As a part of the Swedish pension system all participants in the working population are given the control of an investment account, which is funded with their pension contributions. The purpose of the account is to allow everyone the possibility to tailor their pension investments in accordance with personal values about risk and expected returns. However, it is shown that many Swedish adults lack the knowledge needed to make informed financial decisions and are therefore at risk of hurting their pension when investing in these accounts. This thesis tries to identify whether a simple but effective investment criterion, namely the size of the management fee, can increase the probability of higher risk-adjusted returns for uninformed investors when participating in the Swedish pension plan. It uses the Graham-Harvey volatility matched approach to evaluate fund performance on an individual basis. The corresponding analysis is then conducted based on grouped statistics of the projected performance measures. The results indicate stronger risk-adjusted returns of low fee funds in two out of the three analyzed categories. Carhart computations of Jensen´s alpha is then used as a robustness check and it provides support for the results found using the Grayham-Harvey method. When testing for difference in performance using the entire sample, 1.2 percent higher risk-adjusted returns were concluded statistically significant in the sample of low fee funds.

<p>The review of the ethical funds literature shows the significant growth of the Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) in the last few decades. The increase of the interest towards SRI indicates that ethical issues have become more essential for the investors. However the number of surveys reveals that financial performance remains of an important concern for the socially responsible investors. Therefore the benchmark analysis of the expected returns and management fees of the ethical mutual funds is chosen as a topic for this thesis research. The risk-adjusted measures are used to analyze and compare the performance of the ethical and non-ethical mutual funds in United Kingdom. The analysis does not indicate the significant difference in the expected returns between the two groups of funds. However this study concludes that on average ethical funds charge higher management fees. Thus investing in ethical funds is more costly but gives about the same returns as investing in conventional funds.</p>

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The main purpose of this study is to study the 45 funds, divided into three differentdivisions, then the result will provide a greater understanding of how returns change with ahigher risk.</p><p><strong>Methodology:</strong> The study is based on a quantitative approach. The survey was conducted bygathering raw data from databases and secondary data from literature, printed and electronicsources.</p><p><strong>Theoretical perspectives:</strong> The study is based on the theory: the efficient markethypothesis, which argues that future returns can not be calculated as the market is fullyinformed. The study is therefore studying historical yields.</p><p><strong>Empirical foundation:</strong> Empirical data are acquired from www.morningstar.se, andtherefore also treated on this page. The material is then divided into documents and time axes.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> The study has shown that high-risk funds give a higher percentage returns thanmedium-and low-risk funds. However, does not imply a higher risk automatically earn ahigher return when the low-risk funds have shown a higher yield than medium-risk funds. Animportant factor to study when you are looking for the fund which generated the highest ROIis the Sharpe ratio. Although this study demonstrates that high-risk funds have a higherSharpe ratio than competing risk groups.</p>

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This research is based on native companies and underwriters¡¦ perspectives to discuss the advantages and decision making process of listing a company¡¦s stocks in Taiwan capital market or in oversea markets. It further analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of Taiwan and Hong Kong capital markets in legal and trading aspects, when also taking the costs into consideration. By analyzing the advantages/disadvantages of each capital market and the encourage policies of both governments, it illustrates the factors that influence a company to choose a favorable market in order to maximize its value. This research compares the following issues¡G A. The IPO regulations of Taiwan and Hong Kong capital markets B. The scales of Taiwan and Hong Kong capital markets C. The costs for IPO in Taiwan and Hong Kong capital markets By referring related articles, it induces the following results¡G A. Common benefits from IPO¡GMore convenient channels for fund raise, increasing international reputation, enhancing internal control system and management, brain gain, more Merger & Acquisition opportunities, and providing shareholders flexible financial planning. B. Planning IPO in local or foreign markets, a company¡¦s consideration would be different. The differentiation is mainly from¡G 1. different goals and strategies 2. different costs and benefits 3. different requirements and qualification for going public. C. The reasons for low management fee are¡G 1. Since underwriters mainly focus on capital gain, not management fee, there is not enough motivation for them to adjust the rate of management fee. 2. numerous underwriters result fierce price competition 3. management fee is related to industry/economy growth and recession 4. Investors might doubt whether the probability of their participating in security allocations is not equal to others. Last, this research provides the conclusion and recommendations. Via comparing these two capital markets, we look for the best solution to change the inferior position of Taiwan capital market and underwriters, and at least provide useful information for our government authorities, underwriters, and companies who are interested in going public in Hong Kong.

The review of the ethical funds literature shows the significant growth of the Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) in the last few decades. The increase of the interest towards SRI indicates that ethical issues have become more essential for the investors. However the number of surveys reveals that financial performance remains of an important concern for the socially responsible investors. Therefore the benchmark analysis of the expected returns and management fees of the ethical mutual funds is chosen as a topic for this thesis research. The risk-adjusted measures are used to analyze and compare the performance of the ethical and non-ethical mutual funds in United Kingdom. The analysis does not indicate the significant difference in the expected returns between the two groups of funds. However this study concludes that on average ethical funds charge higher management fees. Thus investing in ethical funds is more costly but gives about the same returns as investing in conventional funds.

Following the development and popularity of mutual funds among Swedish investors, the question of active fund management and return has become a central issue for private investors. 99 percent of the Swedish population invests in mutual funds, comprising a total net fund value of almost 2,000 billion SEK. The idea behind active management is for a charged fee, to generate a return higher than the return of the market. But statistics indicate a low level of competition between the largest providers and only one out of ten funds performs better than its index. Financial instability due to the last decade’s two recessions has indeed caused fluctuating performance of actively managed Swedish mutual funds. It has also spurred academics to investigate the role and effect of active management and attached management fees. The main purpose of this research is to investigate if there exist differences between the performance of benchmark indices and the performance of actively managed equity funds, balanced funds and money market funds provided by seven Swedish banks; Folksam, Länsförsäkringar, Handelsbanken, Nordea, SEB, Skandia and Swedbank. We also seek to investigate if the level of fee and total risk affect the fund performance. The research was deductively conducted with a quantitative method of inquiry. The ontological and epistemological positions are objectivism and positivism. Our sample of 21 Swedish mutual funds, with daily price observations was investigated between 2004 and 2011, with a division of four subperiods. To answer our research question and sub-questions, ten fictive portfolios were created and five hypotheses were formulated based on previous research and theories within the field. The data was analyzed with paired samples T-tests and multiple linear regression analyses. The portfolios included three risk-adjusted fund performance measures and Value at Risk.     We have concluded that on average both balanced funds and money market funds have performed worse than their benchmark indices in the period 2004 to 2011. The equity funds have also performed worse than their benchmark index but the difference is not statistically significant. The balanced funds had the highest return, the money market funds second highest return and equity funds the lowest return. Supported by the multiple regression analyses, we have concluded that fund performance is negatively related to the level of total risk in the period 2004 to 2011. There is no statistical relationship between fund performance and fund provider. We finally conclude that fund return during the entire investigation period, is negatively related to management fees.

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Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to study the 45 funds, divided into three differentdivisions, then the result will provide a greater understanding of how returns change with ahigher risk. Methodology: The study is based on a quantitative approach. The survey was conducted bygathering raw data from databases and secondary data from literature, printed and electronicsources. Theoretical perspectives: The study is based on the theory: the efficient markethypothesis, which argues that future returns can not be calculated as the market is fullyinformed. The study is therefore studying historical yields. Empirical foundation: Empirical data are acquired from www.morningstar.se, andtherefore also treated on this page. The material is then divided into documents and time axes. Conclusions: The study has shown that high-risk funds give a higher percentage returns thanmedium-and low-risk funds. However, does not imply a higher risk automatically earn ahigher return when the low-risk funds have shown a higher yield than medium-risk funds. Animportant factor to study when you are looking for the fund which generated the highest ROIis the Sharpe ratio. Although this study demonstrates that high-risk funds have a higherSharpe ratio than competing risk groups.

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this thesis is to give the investors a better understanding on how to interpret the costs of funds with performance fee with high-water mark and give some guidelines when comparing funds with different fee structures, i.e. mutual funds and hedge funds. Mathematical approaches – Two mathematical approaches are used in the study. The first approach is to describe the high-water mark contract as a partial differential equation, which has the characteristics of Black-Scholes equation. The second approach is to numerically simulate the evolution of a fund’s value. During the development of the fund’s value the cost of the fees are calculated and discounted. Findings – It is found that the expected cost of the performance fee with high-water mark, vary a lot. An example is when the volatility increases the expected cost of performance fee drastically raises while the management fee is unchanged. Another interesting finding is that the order of when the fees’ are charged affects the expected cost of the performance fee. Conclusion – The guidelines for the investor is to invest in a fund with a performance fee in low volatile markets and a fund with just the management fee in high volatile markets. Another impact is the time step which the high-water mark level is controlled. The investor wants these controls as infrequently as possible. If the controls are done at a daily basis the expected cost of the performance fee is higher than in a monthly control. It is also concluded that the Normanbelopp of a fund with a performance fee should not be trusted. Key-words: