o primeiro semestre de 2013 para que as exigências de capital, para cobertura de riscos operacionais, passassem a vigorar. Nessa linha, este estudo apresenta uma pesquisa exploratória, aplicada a um caso múltiplo nas Financeiras do Rio Grande do Sul, com a utilização de técnicas estatísticas (descritiva, séries temporais e cálculos de probabilidades), combinadas com equações dos modelos de Basileia, onde identificam-se as estruturas de gerenciamentos de riscos operacionais, as perdas de natureza operacional e os Modelos de Basileia utilizados pelas Financeiras do RS; bem como, os respectivos resultados da combinação das perdas operacionais com os volumes alocados de capital. Por fim, conclui que os Modelos de Basileia utilizados, pelas Financeiras pesquisadas, estão em desacordo com as realidades de perdas operacionais experimentadas, portanto, sugerindo recomendações e melhorias em trabalhos futuros. / The economic development of a country has, among its pillars, household consumption as encouraging economic activity. Thus, the financial intermediation activity, typical of banking, performs the role of bringing the credit consumption, thus contributing to the economy growth. Over time, financial activities have become complex and associated risks arise from this scenario, including the operational risk. Operational risk , by definition, results in loss of internal organizational processes, failure of people, inadequate systems or frauds. Thus, to regulate risk environment and maintain the financial health of the financial institutions, the Basel II Accord, published in 2004, brought parameters that define assumptions and models for risk management and, in particular, the operational risk . Brazil joined the Basel II and established the first half of 2013 for the capital requirements to cover operational risk. So, this study presents an exploratory research applied to multiple case, on the Financeiras of the Rio Grande do Sul, with the use of statistical techniques (descriptive, time series and probability calculations) combined with Basel models equations, that identified: the structures of operational risk management, the loss operational and the Basel models used by Financeiras RS, as well as the results of the combination of operating losses with volumes allocated capital. Finally, it concludes that the Basel models used by the financial surveyed, are at odds with the realities of experienced operating losses, thus suggesting improvements and recommendations for future work.

M.Phil. / The premise of this research study was to study the phenomenon of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) in order to understand the processes and practices of risk management within First National Bank (FNB). Risk management became a favourite topic for discussion in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Some analysts, chief financial officers and observers have noted that risk management is to blame for the economic recession and myriad of bank failures that ensue. However, the intention of this research study was not to analyse the GFC or to devote itself entirely to defend risk management and risk managers.

M.Com. (Computer Auditing) / This dissertation aims to explore the entity characteristics associated with the implementation of the board-level stand-alone risk management committee (RMC) in South Africa. We developed a battery of econometric models based on triangulation of corporate governance theories which linked an entity’s decision to set up a separate risk management committee (RMC) in its board structures as a dependent variable and a host of entity-specific factors as independent variables. Data collected from audited annual reports of 181 JSE-listed non-financial entities was analysed using logistics regression estimation procedures. Our results show a strong positive relationship between the likelihood that an entity would establish a separate RMC, on the one hand, and board independence, board size, entity size, and industry type, on the other. Our study fails to find support for the hypothesis that an entity’s characteristics – such as the independence of the board chairman, the use of Big Four audit firms, financial reporting risks, and levels of financial leverage – do influence an entity’s decision to form a separate RMC. Our findings emphasize the role that information asymmetry between executive and non-executive directors, agency cost and potential damage to reputation capital of directors; diversity in background, expertise, and skills of directors; economies of scale in absorbing RMC costs; and industry-specific institutions and norms play in an entity’s decision to form a separate RMC. The implication of our findings is that policy-makers should consider the size and composition of boards and also take cognizance of entity size and industry-specific idiosyncrasies in setting recommended corporate governance practices.

Using data from twelve countries in the European Union over a 13-year period (2002-2015) with 9,707 observations, the effect of multinationality and the crisis on cash holdings is examined in a European setting. Both firm and country characteristics of firms are taken into account. This research contributes to the fields of risk management in the area of cash holdings and multinationality. Findings suggest that the cash ratio of companies is not significantly related to multinationality or the financial crisis. Moreover, findings show that, when taking determinants of cash holdings into account, Dutch firms have significantly higher cash holdings than eight out of eleven countries in the sample.

Limitations of Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) continue to present inconsistent empirical results despite its rm mathematical foundations provided in recent studies. In this thesis, we examine how estimation errors of the CAPM could be minimized using the cross-validation technique, a concept that is widely applied in machine learning (CV-CAPM). We apply our approach to test the assumption of CAPM as a well-diversified portfolio model with data from S&P500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). Our results from the CV-CAPM validate that both S&P500 and DJIA are well-diversified market indices with statistically insignificant variation in unsystematic risks during and after the 2007 financial crisis. Furthermore, the CV-CAPM provides the smallest root mean square errors and mean absolute deviations compared to the traditional CAPM.