This thesis seeks to examine the status of retail investors’ protection in the Hellenic legal order, under the light of EU law; focusing on investment firm failure as a result of tort, it investigates whether the EU and Hellenic normative systems aim at and achieve effective protection of retail investors. It explores in particular the issue of ex lege liability of compensation schemes and the issue of non-contractual liability of supervisory authorities. In case of intermediary failure the minimum protection is awarded by EU law in the form of ex lege compensation does not establish a coherent system, and the legal status of retail investors vis-à-vis depositors remains uncertain in many respects. The ECJ has denied application of the acquis on individual protection to depositors in Peter Paul, with regard to non-contractual liability of supervisors, but the application of its reasoning in the area of investment services is doubtful. The new EU finance law and architecture does not fundamentally affect these conclusions. On the other hand, retail investor protection may validly be considered as an autonomous aim of finance law in the Hellenic legal order. Despite inefficiencies connected also to the structure of relevant EU rules transposed, and despite the incoherence of the various national rules on the liquidation of financial intermediaries and the operation of compensation schemes –in particular with regard to claim verification– yet effective protection of retail investors may a priori be achieved through the existing national judicial mechanism. This dynamic is demonstrated by recent case-law on protection of retail investors in the context of ex lege compensation; yet it seems to lessen in the area of non-contractual liability of supervisors. Even though ex lege immunity of supervisors has been denied by case-law, the effectiveness of protection has been mitigated by the strict substantive criteria formulated.

The rise of social media and the “retail investor” has completely shifted the investing landscape. A new paradigm has been created where people have easier access than ever to invest in the stock market from the convenience of their phones. This is accomplished through zero-commission trading apps, like Robinhood, meaning less starting capital is required. This research is used to investigate the relationship between the frequency of social media mentions on Twitter and a particular stock’s volatility. It is hypothesized that Twitter mentions will affect stock volatility. This will be done using the qualitative data analyzing tool AtlasTi to calculate the frequency in which a particular stock ticker is mentioned on Twitter during trading hours. Using AtlasTi, the number of mentions for twenty-eight individual stocks was monitored twice a day for twenty total trading days, or approximately one month. This resulted in forty individual time frames of data, or 1,120 total data points. The volatility of the stock will then be calculated using data from Yahoo! Finance. Using panel data analysis, the number of stock mentions on Twitter will be cross-checked with the volatility of the correlating stock under the same time period to evaluate the relationship between the two variables. While our final analysis has not yet been calculated, it is expected that our results will show a relationship between heavily mentioned stocks and increased volatility. It is intended that our research will aid future investors when making decisions on how to invest in assets heavily mentioned on social media.

This diploma thesis investigates investment certificates for retail investors. The first chapter defines investment structured certificates. The second chapter is about availability of investment certificates for retail investors in the Czech Republic. The objectives of this chapter are a description of a present offer of securities dealers in the Czech Republic, a specification of decision criterions in choosing an online broker and a comparison of selected companies from a point of view of a client. Third chapter summarizes advantages and risks which are connected with investment certificates. The fourth chapter deals with a classification of structured products from various aspects and structures of investment certificates which are the most traded on the German exchange Scoach in Frankfurt. The aim is to provide an overview of each type of the investment certificate which contains description of specific parameters, structure and possible pay-off at maturity of investment certificate considering an underlying asset. The final part illustrates in practice one of more possible methods how to choose appropriate investment certificates. There is presented a process which is subsequently more described and applied on a demonstrative example of a hypothetical retail investor. The goal of the diploma thesis is comprehensively acquainted with investment certificates the reader, and shows one of the possible ways of picking appropriate investment certificates for an investor with a risk neutral profile.

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to analyze investors as well as analysts' views on the development of technology in Automated Trading recommendations in the stock market. Theoretical framework: The study is based on The Efficient Market Hypothesis. Method: The methodological framework of this thesis have included both a quantitative and qualitative approach. A deductive approach has been used. Empirical framework: Data was obtained from 206 members of the Swedish share savers association (Aktiespararna) plus 4 semi-structured interviews with advisers and analysts. Analysis: Data shows average investors do not trust, and are reluctant to take advice, from Robo-advisors but higher percentage of technically savvy traders rely on Robo-advisors. Most analysts perceive no threat to robo-advisor replacing their job. In fact they believed it could replace advisors job. Advisors believed the opposite. Conclusion: 67 % of the investors surveyed believed that in five years Roboadvisors will completely replace human advisors despite the fact that 82 % still liked and trusted recommendations made by humans more. Financial operators see Robo-advisors as a tool rather than threat and plan to integrate it in their own business.

Using paired tests of high and low minimum investment group funds on several performance measures for hedge funds and funds-of-funds from 1991-2005, we find that funds imposing a higher entry fee requirement on their investors produce significantly better performance both on a raw basis and a risk-adjusted basis. Differences in the performance of the high and low entry fee funds are found to be less significant economically and statistically in later years, suggesting a diminishing gap in performance differences. We also find that there is considerably more cross-sectional dispersion in investing in funds with lower minimum investment levels, which indicates a much higher level of fund selection risk for undiversified investors desiring investment in funds with low entry fee barriers. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2008-12-21 23:57:11.475

A new paradigm in investing has been created where people have easier access than ever to invest in the stock market from the convenience of their phones. Through zero-commission trading apps, like Robinhood, less starting capital is required. This research is used to investigate the relationship between the frequency of social media mentions on Twitter and a particular stock’s volatility. This will be done using the qualitative data analyzing tool AtlasTi to calculate the frequency in which a particular stock ticker is mentioned on Twitter during trading hours. The volatility of the stock will be calculated using data from Yahoo! Finance. Using a panel data analysis, our evaluation reveals that there is a statistically significant relationship between the number of Tweets both one and two days before and the volatility of the stock based on percent change. Additionally, there is a statistically significant relationship between the number of Tweets the day before and the volatility of the stock based on volume traded. It is intended that our research will aid future investors when making decisions on how to invest in assets heavily mentioned on social media.

We find that the first investment of a private investor in an IPO affects the private investors future participation in IPO’s. This paper examines Nasdaq Stockholms Main list during 2010-2019. The short- and long-term perspective is examined by two different models. The results show that there is a significant difference between private investors when it comes to participating in future IPO’s, depending on if the private investor experienced a good or bad IPO. The result in this paper show that approximately a third more private investors participate in the upcoming IPO after they experienced a good IPO. In a longer perspective approximately 50% of the investors who experienced a good IPO choose to invest in at least one more IPO.  Out of the private investors who experienced a bad IPO, approximately 30% choose to participate in another IPO. This paper contribute to a better understanding of how private investors are affected by their earlier investments.

Intresset för att handla med värdepapper har under senare år ökat succesivt bland svenska hushåll. För banker innebär detta en möjlighet till att öka intäkterna, men på grund av att bankerna verkar i en konkurrensintensiv bransch behöver bankerna arbeta proaktivt för att bemöta kundernas preferenser. Tidigare forskning har framhävt att bankens varumärke, relativa prissättning och digitala användarvänlighet är framträdande faktorer vid kundens val av bank i allmänhet. I denna studie appliceras dessa faktorer och testar deras påverkan för kundens val av bank för värdepappershandel. För att testa faktorernas påverkan har en kvantitativ studie genomförts via en internetenkät som resulterade i empiriska data från 130 respondenter. Resultatet har sedan presenterats genom statistiska metoder för att sedan analyseras. Resultatet som presenteras påvisar att bankernas relativa prissättning är en påverkande faktor till kundens val av bank för värdepappershandel. Däremot kunde resultatet inte påvisa att varumärke och användarvänlighet har en påverkan på kundens val av bank för värdepappershandel vilket gör att resultatet för denna studie skiljer sig från vad tidigare forskning påvisat för kundens val av bank. För att kunderna skall välja banken för att bedriva värdepappershandel är det en god idé för bankerna att arbeta kostnadseffektivt för att kunna erbjuda låga priser och således bli konkurrenskraftiga inom värdepappershandeln. / The interest in trading in securities had increased gradually in recent years among Swedish households. For banks, this means an opportunity to increase revenues, but due to the fact that banks operate in a competitive industry, the banks need to work proactively to meet customer preferences. Previous research has emphasized that the bank’s brand, relative pricing and digital user-friendliness are prominent factors in the customer’s choice of bank in general. In this study, these factors are applied to test their impact on the customer’s choice of bank for securities trading. To test the influence of the factors, a quantitative study was conducted through an internet survey which resulted in empirical from 130 respondents. The results are presented using statistical methods and are thereafter analyzed. The results presented show that the banks’ relative pricing is a determining factor in the customer’s choice of bank for securities trading. However, the results could not show that brand and user-friendliness have a significant impact on the customer’s choice of bank for securities trading, which means that the result for this study differ from previous research findings for customer’s choice of bank. In order for customers to choose the bank to conduct securities trading, it is a good idea for the banks to work cost-effectively to be able to offer low prices and thus become competitive in securities trading.

In the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, the European Union has devised a sustainable finance strategy that relies on the engagement of both institutional and private investors in responsible investing to deliver on those goals. Several studies have found high interest in responsible investing among retail investors, but a relatively low engagement therein. Research up to this point on the responsible investing experience of retails investors has not established a clear cause for the gap between interest and engagement and has particularly neglected the increasingly popular investment type of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This thesis therefore aims to shed light on the obstacles that prevent retail investors from investing in responsible ETFs. The research is organized by a five-stage framework for the responsible ETF investing process that identifies potential obstacles in the first three process stages problem recognition, information search, and evaluation of alternatives. An empirical analysis was performed by means of an online survey of European retail ETF investors and non-ETF investors (n = 101). The results indicate that the majority of retail investors experience a gap between their interest and engagement in responsible ETF investing. The most difficult stage of the responsible ETF investing process appears to be the evaluation of alternatives. Incomparability of information on responsible ETFs and a lack of labels and standardization present obstacles that impair investors’ ability to evaluate different options for responsible ETFs. The incomparability of information can be ascribed to the divergence of environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings. The survey further found a high support among ETF investors for the planned standardizations and regulations by the EU and increased willingness to invest in responsible ETFs if these measures are implemented. These findings emphasize the role of regulations in facilitating responsible investing and pave the way for more comprehensive studies on the information needs and obstacles of European retail ETF investors. / Inom ramen för målen för hållbar utveckling och Parisavtalet har Europeiska unionen utformat en hållbar finansstrategi som bygger på att både institutionella och privata investerare engagerar sig i ansvarsfulla investeringar för att uppnå dessa mål. Flera studier har visat stort intresse för att göra ansvarsfulla investeringar bland privatinvesterare, men ett relativt lågt engagemang däri. Forskning som är aktuell om privatinvesterare erfarenheter har inte visat någon tydlig orsak till klyftan mellan intresse och engagemang och har särskilt försummat den alltmer populära investeringstypen av börshandlade fonder (ETF). Avhandlingen syftar därför till att belysa de hinder som hindrar privatinvesterare från att investera i ansvarsfulla ETF:er. Forskningen är organiserad av ett femstegsramverk för den ansvarsfulla ETF-investeringsprocessen som identifierar potentiella hinder i de tre första processtegen för problemigenkänning, informationssökning och utvärdering av alternativ. En empirisk analys utfördes med hjälp av en online-undersökning av europeiska ETF-investerare och icke-ETFinvesterare (n = 101). Resultaten visar att majoriteten av privatinvesterare upplever ett gap mellan deras intresse och engagemang för ansvarsfull ETF-investering. Det svåraste steget i den ansvariga ETF-investeringsprocessen verkar vara utvärderingen av alternativ. Ojämförbarheten mellan information om ansvarsfulla ETF:er och brist på klassificering och standardisering utgör betydande hinder som försämrar investerarnas förmåga att utvärdera olika alternativ för ansvariga ETF:er. Informationens ojämförbarhet kan tillskrivas skillnaderna mellan miljömässiga, sociala och styresmässiga (ESG) betyg. Undersökningen fann vidare ett stort stöd bland ETF-investerare för EU:s planerade standardiseringar och regler och ökad vilja att investera i ansvarsfulla ETF om dessa åtgärder genomförs. Dessa resultat  betonar regelverkets roll för att underlätta ansvarsfulla investeringar och banar väg för mer omfattande studier om informationsbehov och hinder för europeiska ETF-privatinvesterare.