In society today large corporations are striving to regain the trust, which has been lost dur-ing the many accounting scandals that occurred lately. As a response to minimize the con-flicts countries have introduced codes of corporate governance. It is common knowledge that a company’s stakeholders and shareholders have different knowledge and interest in the company and the annual report is the agent’s main communication channel towards the principals. The Swedish code of corporate governance was implemented in July 2005 in an attempt to reduce the information gap between the managers of the company and the own-ers. The purpose of this thesis is to examine if and how the Swedish code of corporate govern-ance has affected the content in annual reports in Sweden. We will evaluate and explain why listed companies have changed the information provided in their annual reports from the year 2001 prior to the codes existence, during the code’s implementation in year 2005, and after the implementation in 2006. A deductive method created our research model, which was used as a tool to gather the empirical findings. Agency Theory, Institutional Theory and the Swedish code constitute the foundation for our evaluation of 65 companies’ annual reports from three individual years. Once our research model was created, an explorative and inductive method was used analyse and interpret the empirical findings. Our conclusion is that corporate governance information in annual reports has increased, and the implementation of the Swedish code of corporate governance has affected the in-formation provided to the shareholders. Between 2001 and 2005 a rapid growth in infor-mation can be view, while only minor improvement can be found between 2005 and 2006. The Swedish code has been successful in its implementation as stakeholders and share-holders have received more information from the annual reports. However, we are ques-tioning the Swedish code for its extensive dimensions. Some areas of the Swedish code are provided with sufficient guidelines, while others would bring with it improved information to the shareholders by more detailed instructions. Many of the investigated companies have had their corporate governance information reviewed by an external auditor in 2005 and it is unexpected to see that this has been excluded in 2006. The examined companies provide information regarding many of the Swedish code’s rules, but we found the information re-lated to internal control, managing director and attendance at the general meeting insuffi-cient.

Abstract The OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm requires all large companies to apply the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance. A revised code will be applied from July 2008. The purpose of this paper is to identify the accessibility of information on corporate governance and in particular how the compliance, concerning the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance in the perspective of an internet active general public. This paper is a complete census of the companies at the OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm who complies with the code. Each company website has been visited and a comparison between the sectors at the OMX Exchange Stockholm has been performed. Results: 96% of the companies present the members of the nomination committee. 94% presents the nomination committees proposal of the company board members, though only 33% of the companies in the Energy sector. 37% of the companies present all of the facts according to the code about the proposed board members. The Materials- and Telecommunication Service sectors presents the facts in the most extent (100%). 88% of the companies presents the process for deciding on remunerations to members of the executive management, though only 33% of the companies in the Energy sector. 28% of the companies presents all of the facts according to the code about the remunerations to members of the executive management. 46% of the companies has a special section for corporate governance on the first page of the company website. The companies in the Energy- and the Health Care sectors have corporate governance on the first page more often then the other sectors. The Rezidor Hotel Group AB is the company that, according to the paper, best comply with the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance concerning accessibility for the internet active general public. Conclusions: The companies comply well with the code concerning the publicity of documents, but are being more careless when it comes to details. For an internet active general public who lacks knowledge about terms of corporate governance it can be complicated to get accessibility to information concerning corporate governance. The Energy sector more rarely presented facts according to the code but more often had a special section for corporate governance at the first page of the company website. / Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning är ett av noteringskraven på OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm för de stora bolagen. Nu presenteras en ny reviderad kod som ska gälla fler bolag. Syftet med uppsatsen är att se hur tillgängligheten av bolagsstyrning och i synnerhet efterföljandet av svensk kod för bolagsstyrning ser ut ur perspektivet från den internetanvändande allmänheten. En totalundersökning av bolagen som följer koden på OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm har genomförts. Studien har en kvantitativ ansats. Samtliga av bolagens hemsidor har besökts för att se hur de följer koden avseende vad koden föreskriver ska publiceras på bolagens hemsidor, därefter har en jämförelse gjort för att se om skillnader finns mellan de olika branscherna. Resultat: 96% av bolagen presenterar vilka ledamöter som ingår i valberedningen, 94% presenterar valberedningens förslag till styrelse, dock endast 33% av bolagen i energibranschen. 37% av bolagen presenterar samtliga av de uppgifter som koden föreskriver om de föreslagna ledamöterna. I störst utsträckning är det material- telekombranscherna som gör det (100%). 88% av bolagen presenterar principer för ersättning till ledande befattningshavare, dock endast 33% av bolagen i energibranschen. 28% av bolagen presenterar samtliga av kodens kriterier om ersättning till ledande befattningshavare. 46% av bolagen har en särskilt avdelning för bolagsstyrning på sin hemsidas förstasida. I störst utsträckning har energi- och hälsovårdsbranschen en sådan på förstasidan. Rezidor Hotel Group AB är det bolag som, utifrån hur undersökningen är utformad, bäst uppfyller kodens kriterier avseende tillgänglighet för den internetanvändande allmänheten. Slutsats: Bolagen uppfyller i stor utsträckning kodens regler om publicering av dokument, men slarvar med detaljerna. Som internetanvändande allmänhet som saknar förkunskaper kan det vara svårt att hitta information om bolagsstyrning. I branschjämförelsen märkte energibranschen ut sig för att de i lägre utsträckning än andra branscher publicerade uppgifter, men var samtidigt den bransch som i störst utsträckning hade en lättillkomlig avdelning för bolagsstyrning.

This paper has studied the relationship between free cash flow & debt with profitability of the Nordic Nasdaq large cap for the period of 2012-1017. Population of the study consists of 223 Nordic companies listed in Nasdaq. From this population a sample of 100 companies from different sectors have been chosen by random sampling, but the sample does not include financial institutions because the way these kinds of institutions are financing differ from companies in other sectors. Data has been collected from Eikon program which provides financial information about the listed companies around the world based on the company's audited financial statements. validity and reliability of the data have been checked to make sure the data are not wrong. In this study, free cash flow, debt to equity ratio & debt ratio are considered as independent variables and profitability of the firm has been considered as dependent variable. In addition, diversity of the companies based on the countries they are established in is considered as dummy variable. Profitability of the firms have been measured by return on asset. The research philosophy is positivism and the research approach is deductive. Based on a quantitative research in which secondary data has been analyzed by running the Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis. Result of the study revealed that; free cash flow has a positive effect on profitability of the Nordic Nasdaq large cap. In addition, the result of study showed that; debt ratio has negative effect on profitability of the targeted firms. But, the result showed that; the debt to equity ratio does not affect profitability of the firms. The result of running dummy variable revealed that; companies in Finland have 2,3 % lower return on assets compared with the companies located in Denmark. Also, the companies established in Sweden have a 2,3 % lower return on assets compared with Denmark.

Submitted by João Pissarra (joaopissarra1992@gmail.com) on 2014-10-24T15:54:30Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Final Report - TF - João Pissarra - 2014.pdf: 2484518 bytes, checksum: 69ae28f774d99221a6b0f7fe1e18da94 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luana Rodrigues (luana.rodrigues@fgv.br) on 2014-10-24T18:34:23Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Final Report - TF - João Pissarra - 2014.pdf: 2484518 bytes, checksum: 69ae28f774d99221a6b0f7fe1e18da94 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-24T18:52:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Final Report - TF - João Pissarra - 2014.pdf: 2484518 bytes, checksum: 69ae28f774d99221a6b0f7fe1e18da94 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-17 / Neste trabalho, eu analiso a eficiência de se aplicar estratégias que identificam tendências em mercados de capitais, em três países diferentes, usando um conjunto de variáveis macroeconómicas. Em cada país, a estratégia é testada contra os índices de grande capitalização, pequena capitalização e o índice principal. Eu concluo que, ao combinar os sinais diários obtidos pela estratégia, é possível alcançar retornos ajustados ao risco superiores e reduzir as perdas possíveis do portfólio. No geral, enfatizo os benefícios de usar estratégias que exploram tendências para investidores avessos ao risco, obtendo retornos característicos de capitais próprios com a volatilidade característica de obrigações. / In this work project, I analyze the effectiveness of applying trend following like strategies to three different country’s equity markets, using a set of macro variables. Within each country, the strategy is tested against the large, small and main stock exchange indexes. I find that by combining the different strategy’s signs is possible to achieve better risk-adjusted returns and reduce portfolio drawdowns levels. Overall, I emphasize the benefits of trend following investment style to a risk-averse type investor, achieving equity like returns with bond like volatility.

This study has examined the ten most shorted shares belonging to the Swedish Stockholm Stock Exchange's Large Cap list, by following randomly selected financial institutions that have chosen to take short positions. The purpose of the study is to investigate whether it is possible for short sellers to generate an excess return compared to the index OMXS30GI. The theory is mostly about short selling in general, efficient market hypothesis, behavioral finance, opponents of short selling, technical analysis of an index and the theory also includes previous research regarding short selling. The method used is based on collected secondary data from different databases. Via the secondary data, we have artificially followed randomly selected financial institutions that have glossed over and done the same as them to see if it can generate an excess return. In this study we will not take the cost associated with short selling into account which normally would be costs as margin interest, stock borrowing costs and commissions to brokers. The results show that it is possible for short sellers to generate an excess return that outperforms index OMXS30GI. We can also conclude that short sellers follow a pattern that indicates that they do not act in a way to destroy market efficiency and we can question whether the market is efficient or not.

Bakgrund: I och med att Basel II har instiftats i Sverige så måste finansiella institutioner beräkna sin marknadsrisk på sina portföljer. Detta kan göras genom olika VaR metoder. Dessa ger dock olika uppskattningar på marknadsrisken. De finansiella instituten får använda sig av den metod som de anser reflektera marknadsrisken bäst. Det finns dock ingen metod som utsetts till standard. Syfte: Syftet med detta arbete är att jämföra olika VaR-metoders skattning av marknadsrisken utifrån verkligt utfall, för att urskilja vilken metod som är funktionsdugligast. Avgränsningar: Denna undersökning inkluderar fyra olika VaR metoder. Dessa är Historisk Simulation, Delta-Normal, RiskMetrics och GARCH(1,1). VaR metoderna kommer att undersökas på portföljer som endast består av svenska aktier noterade på Stockholmsbörsens Large-, Mid- eller Small Cap lista. Metod: Vi har konstruerat fyra olika portföljer som vi sedermera har beräknat VaR för mellan 1998-04-01 t.o.m. 2008-04-01. Dessa uppskattningar har sedermera jämförts, m.h.a. backtesting, med det verkliga utfallet för portföljerna. Utifrån detta har vi analyserat vilken form av metod som är funktionsdugligast. Resultat, slutsatser: Vi kan konstatera att ingen av de metoder som vi har undersökt är godkända enligt vår backtesting. Om vi bortser från detta så verkar RiskMetrics vara funktionsdugligast då denna metod innehar få överträdelser och uppskattar marknadsrisken på ett effektivt sätt. Detta samtidigt som RiskMetrics är stabilast under hela undersökningsperioden.

<p>Bakgrund: I och med att Basel II har instiftats i Sverige så måste finansiella institutioner beräkna sin marknadsrisk på sina portföljer. Detta kan göras genom olika VaR metoder. Dessa ger dock olika uppskattningar på marknadsrisken. De finansiella instituten får använda sig av den metod som de anser reflektera marknadsrisken bäst. Det finns dock ingen metod som utsetts till standard.</p><p>Syfte: Syftet med detta arbete är att jämföra olika VaR-metoders skattning av marknadsrisken utifrån verkligt utfall, för att urskilja vilken metod som är funktionsdugligast.</p><p>Avgränsningar: Denna undersökning inkluderar fyra olika VaR metoder. Dessa är Historisk Simulation, Delta-Normal, RiskMetrics och GARCH(1,1). VaR metoderna kommer att undersökas på portföljer som endast består av svenska aktier noterade på Stockholmsbörsens Large-, Mid- eller Small Cap lista.</p><p>Metod: Vi har konstruerat fyra olika portföljer som vi sedermera har beräknat VaR för mellan 1998-04-01 t.o.m. 2008-04-01. Dessa uppskattningar har sedermera jämförts, m.h.a. backtesting, med det verkliga utfallet för portföljerna. Utifrån detta har vi analyserat vilken form av metod som är funktionsdugligast.</p><p>Resultat, slutsatser: Vi kan konstatera att ingen av de metoder som vi har undersökt är godkända enligt vår backtesting. Om vi bortser från detta så verkar RiskMetrics vara funktionsdugligast då denna metod innehar få överträdelser och uppskattar marknadsrisken på ett effektivt sätt. Detta samtidigt som RiskMetrics är stabilast under hela undersökningsperioden.</p>

Thesis (MScEng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Several studies have shown that abnormal returns can be generated simply by buying past winning stocks and selling past losing stocks. Being able to predict future price behaviour by past price movements represents a direct challenge to the Efficient Market Hypothesis, a centrepiece of contemporary finance. Fund managers have attempted to exploit this effect, but reliable footage of the performance of such funds is very limited. Several academic studies have documented the presence of the momentum effect across different markets and between different periods. These studies employ trading rules that might be helpful to establish whether the momentum effect is present in a market or not, but have limited practical value as they ignore several practical constraints. The number of shares in the portfolios formed by academic studies is often impractical. Some studies (e.g. Conrad & Kaul, 1998) require holding a certain percentage of every share in the selection universe, resulting in an extremely large number of shares in the portfolios. Others create portfolios with as little as three shares (e.g. Rey & Schmid, 2005) resulting in portfolios that are insufficiently diversified. All academic studies implicitly require extremely high portfolio turnover rates that could cause transaction costs to dissipate momentum profits and lead the returns of such strategies to be taxed at an investor’s income tax rate rather than her capital gains tax rate. Depending on the tax jurisdiction within which the investor resides these tax ramifications could represent a tax difference of more than 10 percent, an amount that is unlikely to be recovered by any investment strategy. Critics of studies documenting positive alpha argue that momentum returns may be due to statistical biases such as data mining or due to risk factors not effectively captured by the standard CAPM. The empirical tests conducted in this study were therefore carefully designed to avoid every factor that could compromise the results and hinder a meaningful interpretation of the results. For example, small-caps were excluded to avoid the small firm effect from influencing the results and the tests were conducted on two different samples to avoid data mining from being a possible driver. Previous momentum studies generally used long/short strategies. It was found, however, that momentum strategies generally picked short positions in volatile and illiquid stocks, making it difficult to effectively estimate the transaction costs involved with holding such positions. For this reason it was chosen to test a long-only strategy. Three different strategies were tested on a sample of JSE mid-and large-caps on a replicated S&P500 index between January 2000 and September 2009. All strategies yielded positive abnormal returns and the null hypothesis that feasible momentum strategies cannot generate statistically significant abnormal returns could be rejected at the 5 percent level of significance for all three strategies on the JSE sample. However, further analysis showed that the momentum profits were far more pronounced in “up” markets than in “down” markets, leaving macroeconomic risk as a possible explanation for the vast returns generated by the strategy. There was ample evidence for the January anomaly being a possible driver behind the momentum returns derived from the S&P500 sample. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Verskillende studies het gewys dat abnormale winste geskep kan word deur eenvoudig voormalige wenner aandele te koop en voormalige verloorder aandele te verkoop. Die moontlikheid om toekomstige prysgedrag te voorspel deur na prysbewegings uit die verlede te kyk is ‘n direkte uitdaging teen die “Efficient Market Hypothesis”, wat ’n kernstuk van hedendaagse finansies is. Fondsbestuurders het gepoog om hierdie effek te benut, maar akademiese ondersteuning vir die gedrag van sulke fondse is uiters beperk. Verskeie akademiese studies het die teenwoordigheid van die momentum effek in verskillende markte en oor verskillende periodes uitgewys. Hierdie akademiese studies benut handelsreëls wat gebruik kan word om te bepaal of die momentum effek wel in die mark teenwordig is al dan nie, maar is van beperkte waarde aangesien hulle verskeie praktiese beperkings ignoreer. Sommige studies (Conrad & Kaul, 1998) vereis dat 'n sekere persentasie van elke aandeel in die seleksie-universum gehou moet word, wat in oormatige groot aantal aandele in die portefeulle tot gevolg het. Ander skep portefeuljes met so min as drie aandele (Rey & Schmid, 2005), wat resulteer in onvoldoende gediversifiseerde portefeuljes. Die hooftekortkoming van alle akademiese studies is dat hulle portefeulleomsetverhoudings van hoër as 100% vereis wat daartoe sal lei dat winste uit sulke strategieë teen die belegger se inkomstebelastingskoers belas sal word in plaas van haar kapitaalaanwinskoers. Afhangende van die belastingsjurisdiksie waaronder die belegger val, kan hierdie belastingseffek meer as 10% beloop, wat nie maklik deur enige belegginsstrategie herwin kan word nie. Kritici van studies wat abnormale winste dokumenteer beweer dat sulke winste ‘n gevolg kan wees van statistiese bevooroordeling soos die myn van data, of as gevolg van risikofaktore wat nie effektief deur die standaard CAPM bepaal word nie. Die empiriese toetse is dus sorgvuldig ontwerp om enige faktor uit te skakel wat die resultate van hierdie studie sal kan bevraagteken en ‘n betekenisvolle interpretasie van die resultate kan verhinder. Die toetse sluit byvoorbeeld sogenaamde “small-caps” uit om die klein firma effek uit te skakel, en die toetse is verder op twee verskillende monsters uitgevoer om myn van data as ‘n moontlke dryfveer vir die resultate uit te skakel. Normaalweg toets akademiese studies lang/ kort nulkostestrategieë. Dit is gevind dat momentum strategieë oor die algemeen kort posisies kies in vlugtige en nie-likiede aandele, wat dit moeilik maak om die geassosieerde transaksiekoste effektief te bepaal. Daar is dus besluit om ’n “lang-alleenlik” strategie te toets. Drie verskillende strategieë is getoets op ‘n steekproef van JSE “mid-caps” en “large-caps” en op ‘n gerepliseerde S&P500 index tussen Januarie 2000 en September 2009. Alle strategieë het positiewe abnormale winste opgelewer, en die nul hipotese dat momentum strategieë geen statisties beduidende abnormale winste kan oplewer kon op die 5% vlak van beduidendheid vir al drie strategieë van die JSE monster verwerp word. Verdere analiese het wel getoon dat momentumwinste baie meer opvallend vertoon het in opwaartse markte as in afwaartse markte, wat tot die gevolgtrekking kan lei dat makro-ekonomiese risiko ‘n moontlike verklaring kan wees. Daar was genoegsaam bewyse vir die Januarie effek as ‘n moontlike dryfveer agter die momentum-winste in die S&P500 monster.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T21:00:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 4 Alex Futoshi Tanaka.pdf.jpg: 14145 bytes, checksum: 37f8902a745fb7b661585650891b6319 (MD5) Alex Futoshi Tanaka.pdf.txt: 118382 bytes, checksum: fe5ed7aa85965a165f2df875ae29311f (MD5) license.txt: 4886 bytes, checksum: d32d1a33c83956bd8f0eb87d283d398a (MD5) Alex Futoshi Tanaka.pdf: 385478 bytes, checksum: 8203b76ba07c71da04dd04b6bc617a35 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-02-04T00:00:00Z / Esse estudo tem como objetivo construir diversas carteiras com estratégias de investimento (investment styles) em ações baseadas em diferentes critérios quantitativos com o intuito de descobrir quais estratégias prevalecem sobre as outras em termos de retorno e risco da carteira no período de 1996 a 2007 no mercado brasileiro. A construção das carteiras é realizada para todas as empresas listadas na Bovespa no período citado. Há evidências de que a estratégia de valor preço/lucro (value PE) apresentou a melhor consistência nos resultados estatísticos, análise do índice Sharpe e na análise de rendimento entre as carteiras estudadas.

Since the beginning, it was Modigliani and Miller ́s theorem which initiated the capital structure aspect to finance. Capital structure explains in its essence the relationship between equity and leverage within a company. It also illustrates how the company has financed their business historically. Year 2013 Sweden imposed a reduction on its corporation tax from 26,3 percent to 22 percent. This study's purpose is to capture the impacts on listed firms on Stockholmsbörsen Large cap list and try to distinguish similarities and differences from the two time periods with well-established capital structure variables. Before and after the reduction in the corporate taxation. The conclusion is that firms are less likely to use leverage to finance their growth after the reduction in the corporation tax and are more prone to finance their growth with retained earnings preferably. However statistically no significant explanation can be done by the well-known capital structure variables.