Many studies have been published on active versus passive management, yet there was a significant gap in how Scandinavian-managed equity funds perform during intense crises, specifically the 2019-2023 period. The study investigated whether Scandinavian actively managed funds could achieve higher risk-adjusted returns than Scandinavian passively managed funds during two intense crises, Covid-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war. The efficient market hypothesis (EMH) was introduced to analyze markets' efficiency and help determine active managers' ability to outperform passive funds with market information. The data consisting of 95 funds was analyzed with a direct quantitative comparative analysis guided by objective ontology and positivist epistemology. To analyze the data over time, a cross-sectional time series was implemented to analyze patterns during the five-year period. The comparison between active and passive funds was performed with the risk-adjusted return, measured by the Sharpe ratio. Our findings showed consistent results that active fund management lacks a significant advantage over passive index funds in four out of five portfolios, aligning with our hypothesis. The results also support the EMH, suggesting that there is market efficiency. The findings provide implications for investors' decision-making process as the study contributes to the discussion on whether active or passive funds are the superior choice. During the period of 2019-2023, the optimal investment decision to achieve the highest risk-adjusted return was to invest in passively managed funds. While the research acknowledges behavioral aspects of fund managers during crises, future research should delve deeper into qualitative factors influencing the management strategy.

The interest for sustainable funds have increased recently. ESG has become a part of companies everyday life and SRI a part of the investment strategies used by equity funds. In lack of research in the field of mutual equity funds, we choose to investigate how investment strategies in “social responsible investment” (SRI) affect the risk-adjusted return. The study investigated 51 equity funds between 2014 and 2019 that had been reporting their sustainability strategies in the so called “hållbarhetsprofilen”. From this information portfolios were constructed based on the funds strategic work in comparison to conventional funds counterparts. Carhart fourfactor model were used to calculate the risk-adjusted return, the sharpe ratio to determine return in relation to the another measure of risk and the strandarddevation to calculate the total risk in each portfolio. The study concluded that all swedish equity funds worked with combinations of several SRI strategies to implement sustainable investment. In line with previous research our results show that funds managed with a strategy of low rate exclusion show a higher risk-adjusted return compared to strategys with higher exclusion rates. The conclusion though, after statistical testing was that the results could not be proven significant between the two groups of SRI-funds, meaning that we could not prove any difference in risk-adjusted returns between the groups. Further the results showed that the total risk-exposure between SRI and conventional equity funds, due to reduced diversification was not higher in SRI funds in comparison with their conventional peers. Nor did we find any evidence for ESG-integration to dampen total risk during the time for investigation. / Intresset för hållbara fonder har ökat på senare tid. ESG har blivit en del av bolagens vardag och SRI en del av förvaltarnas strategier. Då det saknas forskning inom området på aktiefonder har vi valt att undersöka hur investeringsstrategier inom “Socially Responsible Investment” (SRI) påverkar den riskjusterade avkastningen. Studien undersökte 51 stycken aktiefonder mellan 2014 och 2019 som hade rapporterat sina hållbarhetsstrategier via den så kallade hållbarhetsprofilen. Från denna information skapades portföljer beroende på fondernas strategiska arbete som sedan jämfördes med konventionella fonder som motsvarigheter. Carhart fyrfaktormodell användes för att beräkna den riskjusterade avkastningen, sharpekvoten för att utröna avkastning i förhållande till risken och standardavvikelsen för att beräkna den totala risken i portföljen. Slutsatserna av undersökningen blev att samtliga aktiefonder arbetar med kombinationer av flera hållbarhetsstrategier för att genomföra hållbara investeringar. I linje med tidigare forskning visade resultaten även att exkludering i låg grad uppvisar en högre riskjusterad avkastning jämfört med en högre exkluderingsgrad. Detta resultatet var dock efter statistiskt test inte signifikant, vilket i sin tur genererade slutsatsen att den riskjusterade avkastningen inte påverkades av i vilken grad fonden använde sig av negativ screening. Den totala risken påverkades varken av att SRI-fonderna i jämförelse med de konventionella fonderna haft sämre möjligheter till diversifiering eller att SRI-fondernas på grund av ESG-integrering kunnat minska risken.

Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2014. / The use of a Covered Call strategy has long been favoured by investors the world over for its potential to enhance yield in a long-only equity portfolio. There already exists a wealth of research examining the risk and return features and theories of this strategy. This paper aims to contribute to this debate by conducting research that is specific to the South African equity market and considered from the perspective of a retail investor, particularly by tracking the negative friction induced by transaction costs. It also seeks to answer the question of which Covered Call strategies provide the best risk-adjusted returns by pricing various expiry range and moneyness combinations over differing market trend phases during a 13-year period of trade on the JSE.

<p>The purpose of the thesis has been to explore the use of hedge fund styles when constructing portfolios of hedge funds (i.e. funds of hedge funds). The central question is if the use of hedge fund styles can significantly explain and improve risk adjusted returns (characterized by Sharpe ratios). The study has been done in collaboration with Optimized Portfolio Management AB who desire further knowledge and evaluation of hedge fund styles for their fund of hedge funds.</p><p>To be able to create successful ex ante portfolios we have explored various prediction models for both risk and return. Our findings indicate that return prediction is problematic using simple models such as regression since the risk exposure of the indices appear to change significantly over time. One can however using exponentially weighted moving averages (EWMA) achieve relatively promising estimations of future returns. </p><p>Covariance matrix estimation seems to be more straightforward. We have achieved promising results using both traditional EWMA models as well as improved estimators using principal component analysis.Covariance prediction models were evaluated separately using a minimum-variance portfolio optimization technique and provided a significant risk reduction compared to the aggregated hedge fund universe (represented by a naively diversified portfolio). Combinations of risk and return prediction models were evaluated using traditional mean-variance portfolio construction methods, which were optimized for Sharpe ratios. These provided a significant increase in risk adjusted returns relative to the aggregated hedge fund universe. The allocation is however discouraging due to serious instability over time.</p><p>Our findings indicate that there indeed is an advantage of taking hedge fund styles into consideration when constructing funds of hedge funds in a risk adjusted perspective. However, further research into return prediction needs to be done in order to stabilize portfolio allocation. An alternative seems to be tactical style allocation on a more fundamental analysis basis.</p>

The purpose of the thesis has been to explore the use of hedge fund styles when constructing portfolios of hedge funds (i.e. funds of hedge funds). The central question is if the use of hedge fund styles can significantly explain and improve risk adjusted returns (characterized by Sharpe ratios). The study has been done in collaboration with Optimized Portfolio Management AB who desire further knowledge and evaluation of hedge fund styles for their fund of hedge funds. To be able to create successful ex ante portfolios we have explored various prediction models for both risk and return. Our findings indicate that return prediction is problematic using simple models such as regression since the risk exposure of the indices appear to change significantly over time. One can however using exponentially weighted moving averages (EWMA) achieve relatively promising estimations of future returns. Covariance matrix estimation seems to be more straightforward. We have achieved promising results using both traditional EWMA models as well as improved estimators using principal component analysis.Covariance prediction models were evaluated separately using a minimum-variance portfolio optimization technique and provided a significant risk reduction compared to the aggregated hedge fund universe (represented by a naively diversified portfolio). Combinations of risk and return prediction models were evaluated using traditional mean-variance portfolio construction methods, which were optimized for Sharpe ratios. These provided a significant increase in risk adjusted returns relative to the aggregated hedge fund universe. The allocation is however discouraging due to serious instability over time. Our findings indicate that there indeed is an advantage of taking hedge fund styles into consideration when constructing funds of hedge funds in a risk adjusted perspective. However, further research into return prediction needs to be done in order to stabilize portfolio allocation. An alternative seems to be tactical style allocation on a more fundamental analysis basis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the difference in return between Swedish and Russian hedge funds while considering the risk taken. Method: This study is based on quantitative data on funds' historical returns from the electronic database Morningstar.se. Additional data is taken from the funds websites, the Swedish National Bank and Fondbolagens förening. Result and conclusion: All hedge funds, both the Russian and Swedish performed better thanthe index. The Russian hedge funds nevertheless performed better than their Swedishcounterparts in all three evaluation methods. / Syfte: Syfte med undersökningen är att granska skillnaderna i avkastning med hänsyn till riskenmellan svenska och ryska hedgefonder. Metod: Denna studie grundas på kvantitativ data om fondernas historiska avkastning från den elektroniska databasen Morningstar.se. Ytterligare data är hämtad från fondernas hemsidor, Riksbanken och Fondbolagens förening. Resultat och slutsats: Alla hedgefonder både de ryska och de svenska presterade bättre än index. De ryska hedgefonderna presterade dock bättre än de svenska i alla tre utvärderingsmåtten.

Bakgrund: Det rådande pensionssystemet i Sverige består av sex så kallade AP-fonder. Genom åren har pensionssystemet flertalet gånger kritiserats för dess låga avkastning. Problem: Vår huvudfråga är att jämföra AP-fondernas risk och avkastning med aktiemarknaden som helhet, detta ska ske med hjälp av två jämförelseindex: MSCI World och SIXRX. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att jämföra de fyra första AP-fondernas risk och avkastning med aktiemarknaden som helhet under åren 2002-2010. Metod: Vi har använt oss av en kvantitativ metod, genom att samla in information från AP-fondernas årsredovisningar och hemsidor. Vi har samlat in historisk data, som vi sedan har bearbetat och analyserat. Slutsats: De studerade AP-fonderna har presterat sämre än aktiemarknaden. / Background: The current pension system in Sweden consists of six so called AP-funds. Throughout the years the pension system has been criticized for its low return. Problem: We will compare the pension funds’ risk and return with the rest of the stock market as a whole. This will be done by the aid of two comparison registers: MSCI World and SIXRX. Purpose: Our purpose with the essay is to compare the pension funds in the Swedish pension system, their risk and return, with the share market as a whole. Method: We have used a quantitative method, by gathering information from the annual reports and relevant websites. We have also gathered historical data, which has been processed and analyzed. Conclusion: The studied pension funds have achieved lower results than the stock market market.

Bakgrund: De senaste åren har en stark underprissättningstrend observerats i det ökande antalet börsnoteringar, vilket har skapat ett starkt investerarintresse. En stor del av dessa nyintroducerade bolag är småbolag, varav de flesta noteras på mindre handelsplatsformer, så kallade MTF:er. MTF:en Aktietorget introducerade flest företag till den svenska aktiemarknaden 2010-2014, varför detta har valts till studiens undersökningsområde.Tidigare studier har bevisat att det finns en hög volatilitet i nyintroduktioner och småbolag, vilket i finansiella sammanhang betyder att en sådan investering är mer riskfylld. Dock saknas liknande studier på downside volatilitet, alltså risken för förlust. Denna studie ämnar därför att jämföra den traditionellt riskjusterade avkastningen i form av sharpekvoten, mot avkastningen justerad för downside risk, den så kallade sortinokvoten. Detta nyare mått på risk är en del av den postmoderna portföljteorin, som tar hänsyn till en mer förlustaversiv investerare. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att analysera den riskjusterade avkastningen i nynoteringar på Aktietorget för att jämföra med etablerade bolag på OMX Stockholm. Den riskjusterade avkastningen beräknas genom sharpe-respektive sortinokvoten och jämförs sedan för att undersöka eventuella skillnader i bedömningen av aktiernas prestation. Genomförande: Uppsatsen är en eventstudie med deduktiv ansats. Undersökningen har inkluderat nynoteringar på Aktietorget mellan 2010-2014 och jämförelseaktier består av branschindex från OMXSPI.Den riskjusterade avkastningen har beräknats via modifierade kvoter. Samband mellan sharpe-respektive sortinokvoten har undersökts genom icke-parametrisk rangordningskorrelation. Slutsats: Studien kan inte bevisa en signifikant abnormal avkastning i nynoteringar på Aktietorget, men observerar en genomsnittlig överavkastning upp till en månad. De riskjusterade kvoterna har mycket stark rangordningskorrelation, vilket innebär att studiens resultat inte kan motivera en fortsatt användning av sortinokvoten. / Background: In recent years, a strong underpricing trend has been observed in the increasing number of IPOs, which has created a strong investor interest. A large part of these IPO companies are small firms, most of which are listed on smaller trading venues, known as MTFs. The MTF Aktietorget introduced most companies to the Swedish stock market during 2010-2014, so it has been chosen as the area for this research.Previous studies have shown that there is high volatility in new introductions and small companies, which in financial terms means that such an investment contains more risk. However, similar studies on downside risk are lacking. This study therefore aims to compare the traditional risk-adjusted return in the form of the sharpe ratio, against the return adjusted for downside risk, the so-called sortino ratio. This newer measure of risk is part of the postmodern portfolio theory, which takes into account a more loss-aversive investor. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the risk-adjusted return in IPOs on Aktietorget and compare it with the return of established companies on OMX Stockholm. The risk-adjusted return is calculated by the sharpe and sortino ratios, respectively, and are later compared with each other to investigate possible differences in the estimation of performance for the stocks. Methodology: This paper is an event study with a deductive approach. The study has included IPOs on Aktietorget between 2010-2014 and comparative stocks, consisted of industry index from OMXSPI.The risk-adjusted return has been calculated using modified ratios and the relationship between the sharp and sortino ratios has been investigated by non-parametric ranking correlations. Conclusion: The study can't prove any significant abnormal return in IPOs on Aktietorget, but observes an average excess return of up to one month. The risk-adjusted ratios have very strong rank correlation, thus empirical results can't motivate the continued use of the sortino ratio.

Bakgrund: Både aktieinvesteringar samt fastighetsinvesteringar har blivit populära investeringsalternativ hos den svenska befolkningen. Låga bostadsräntor och nya förmånliga aktiesparformer har bidragit till ett gynnsamt investeringsklimat på både fastighetsmarknaden och aktiemarknaden. Trots osäkerheter relaterade till utbrottet av coronapandemin nådde båda marknader rekordhöga prisnivåer under 2020 och förväntningarna på marknaderna har varit fortsatt höga. Eftersom det saknas tidigare studier på den svenska marknaden kring vilken investering som faktiskt har varit den mest lönsamma samt hur korrelationen ser ut mellan tillgångarna är detta av intresse att studera. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att jämföra den riskjusterade avkastningen mellan en aktieinvestering och en bostadsrättsinvestering under olika tidsperioder samt studera korrelationen mellan dessa två tillgångar på lång sikt och under coronapandemin.  Metod: Studien har genomförts med en kvantitativ metod samt en deduktiv ansats. Månadsdata för aktieindexet OMXSPI samt prisdata för bostadsrätter på den svenska marknaden har inhämtats för tidsperioden 2011–2020. Den riskjusterade avkastningen och korrelationen har beräknats för att undersöka eventuella skillnader mellan de två tillgångsslagen. Slutligen har signifikanstester gjorts på resultatet och regressioner har genomförts för att analysera sambandet mellan volatilitet och avkastning. Slutsats: Resultatet visade inte på någon signifikant skillnad mellan de två tillgångsslagens avkastning. OMXSPI visade dock på en högre riskjusterad avkastning än bostadsrätter för alla de studerade tidsperioderna. På lång sikt var korrelationen mellan de två tillgångarna starkt positiv och det gick även att se en förstärkt korrelation under coronapandemin. / Background: Stock- and real estate investments are both investments that have become very popular in Sweden. Low mortgage interest rates and new affordable ways to invest in stock have created an investment friendly climate for both the real estate market and the stock market. Despite uncertainties related to the outbreak of the covid-pandemic, both the realestate market and the stock market reached record high levels in 2020 and the expectations on the market have been continuously high. There is a research gap on the Swedish market regarding which investment is the most profitable and how the two investments correlate witheach other, making it a relevant subject to study. Purpose: The purpose with this essay is to compare the risk-adjusted return between an investment in stock and an investment in real estate and study the long-term correlation between these two investments, and the correlation during the covid-pandemic. Methodology: The study was conducted through a quantitative method and a deductive approach. Monthly data for the stock index OMXSPI and real estate price data from the Swedish market were gathered for the time period 2011-2020. The risk-adjusted return and the correlation was calculated to study potential differences between the two investments. Finally, the results were statistically tested, and regressions were conducted to analyze the relationship between volatility and return. Conclusion: The result did not show any significant difference between the return of the two asset classes. However, OMXSPI did show a higher risk-adjusted return than the real estate index for all studied time periods. The correlation between the two asset classes was strongly positive in the long term and it was also possible to see an increased correlation during the covid-pandemic.

The thesis examines the strategy of country momentum and is evaluated with 30 different country exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the period 1996-2018. The empirical evaluation is designed to apply different formation- and holding periods with overlapping portfolios. The results show positive momentum returns in various periods and a few portfolios present a higher average return than the market. However, none of the portfolios is presenting any significant positive returns or alphas, meaning that the three hypotheses cannot be rejected. On the other hand, some portfolios have higher Sharpe ratios and Morningstar value than the market. Thus, meaning that the individual investor could prefer the momentum portfolio over the market despite the insignificant returns.