Blockchain is a new type of shared ledger for distributing and keeping consensus on what constitutes a true state of a system. The implications of the technology, i.e. enabling almost trustless transactions between market participants, is a revolutionary idea, especially to financial markets. The Swedish fund market, being a fragmented and in some cases inefficient system of intermediating actors, is a potential use case for the new technology of blockchain. This report reviews and presents the technology underlying the new blockchain phenomenon, and its potential application to the Swedish fund market with a specific focus on the possible new trust dynamics in such a market. Blockchain could, by removing some of the inter-participant risks, disintermediate the communication between market actors in the Swedish fund market, possibly enabling a cost reduction related to fund unit administration and order handling. / Blockkedje-teknologi är en ny typ av distribuerad databas som med hjälp av kryptologi tillåter ett system av självständiga och icke-tillitande aktörer att gemensamt dela en databas. Implikationerna för teknologin, tillåtandet av näratillitslösa transaktioner mellan marknadsdeltagare, är revolutionära, speciellt finansmarknaderna. Den svenska fondmarknaden, som karaktäriseras av fragmenterade och i vissa fall ineffektiva system, är ett potentiellt appliceringsområde för den nya teknologin. Den här rapporten går över och presenterar den underliggande tecknologin för blockkedjor, och dess potentiella applikation på den svenska fondmarknaden, med ett specifikt fokus på hur appliceringen skulle förändra tillits-förhållandena på marknaden. Det konstateras att blockkedjor skulle b.la. kunna avveckla vissa mellanliggande aktörer på marknaden, och därmed möjliggöra kostnadsbesparingar kopplade till fondadminstration och orderhantering.

Yes / Extant literature shows the positive impact of institutional development on investor rationality and market efficiency. The authors extend this evidence by investigating the performance-flow relationship in the Chinese mutual fund market before and after the enforcement of the revised Law of the People’s Republic of China on Securities Investment Fund. Empirical evidence reveals that Chinese investors irrationally chase past star performers before institutional reform, but gradually become rational and less obsessed with star-chasing behaviors after reform. Moving one percentile upward in the relative performance among the star funds is associated with money inflows by 0.532% after reform, much lower than 1.433% before reform. The findings confirm the positive influence of institutional development on investor rationality and market efficiency. The successful experience can be borrowed by other emerging markets with less developed institutions. / National Social Science Foundation of China [grant number 15AJY019].

Between 1993 and 2016, the U.S. exchange traded fund (ETF) market has proliferated from one product worth $6.5 million USD to 1,455 products worth over $2 trillion USD. Despite its dramatic growth, the ETF market has yet to be the subject of sociological inquiry even though fields such as the social studies of finance have begun examining the origins of index derivatives (Millo 2007), options (MacKenzie 2006), hedge funds (Hardie and MacKenzie 2007), and foreign exchange markets (Knorr Cetina and Bruegger 2002). Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is to provide the first historical sociology of ETF innovation in the United States, using an approach inspired by the social studies of finance. This project empirically traces the emergence of the ETF by compiling an account of precursory strategies, concept development, regulatory negotiations, and early product marketing. The concept of agencement is used to frame the historical narrative of the ETF as a product of two distinct assemblages that formed in the U.S. between 1970 and 2000: first, the socio-technical integration between humans and their technologies that affected trading strategies, and second, the collaborative relationships that were formed between innovators and regulators. The mixed qualitative research consists of 36 interviews triangulated with archival records, documents sourced through Freedom of Information Act requests, private collections, and government files. Concluding analysis suggests that strategies foreshadowing the ETF began to emerge as early as the 1970s, and innovator-regulator collaborations were integral to early product qualification - a process not yet explored in literature on financial regulation.

Bakgrund: Utbredningen av dolda indexfonder har visat sig starkt relaterat till ett lands regelverk och avsaknad av konkurrens på fondmarknaden i form av uttalade indexfonder (Cremers et al. 2013). Då Sverige är ett av de länder som placerar sig i topp vad gäller utbredning av dolda indexfonder (Cremerset al. 2013), är detta remarkabelt med tanke på att Sverige har ett effektivt och välfungerande juridisktsystem (Heritage Foundation 2016). Detta har föranlett oss att undersöka förekomsten av doldaindexfonder i Sverige, samt identifiera och analysera möjliga orsaker till val av aktivitetsgrad utifrånsåväl yttre som inre faktorer. Syfte: Uppsatsen syfte är att med anledning av att det framkommit att dolda indexfonder är vanligt förekommande på den svenska fondmarknaden, undersöka aktivitetsgraden i svenska aktiefonder, samt identifiera och analysera möjliga orsaker till val av aktivitetsgrad. Genomförande: Studien genomförs med ett kvantitativt angreppssätt för att möjliggöra ett statistiskt säkerställt resultat kring aktiviteten på den svenska fondmarknaden. Aktivitetsgraden på den svenskafondmarknaden mäts, genom active share, för att sedan ligga till grund för tester angående hur olika karaktärsdrag påverkar en fonds aktivitet. Avslutningsvis undersöks hur studiens resultat kan kopplas till de spelregler som gäller på den svenska fondmarknaden. Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar på att drygt hälften, 52 %, av de påstått aktivt förvaltade fonderna under mätperioden 2005-2015, i själva verket är att betrakta som dolda indexfonder. Resultatet visar dock också på att det under mätperioden skett en kraftig förbättring av fonders aktivitetsgrad, samt att fler fonder förvaltas aktivt på den svenska marknaden. Fondens inriktning, såväl som om fonden är förvaltad av en storbank, har en signifikant negativ påverkan på fondens aktivitet. Det kan till stor del förklaras av att rådande regelverk och den svenska aktiemarknadens storlek, indirekt uppmuntrar fonder till en lägre aktivitetsgrad. / Background: The existence of closet index funds has been shown highly correlated to regulations andcompetition of explicit index funds on a market (Cremers et al. 2013). Despite its strong regulations andpresence of explicit index funds, studies have shown that Sweden has a high amount of closet indexfunds. This fact has led to our interest in examining the presence of closet index funds on the Swedish market, and to try to identify and analyze potential characteristics of a fund that affect its choice ofactivity rate. Aim: The aim of the study is, by reason of the proven high presence of closet index funds on the Swedish market, to examine the activity rate within the funds, and to identify and analyze potential characteristics that affects it. Completion: The study is conducted through quantitative research. The activity rate of the fund marketis measured through active share and then analyzed for how different characteristics influence the funds activity rate. Eventually the results of the study are being analyzed for if and how they are concatenated to the rules of the Swedish fund market. Conclusion: The result of the study shows that 52 % of the predicated actively managed funds were actually proven to be closet index funds. However, the result also shows that the degree of active share has generally risen, and that more funds are being actively managed in Sweden. The alignment of the fund, as well as if the fund is managed by a major bank, are proven to have a significant negative impactof the activity of the fund. This negative relationship is largely linked to the regulations as well as the size of the Swedish stock market, which creates incentives for low activity of the funds.

Denna uppsats undersöker om aktiv eller passiv fondförvaltning har presterat bättre under coronapandemin på den svenska fondmarknaden. Med hjälp av Refinitiv Eikon och Morningstar har vi hämtat relevant veckodata för 20 aktivt förvaltade fonder och 12 passivt förvaltade fonder mellan 2020-03-06 och 2022-02-11. Efter noggrann beräkning av de olika prestationsmåtten i Microsoft Excel kan vi konstatera att den passiva förvaltningen presterade bättre under coronapandemin men att detta inte är en garanti för framtida val av fonder under kommande kriser eller ekonomiska chocker. / This thesis examines whether active or passive fund management has performed better during the corona pandemic in the Swedish fund market. With the help of Refinitiv Eikon and Morningstar, we have collected relevant weekly data for 20 actively managed funds and 12 passively managed funds between 2020-03-06 and 2022-02-11. After careful calculation of the various performance measures in Microsoft Excel, we can state that the passive management has performed better during the corona pandemic, but this result is not a guarantee for future fund choices during future crises or economic shocks.

Several organisations and regulators around the globe are recognising warming as a systematic financial risk and investors have increasingly focused on assessing climate-change threats to their assets. In 2018, Morningstar launched a new designation for funds that take global warming into consideration, also called low-carbon funds. This thesis aims to provide relevant insight about the differences in performance and net capital inflow between low-carbon funds and traditional funds on the European market. Furthermore, with the help of statistical regression it was investigated whether low-carbon funds are less sensitive to price changes in different energy and environmental products, such as fossil fuels, electricity and carbon emission allowances, compared to traditional funds. The results suggest that low-carbon funds have been receiving greater compounded annual returns compared to traditional funds during 2018-2020. Furthermore, the annual returns were compared for each fund before- and after becoming a low-carbon fund. The results indicate that it has been more likely for funds to receive greater returns as they became accounted as low-carbon funds. In contrast, any significant difference in net capital inflows between low-carbon funds and traditional funds could not be verified. Finally, it was concluded that the price changes of the included energy and environmental products had no significant impact on the funds' returns. / Organisationer och tillsynsmyndigheter världen över ser den globala uppvärmningen som en systematisk finansiell risk och investerare har i allt högre grad fokuserat på att analysera dessa klimathot i sina tillgångar. År 2018 lanserade Morningstar en ny beteckning för fonder som tar hänsyn till den globala uppvärmningen, så kallade klimatsmarta fonder. Detta examensarbete har som mål att ge relevant information om de skillnader som råder i avkastning och kapitalinflöde mellan klimatsmarta fonder och traditionella fonder på den Europeiska marknaden. Med hjälp av statistisk regression undersöktes huruvida de klimatsmarta fonderna är mindre känsliga för prisförändringar hos olika energi- och miljöprodukter, såsom fossila bränslen, elektricitet och utsläppsrätter, jämfört med traditionella fonder. Resultaten tyder på att klimatsmarta fonder har haft en högre årlig avkastning jämfört med traditionella fonder under 2018-2020. Dessutom jämfördes den årliga avkastningen för varje fond före och efter det att den ansågs vara klimatsmart. Resultaten indikerar att det har varit mer sannolikt för fonder att få en högre avkastning när de klassifceras som klimatsmarta fonder. Inga signifikanta skillnader mellan klimatsmarta fonder och traditionella fonder kunde påvisas hos kapitalinflödet. Avslutningsvis drogs slutsatsen att prisförändringarna på de inkluderade energi- och miljöprodukterna inte hade någon betydande inverkan på fondernas avkastning.

Today fund matching is a natural part of Swedes finance and is a popular form of savings that includes a large number of investors in the Swedish fund market. This in turn generates an increased interest in how portfolio managers should locate and acquire knowledge in portfolio selection. This gives a greater interest in how different investment strategies can be affected and generate an investors wealth to an increased level within the stock market, which gives an increased focus to be able to generate as high risk-adjusted return as possible. The study partly presents traditional theory and background on modern portfolio theory and the efficient market hypothesis. Empirical studies also present within the financial market that demonstrate the differences of opinion between how actively versus passively managed funds have performed and which investment strategy is most beneficial for investment.  The purpose of the study is to compare realized return on active versus passive funds during long term, short term and specific time periods that had a lot of economic fluctuations, like bear markets. Within the study 10 actively managed funds and two index measures are selected to be studied and compared based on their respective performance, both within its rise and fall in the Swedish fund market. The performance measures will then be applied to be able to produce the results of the study and to be able to answer whether the active fund’s have any statistically significant over- and underperformance. After conducting single index models and t-test on the 10 active funds, the result of the study shows that despite using two benchmarks index, ten different active funds, long time period, short time period or specific time periods defined by market imbalance , we still resulted in many P-values that was not statistically significant. Active funds failed to overperform against passive funds, but passive funds also failed to outperform our selection of active funds.