Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Facilities are available to individual investors to enable them to invest directly in a multitude of investments without making use of investment brokers or financial advisors. Although this facility offers the benefit of reduced administration and management fees, it also puts the investor in a position where he is responsible for making his own investment decisions. Since Markowitz’s publication fifty years ago, it has been known that diversification is necessary in order to reduce the investor’s exposure to any unsystematic investment risk while still obtaining an acceptable return. Studies have shown that human behaviour has an impact on investment decisions and that human nature skews the individual’s perception of diversification and risk and the reality thereof. For this reason, the individual investor is better off making use of quantitative methods in order to ensure a properly diversified portfolio. Exchange traded products are passive, index tracking investments that trade on stock exchanges and pose benefits to individual investors owing to their low administrative costs and inherent levels of diversification. Individual investors are able to purchase exchange traded products such as exchange traded funds (ETFs), exchange traded notes (ETNs) and index tracking unit trusts through various means, including brokerage firms and online trading platforms. These platforms offer little advice to the individual investor on how to select the most suitable investment products and how each product will affect the risk profile of an investor’s portfolio. The purpose of this research assignment was to develop a portfolio optimisation tool that would help the investor obtain the optimal return for his desired level of risk, thereby ensuring efficient diversification. An optimisation model was developed by using performance data from 2009 to 2013 and the resultant optimised portfolio’s performance was evaluated for 2014. It was found that optimisation rendered acceptable results, provided that the covariances between the various ETFs showed equivalence year on year. This requirement limited the number of ETFs that could be included in the model. Improvements to the model were recommended, based on the results of similar research in the field of portfolio optimisation. Further research is proposed that would utilise other optimisation methods, other sources of data and comparisons that are more detailed.

The majority of studies on European integration focus on the implementation of EU policies and regulations at the national or regional levels or on the influence of national and regional institutions in ED policy-making (Anderson, 1990; Tranholm-Mikkelsen, 1991; Geyer, 1996; Moravcsik, 1993; Marks, 1996; Majone, 1997). A smaller number of studies report on a series of changes appearing at local government level and connect them with a changing environment at the ED level and with the increasing importance of the EU funding programmes (Martin and Pearce, 1993: Goldsmith, 1993; John, 1996: Sutcliffe. 1997). However, the use of a top-down perspective has limited the findings of the previous research. The main objective of this thesis is to expand the knowledge on the phenomenon of ED funding within local governments, adopting a bottom-up approach, where changes appeared at the local government level, which were not included in EU directives, regulations and policy proposals, but represented a consequence of a changing order at the European arena. The research question asked in the study is: "Why do some local governments succeed and others fail in applying for EU funds?" Little empirical research has been conducted in order to understand the ED funding procedures followed by local government organisations, and how those procedures affected the organisations themselves and their employees. The study's objective is to build a theory exploring the process of competing for new types of funding within local government organisations. A theoretical framework is proposed at the beginning of the study which connects the phenomenon of EU funding with the presence of three important constructs: Europeanisation, networking and entrepreneurship. These constructs were explicitly measured in the interview protocol. From the analysis of the data, the constructs emerged as related to the success in ED funding within local governments through a causal relationship.

Closed-end funds have been an anomaly in finance because the market prices of their shares differ from their aggregate net asset values per share. They often purchase shares of restricted securities at prices which are discounted from the prices of unrestricted securities. However, restricted securities are valued as if they were unrestricted securities in the determination of fund net asset values. In addition, closed-end funds hold securities which are illiquid and difficult to price. Closed-end funds' discounts and premia can be explained by the mispricing of restricted and illiquid securities. Finally, results of time series regressions over a 21 year period show that closed-end fund discounts and premia cannot be explained by the general level of stock prices. This conclusion contradicts the prior research on this topic.

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M.Comm. (Financial Economics) / This study provides an assessment of the comparative effectiveness of four methods of estimating the optimal hedge ratio in the South African equity and futures markets. This study bases the effectiveness of hedging on volatility reduction and minimisation of the coefficient of variation of hedged returns as well as the risk-aversion based on utility maximisation. The empirical analysis shows that the static single equation method estimated by ordinary least squares is the most effective over daily hedging periods. However, the vector error-correction method and multivariate GARCH methods are most effective over weekly and monthly hedging periods. Vector autoregression method is the least effective method over all hedging periods.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

Two major trends have emerged in the hedge fund industry over the last ten years. On the one hand, this industry became one of the most creative and innovative fields in international finance. Due to its fast growth and its constant development, regulators found it difficult to mitigate the potential risks induced to both investors and the financial system. On the other hand, the crisis emerging in 2007-2009 concurrently caused many recalls within the hedge fund industry. This shut down many funds. Similarly, hedge fund managers received arbitration and litigation charges in recent years, all at investors’ expense. These cases were extremely rare during the previous years. These trends raised two major questions: Should tighter regulation or lighter regulation be applied to the hedge fund industry? Which one favours the investors better and assures their increased protection? This thesis pursues the answer to these questions, by examining the regulation of hedge funds focusing mainly on investor protection firstly in the US, including the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act and secondly in the EU and the selected single European jurisdictions (the UK, Italy, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and Switzerland), and the impact of the AIFM Directive on the local jurisdictions, with the final purpose to establish the framework for a global hedge funds regulation, especially in terms of investors’ interests protection. In addition, this thesis provides practical recommendations for their regulatory future. The present research confirms that the lack of global regulation in this industry before the crisis simply indicated the preferences of the two prevailing financial world leaders: the US and the UK. However, hedge funds regulation should not be performed in absurdum. Risks mitigation alone is not enough reason for eliminating the advantages of hedge funds. Real progress in providing protection to investors is necessary for the coordination of the hedge fund regulation in the European countries with those in the US, while simplifying the financial regulatory system, as investor protection and prudential regulation are the main financial stability instruments in the hands of law-makers.

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Thesis (M.A.)--Guo li zheng zhi da xue, 1974. / Cover title. Reproduced from typescript. Bibliography: p. 136-141.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 156 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-156).