Bakgrund: Det har i tidigare forskning visats att människor alltid påverkas av psykologiska fallgropar. Empiriska studier har tidigare genomförts med syfte att finna hanteringssätt att reducera psykologiska fallgropar. Vid litteraturstudien till denna uppsats påträffades dock ingen kvalitativ studie vilken berör hanteringen i praktiken varför det var av intresse att studera det genom intervjuer med svenska fondbolag. Då dessa empiriska studier till viss del utgått från praktiken vid skapandet av hypoteser gällande problematiken med psykologiska fallgropar var det även relevant att kartlägga på vilken kunskapsnivå svenska fondbolag befinner sig gällande behavioral finance som forskningsfält. Syfte: Denna uppsats syftar till att kartlägga och analysera svenska fondbolags kunskaper gällande behavioral finance som forskningsfält. Den ämnar även analysera om och i vilken mån hanteringssätt av psykologiska fallgropar, presenterade av tidigare forskning, i praktiken används av svenska fondbolag vid investeringsbeslut. Genomförande: För att uppnå uppsatsens syfte har ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt använts med utgångspunkt i åtta genomförda intervjuer med representanter från svenska fondbolag. Samtliga representanter har en övergripande insyn i hur fondförvaltningen går till på respektive fondbolag. Den insamlade empirin har dels analyserats utifrån en för denna uppsats framtagen analysmodell med syfte att kartlägga vart svenska fondbolag befinner sig kunskapsmässigt gällande behavioral finance, och dels utifrån tidigare empirisk forskning inom forskningsområdet. Slutsats: Uppsatsen lägger fram en ny hypotes vilken innebär att teoretiska förkunskaper om behavioral finance saknas i branschen samt att de hanteringssätt som används av svenska fondbolag till stor del inte reducerar psykologiska fallgropar. Det förklaras av att det till stor del inte finns stöd för svenska fondbolags hanteringssätt i tidigare forskningsresultat. / Background: Previous research has shown that people always are influenced by biases. Empirical studies have previously been conducted in order to find ways to reduce the biases. In the literature review for this thesis was however no qualitative study found which concerned the handling in practice, why it was of interest to study. Since the empirical studies, to some extent, have been based on practice when creating their hypotheses regarding the problem of biases, it was also relevant for this paper to survey the knowledge that Swedish fund companies currently have regarding behavioral finance as a research field. Aim: This paper aims to survey and analyse Swedish fund companies’ knowledge regarding behavioral finance as a research field. The paper also intends to analyse if and to what extent ways of handling biases, by previous research presented, in practice are used by Swedish fund companies when making investment decisions. Completion: To achieve the purpose of this paper, a qualitative approach has been used based on eight interviews conducted with representatives from Swedish fund companies. All representatives have an overall insight into how the fund management is done in respective fund companies. The collected empirical data has been analyzed partly on the basis of one, for this paper developed, analytical model with the aim to survey were Swedish fund companies are in terms of knowledge regarding behavioral finance, and partly on previous empirical research in the field of this research area. Conclusion: This paper table a new hypothesis which means that the industry lacks theoretical knowledge in behavioral finance and that the methods used by Swedish fund companies generally do not reduce biases. It is explained by the fact that a majority of the methods used by Swedish fund companies are not supported in precious research.

Socialt ansvarstagande investeringar har upplevt en substantiell ökning i popularitet de senaste åren i såväl den akademiska som den finansiella världen. Fondbolag har i sin position som investerare både möjlighet och incitament att förändra ett bolag inifrån och de kan välja att påverka detta bolag till en hållbar eller icke-hållbar riktning. Det saknas ett utomstående perspektiv som analyserar de strategier som fondbolagen tillämpar för att påverka som investerare, samt vilka incitament som ligger bakom arbetet för hållbarhet, det är detta som denna studie syftar till att undersöka. Detta arbete tar teoretisk utgångspunkt i forskning inom socialt ansvarstagande, hållbara investeringar, normers påverkan på institutioner samt management av fonder. Studien är kvalitativ och empiri har insamlats via semi-strukturerade intervjuer med representanter från tio svenska fondbolag. Intervjuer bedömdes vara ett adekvat tillvägagångssätt för att på djupet utforska hur fondbolagen utnyttjar sitt inflytande som investerare.I studien konkluderas att institutioner underkastas sociala normer och värdesätter att deras kapital placeras i hållbara investeringar. Institutioner är fondbolagens primära målgrupp och deras efterfrågan på hållbara investeringar är den primära drivkraften för fondbolagens arbete med hållbarhet. Studien visar att exkludering av oetiska bolag ur fondbolagens portfölj samt aktiv dialog med bolagen är de mest använda strategierna, minst förekommande är den inkluderande strategin. Studien konkluderar slutligen att fondbolagens arbete med hållbarhet är ett strategiskt val för att attrahera investerare. / Socially responsible investments have experienced a substantial increase in popularity in recent years in both the academic and the financial world. A fund company has, in its position as an investor, both the possibility and incentives to transform a company from the inside. They can influence the company to choose a sustainable or a non-sustainable direction. There is a lack of an outside perspective that analyzes the strategies that fund companies apply to influence as investors, and what incentives they have to work with sustainable investing, which is what this study seeks to explore. This thesis takes its theoretical foundation from research in social responsibility, the effect of social norms on institutions and management of funds. The study is qualitative and the empirical data was collected from semi-structured interviews with representatives from ten Swedish fund companies. Interviews were considered to be an adequate approach to deeply explore how fund companies utilize their influence as investors.In this thesis, we conclude that institutions are subjected to social norms and value that their capital is invested in a way that is socially responsible. Institutions are the fund companies’ primary target group and their demand for socially responsible investment is the primary driver for the fund companies’ work with sustainability. This study shows that the exclusion of unethical companies from the fund managers portfolio, together with an active dialogue with the companies are the most widely used strategies. The least common is the inclusive strategy. The study finally concludes that the fund companies’ work with socially responsible investing is a strategic choice in order to attract investors.

Background: In today's society, there is more pressure to be sustainable and not least in the financial world. Several agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, have been created to steer countries towards more sustainability. When it comes to the economy, several SRI strategies have been developed to serve the same purpose. However, the problem that emerges is that investors who invest sustainably and use these strategies can lose returns and thus depart from their main goal of maximizing profits.   Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how SRI strategies are used by investors when constructing their portfolios in terms of profit maximization. The paper will thus conclude if the underlying motivation behind the choice of strategy is affected by maximizing profit.   Method and implementation: By conducting a qualitative study and interviewing several fund managers at the largest banks and fund companies in Sweden, the authors aim to answer the research question. The answers provided by the respondents are presented and analyzed in the empirical section and linked to the study's theory.   Conclusion: In this study, there is clearly shown that by investing, according to SRI, a professional investor is still able to profit maximize. The authors, therefore, see that the new way of being rational as an investor is to include SRI strategies. The relationship with being both sustainable and profit-maximizing can be seen as a significant motivating factor. The same can be said about reduced ESG risk and creating legitimacy towards customers. Furthermore, a combination of strategies can be seen as a way to create an optimal portfolio by the investors. This further proves that sustainable investing is the most rational way of investing and a way to achieve an investors main goal to profit maximize.

In Sweden, savings in funds today is one of the most popular forms of savings. Through both active and passive choices, almost all Swedes are exposed to the fund market, where mutual funds are the most popular type of funds. A clear majority of these funds are actively managed, which means that one or more fund managers actively work with the investments of the funds, with the aim to outperform the market. This method of management has been hotly debated in recent years, when many scientists claim that fund managers generally fail to outperform the market in long term. At the same time, interest in sustainability investments has increased in recent years, which is reflected in the fund market where sustainability funds have become increasingly popular. This essay therefore focuses on these sustainability funds, with focus on comparing large banks with web-based fund companies. The large banks in Sweden have been criticized for the way they are working seen from a customer perspective, but their funds are still very popular. Against this background, the study aims to investigate whether one can find any differences in performance of actively managed sustainability funds between large banks and web-based fund companies. Using four different models to measure risk-adjusted return of security portfolios, the funds have been examined to see if it is possible to find any patterns in terms of performance and the type of company that manages the funds. The survey results show that there is a clear difference in performance between the large banks and the web-based fund companies, whereby the latter succeed much better. Of the four models used, the large banks do not outperform the market under one model, while the web-based companies manage to outperform the market according to three of the models. Thus it can be stated that if you are interested in saving money in actively managed sustainability funds, it is the web-based companies to turn to. As previously mentioned, the large banks funds are very popular, which means that Swedish private investors have much money to gain by allowing web-based companies to manage their money, rather than large banks.