Spinoffs are an increasing phenomenon on the Swedish stock market. In this report one can read about factors that trigger spinoffs as well as about the short and medium term risk and return that spinoffs yield. I have observed 17 pre-spinoff companies that become 34 post-spinoff companies which continued to be traded on the stock market. For the purpose of the investigation I use time-series regression, and my model is the sin-gle-factor market model. I use this model to estimate the beta and the firm specific factor. Supporting theories are: efficiency, portfolio theory, valuation method and asymmetry all those topics are central parts in a spinoff. From my research I can not prove that spinoffs increase shareholders wealth. That means that the new units created through a spinoff are not more worth than the old corporation as such the new units do not outperform the old conglomerate structures expected return. However, the new units beta is not equal the old conglomerate structures beta, and this may due to change in capital structure. The weighted beta increase in half of the times, as such, it suggests a higher level of debt financing. By comparing the spinoff company and the parent company in the post-spinoff scenario it can be concluded that the company who is performing the best is also the riskier alternative and the spinoff performs better than the parent company in eleven out of seventeen times. There is also a correlation between risk and return - when higher return is observed it also brings higher risk, and it holds true in all samples except one. Further, at group level the spinoff group performs better than the market return and the spinoff group performs on average better than the parent group. Thus, if an outside inves-tor is to invest in either a spinoff company or a parent company one should buy the spinoff company at preferred weight according to the investors risk preferences.

This thesis investigates the theoretical and empirical relationships between a firm’s R&D investment intensity and the systematic risk of its common stock in Sweden. This is done by examining 38 Swedish firms between 1997 and 2005. An overlapping set of 5-year window is chosen to apply to calculate the variables of the samples. In this thesis, three factors are introduced as a proxy of main constituents of systematic risk: intrinsic business risk, degree of financial leverage and degree of operating leverage. And we use these three constituents to analysis the relationship between R&D investment and systematic risk. The results from Monte Carlos simulations and correlation analysis of our sample show that, in Sweden, firms with higher R&D intensity do face higher stock price volatility in the stock market. At the same time, we attempt to test the relationship among R&D and systematic risk’s three constituents, but find that R&D intensive firms have more financial leverage which is opposite to our expect, which might due to the shortage of data and limitation of our sample selection, and R&D intensive firms do not have obvious relations directly with intrinsic business risk, degree of financial leverage or degree of operating leverage.

This study examines whether different corporate real estate (CRE) strategies affect the stock outperformance and systemic risk of various companies. The sample of 443 listed companies of 17 industries in Taiwan during 2000 to 2010 was divided into four groups for the different corporate real estate strategies. The pairwise abnormal return and systemic risk of composite and business (without the affect from real estate market) series were empirically examined and compared using a partial adjustment model. This study also conducts the two-stage least squares procedure to determine whether four CRE strategies were considered diversifiable factors when evaluating the firm¡¦s value The results do not indicate an increasingly abnormal return performance associated with the company implementing a certain CRE strategy, but companies with a stable profession and consistent adjustment strategies are considered a good diversifier by stock investors. Aggressive adjustment strategies do not diversify the systematic risk to overall industry, otherwise the scale of total assets would be considered a diversification in companies with aggressive strategies. The companies using an aggressive profession strategy to increase leverage are regarded as risky phenomen for stock investors, and companies with stable profession strategies face higher systemic risk if their book value is greater than their market value. Therefore, this study determines that CRE strategies affect companies¡¦ systematical risk.

In order to get maximum profit, investors start to high attention on risk management after financial crisis in 2008. Therefore, risk management and predict become more and more complex. This paper mainly focuses on two risks, including non-systematic risk and credit risk. After financial crisis, countries pay more attention on credit risk, and now because of Europe debt crisis, investors and governments are also concerned with the messages about credit rating which are published by Credit Rating Agency. Besides credit risk, the firm¡¦s specific risk (i.e. non-systematic risk) is also more important than before. Recent empirical studies find that the stock is not on affected by systematic risk, but also affected by non-systematic risk. According to Kuo and Lu (2005), this thesis uses two models: Moody¡¦s KMV credit model and Markov regime switching model to estimate credit risk and non-systematic risk. The period is from January 2002 to November 2010. Testing samples are data from constituent stocks of the Taiwan 50. The purpose of this paper is researching the relationship between credit risk and non-systematic risk. The empirical results show that there is the positive relationship between non-systematic risk and credit risk. And among different industries, non-systematic risk or credit risk also shows the significant differences. For plastic industry and communications network industry, there is lower credit risk. However, for electronics industry and financial industry, there is higher credit risk. The study also found that even in the same industry, each company will face different risk level.

This thesis analyses the information content of inflation adjusted financial statements for investors and the informational value of accounting earnings and systematic risk in explaining stock returns in Turkey. Information content of inflation accounting is tested by using event study methodology. Results show that, contrary to 2002, there exist abnormal returns/(losses) in the period surrounding the announcement of 2004 financial statements. However, due to non-company specific political and economic conditions around the announcement days, we cannot precisely state that either the inflation adjustment or the political forces cause the abnormal price activity at the time of research. Second part of the thesis is based on the regression study methodology which shows the significance of accounting earnings and firms&rsquo / systematic risk in explaining stock returns, in different economic conjectures. Results show that earnings have informational value for 2003 and 2004 fiscal years while systematic risk is significant in the period before 2003. This may imply that earnings become significant in good periods of the economy while the systematic risk becomes significant when the economy is in recession or recovery periods.

<p>Spinoffs are an increasing phenomenon on the Swedish stock market. In this report one can read about factors that trigger spinoffs as well as about the short and medium term risk and return that spinoffs yield. I have observed 17 pre-spinoff companies that become 34 post-spinoff companies which continued to be traded on the stock market.</p><p>For the purpose of the investigation I use time-series regression, and my model is the sin-gle-factor market model. I use this model to estimate the beta and the firm specific factor. Supporting theories are: efficiency, portfolio theory, valuation method and asymmetry all those topics are central parts in a spinoff.</p><p>From my research I can not prove that spinoffs increase shareholders wealth. That means that the new units created through a spinoff are not more worth than the old corporation as such the new units do not outperform the old conglomerate structures expected return. However, the new units beta is not equal the old conglomerate structures beta, and this may due to change in capital structure. The weighted beta increase in half of the times, as such, it suggests a higher level of debt financing.</p><p>By comparing the spinoff company and the parent company in the post-spinoff scenario it can be concluded that the company who is performing the best is also the riskier alternative and the spinoff performs better than the parent company in eleven out of seventeen times. There is also a correlation between risk and return - when higher return is observed it also brings higher risk, and it holds true in all samples except one.</p><p>Further, at group level the spinoff group performs better than the market return and the spinoff group performs on average better than the parent group. Thus, if an outside inves-tor is to invest in either a spinoff company or a parent company one should buy the spinoff company at preferred weight according to the investors risk preferences.</p>

Business valuations have been an integral part of business for many years, and will stay an important part of business, as valuations are required for multiple reasons. The majority of businesses in South Africa (and the rest of the world) consist of privately-owned companies. A business valuation in general is a complex exercise that can be described as an inexact science. When the business valuation of a privately-owned company is added to the equation, the level of uncertainty is increased with another notch. The valuations of privately-owned companies are therefore a relevant topic. As unsystematic risk in privately-owned companies is difficult to eliminate or mitigate by diversification, this study sets the goal to determine if the advisory departments of the big four audit, tax and advisory firms in South Africa (Ernst & Young, PwC, KPMG and Deloitte & Touch) consider and incorporate unsystematic risk into valuations of privately-owned companies and if it is taken into account, whether it is done objectively. This study firstly focussed on the literature of privately-owned company valuations. The most frequently used approaches are found to be the market approach and the income approach. The asset approach is used to determine the minimum value of a company (the liquidation value). The topic of unsystematic risk is perceived as very much subjective and therefore receptive of manipulation. The second part of the study uses the mixed method approach to collect empirical data, using survey questionnaires and follow-up interviews (which are based on the literature review). It was found that the preferred valuation approaches used by the participants are indeed the income approach followed by the market approach. It seems that these two approaches are used in conjunction with one another. Incorporating unsystematic risk is done in line with what the literature proposes, but as professional judgement is needed, the process is never entirely objective. Participants tend to agree that the identification and quantification of unsystematic risk are not entirely objective and that it is possible to use unsystematic risk as a device to bring the final results of a valuation in line with the clients‟ objective. This study recommends that a professional valuation body should be formed to regulate valuations in South Africa. This body should set valuation standards. It is furthermore recommended that the asset approach is used as a reasonableness test when going concern companies are valued, and to consider the use of CAPM variants (e.g. modified CAPM, the local CAPM, the Build-up method etc.) and non-CAPM variants (Estrada model and the EHV model) to determine the cost of equity when the income approach is followed, as is suggested by the literature. The practical implication of the study is that the research can be used as starting point by role-players in the valuations sector to open the discussion on the topic formally so that valuation practitioners can engage with one another and work towards a professional valuation body and valuation standards. The limitations of the study are that only top-level employees were used as the representatives of firms and the population only includes the big four audit, advisory and taxation firms. Areas for further research include extending the population to three strata, viz. big four firms, medium-sized firms and small-sized firms. Comparative valuations on a case study can be performed by the different approaches of each stratum using unsystematic risk as the only variable (if themes are identified in strata). Conclusions can be made based on the outcomes of the valuations to determine the impact when different approaches are followed. / Thesis (M.Com. (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Business valuations have been an integral part of business for many years, and will stay an important part of business, as valuations are required for multiple reasons. The majority of businesses in South Africa (and the rest of the world) consist of privately-owned companies. A business valuation in general is a complex exercise that can be described as an inexact science. When the business valuation of a privately-owned company is added to the equation, the level of uncertainty is increased with another notch. The valuations of privately-owned companies are therefore a relevant topic. As unsystematic risk in privately-owned companies is difficult to eliminate or mitigate by diversification, this study sets the goal to determine if the advisory departments of the big four audit, tax and advisory firms in South Africa (Ernst & Young, PwC, KPMG and Deloitte & Touch) consider and incorporate unsystematic risk into valuations of privately-owned companies and if it is taken into account, whether it is done objectively. This study firstly focussed on the literature of privately-owned company valuations. The most frequently used approaches are found to be the market approach and the income approach. The asset approach is used to determine the minimum value of a company (the liquidation value). The topic of unsystematic risk is perceived as very much subjective and therefore receptive of manipulation. The second part of the study uses the mixed method approach to collect empirical data, using survey questionnaires and follow-up interviews (which are based on the literature review). It was found that the preferred valuation approaches used by the participants are indeed the income approach followed by the market approach. It seems that these two approaches are used in conjunction with one another. Incorporating unsystematic risk is done in line with what the literature proposes, but as professional judgement is needed, the process is never entirely objective. Participants tend to agree that the identification and quantification of unsystematic risk are not entirely objective and that it is possible to use unsystematic risk as a device to bring the final results of a valuation in line with the clients‟ objective. This study recommends that a professional valuation body should be formed to regulate valuations in South Africa. This body should set valuation standards. It is furthermore recommended that the asset approach is used as a reasonableness test when going concern companies are valued, and to consider the use of CAPM variants (e.g. modified CAPM, the local CAPM, the Build-up method etc.) and non-CAPM variants (Estrada model and the EHV model) to determine the cost of equity when the income approach is followed, as is suggested by the literature. The practical implication of the study is that the research can be used as starting point by role-players in the valuations sector to open the discussion on the topic formally so that valuation practitioners can engage with one another and work towards a professional valuation body and valuation standards. The limitations of the study are that only top-level employees were used as the representatives of firms and the population only includes the big four audit, advisory and taxation firms. Areas for further research include extending the population to three strata, viz. big four firms, medium-sized firms and small-sized firms. Comparative valuations on a case study can be performed by the different approaches of each stratum using unsystematic risk as the only variable (if themes are identified in strata). Conclusions can be made based on the outcomes of the valuations to determine the impact when different approaches are followed. / Thesis (M.Com. (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

This paper empirically explores how the introduction of Credit Default Swap (CDS) trading affects firm systematic risk. By treating the introduction as an event study and imploring propensity score matching and difference-in-differences analysis, this research finds that firm exposure to market risk increases after the introduction of CDS instruments, controlling for higher debt levels. These findings change, however, in times of financial crisis when the impact of CDS trading actually reduces systematic risk. These results show that CDS introduction enables a firm to more dramatically change its exposure to systematic risk in comparison to its counterpart to reflect market conditions.

<p>This thesis investigates the theoretical and empirical relationships between a firm’s R&D investment intensity and the systematic risk of its common stock in Sweden. This is done by examining 38 Swedish firms between 1997 and 2005. An overlapping set of 5-year window is chosen to apply to calculate the variables of the samples.</p><p>In this thesis, three factors are introduced as a proxy of main constituents of systematic risk: intrinsic business risk, degree of financial leverage and degree of operating leverage. And we use these three constituents to analysis the relationship between R&D investment and systematic risk.</p><p>The results from Monte Carlos simulations and correlation analysis of our sample show that, in Sweden, firms with higher R&D intensity do face higher stock price volatility in the stock market. At the same time, we attempt to test the relationship among R&D and systematic risk’s three constituents, but find that R&D intensive firms have more financial leverage which is opposite to our expect, which might due to the shortage of data and limitation of our sample selection, and R&D intensive firms do not have obvious relations directly with intrinsic business risk, degree of financial leverage or degree of operating leverage.</p>