A natureza de hedge (proteção) das operações financeiras realizadas em bolsas de valores, mercadorias e futuros e assemelhadas pelas companhias brasileiras é requisito legal para o aproveitamento do benefício da dedutibilidade integral das perdas auferidas e prêmios pagos no cálculo do imposto sobre a renda no Brasil. Entretanto, entraves na comprovação documental destas operações perante a Secretaria da Receita Federal do Brasil (RFB) têm resultado em autuações fiscais e aplicações de multas tributárias milionárias, colocando em cheque os instrumentos de gestão de risco utilizados pelas empresas justamente com o intuito de evitar resultados indesejáveis ou imprevistos. Neste contexto, com fundamento nas prescrições da teoria da agência e com base em estudos empíricos em contabilidade e tributação que discutiram as causas e os efeitos da assimetria de informação, o presente estudo teve por objetivo identificar fatores que afetam a assimetria informacional entre contribuintes e Fisco federal, especificamente no que se refere ao controle, contabilização e comprovação da natureza de hedge de operações financeiras praticadas e o consequente tratamento concedido às perdas no cálculo do Imposto de Renda da Pessoa Jurídica (IRPJ). Por meio da realização de estudo de caso em empresa comercial exportadora autuada em R$ 16.438.314,10 (valor equivalente a 41,08% de seu Patrimônio Líquido em 2004) pelo Fisco federal em 2008, no intuito de glosar as perdas excedentes aos ganhos auferidos com instrumentos derivativos e contratos de swap nos anos-calendários de 2003 e 2004, verificou-se que mesmo diante da existência comprovada de exposição ao risco ex ante de variação de preços de commodities agrícolas (açúcar e etanol) e de cotação de moeda estrangeira, a ausência na legislação brasileira de critérios gerenciais e contábeis claros para a elaboração de controles internos obrigatórios ou de formulários padronizados para a apresentação das informações relativas às operações com instrumentos financeiros em geral (com finalidade de hedge ou não) - os quais não foram integralmente supridos pelas normas contábeis relativas ao hedge accouting vigentes a partir de 2008 -, resultou no agravamento das perdas auferidas pela cobrança adicional do IRPJ. Ademais, por meio de pesquisa documental e análise de conteúdo de decisões administrativas da RFB relativas ao tema \"comprovação de hedge\", foram identificados como fatores decisivos para a redução ou eliminação da assimetria informacional por parte dos contribuintes a correta vinculação das operações financeiras às atividades operacionais da companhia, a modalidade dos instrumentos financeiros selecionados e a estratégia de hedge adotada e, principalmente, a assertividade dos documentos apresentados à fiscalização federal para este fim. Estes resultados corroboram que os mesmos fatores identificados no estudo de caso podem ser atribuídos às demais companhias brasileiras autuadas pela RFB sob o mesmo fundamento - sucesso ou não na comprovação da natureza de hedge das operações financeiras praticadas em determinado período. / The hedge purpose in the financial operations on stock and commodities exchange and similar carried out by companies is legal condition to benefit the full deductibility of accounted losses and paid prizes in the income tax assessment in Brazil. However, obstacles in the documental prove of these operations before Brazilian Federal Revenue Office (RFB) are resulting in tax deficiency notices and millionaire fines\' application, jeopardizing the risk management instruments applied by companies exactly to avoid unexpected and unwanted results. In this sense, based on the agency theory prescriptions and on empirical studies on accounting and tax which discussed the informational asymmetry causes and effects, this paper aimed to identify factors which affect the information asymmetry between taxpayers and federal tax authorities, specifically with regards to controlling, recording and proving financial operations with hedge purposes, and consequently their tax treatment in the Corporate Income Tax (IRPJ) assessment. By means of a case study with a Brazilian trading company which was notified to collect R$ 16,438,314.10 (value equal to 41.08% of its equity in 2004) by Brazilian tax authorities in 2008, in order to disallow the deductibility of losses excessive to gains assessed on derivatives and swap operations on the calendar-years 2003 and 2004, it was verified that even before the proved existence of ex ante exposure to risk of soft commodities (sugar and ethanol) prices and foreign currency variations, Brazilian legislation´s lack with regards to clear both managerial and accounting criteria in elaborating obligatory internal controls or standard sheets to present information related to operations with general financial instruments (with hedge purposes or not) - which was not sufficiently supplied by the accounting Standards related to hedge accounting in force since 2008 -, results in a marginal loss related to the IRPJ additional cost. Moreover, by means of a broad documental research and content analysis of administrative case law issued by RFB and related to hedge prove, it was verified as critical factors to information asymmetry reduction or elimination the adequate compliance of financial operations to company\'s operational activity, the financial instruments applied and hedge strategy selected and mainly the documentation repertory presented to Brazilian tax authorities. This results corroborate that the same factors raised on the case study can be projected to other Brazilian companies also notified by RFB under the same basis - success or not on the prove of hedge purposes of financial operations carried out in determined period.

Este trabalho visa a discutir aspectos centrais dos instrumentos derivativos, que têm ganhado importância crescente desde os anos 70, principalmente depois da crise do subprime em 2008. No Capítulo I, procura-se resgatar o debate sobre a natureza jurídica dos derivativos, tendo em vista sua função econômica. A partir deste ponto de partida, extraem-se conclusões práticas, como a não aplicabilidade das normas relativas à evicção, vícios redibitórios e teoria da imprevisão ou resolução por onerosidade excessiva. Ao fim, é proposta uma classificação dos derivativos. O objetivo do Capítulo II é destacar os principais aspectos da regulação dos derivativos. A partir da função econômica, legisladores e reguladores do mundo todo têm encontrado a necessidade de limitar a esfera de autonomia contratual, determinando o que pode ser negociado, de que forma e o modo como se deve dar a liquidação das obrigações. O Capítulo III visa a discutir os resultados da pesquisa de jurisprudência não enquadrados nos temas dos Capítulos I e II. Com isso, há maior transparência quanto aos resultados da pesquisa de jurisprudência e, ao mesmo tempo, discute-se possíveis pontos de atenção para a regulação. Por fim, o Apêndice descreve a metodologia utilizada na pesquisa de jurisprudência. / This paper aims to discuss key aspects of derivative instruments. Their importance has been increasing since the 70s, especially after the subprime crisis in 2008. Chapter I seeks to present the debate on the legal nature of the derivatives, highlighting its economic function. From this discussion, we found some practical conclusions, such as non-applicability of eviction, latent defects and rebus sic stantibus clause. In the end, we present a classification of derivatives. Chapter II highlights the main aspects of derivatives regulation. Due to their importance, legislators and regulators have been limiting contractual autonomy, determining what and in which way people can contract and settlement of obligations by clearinghouses or CCPs. Chapter III aims to discuss derivatives case law that have not fit the themes of Chapters I and II. It is a way of, at the same time, disclosing case law research findings and discussing possible improvements in regulation. Finally, the Appendix describes the methodology used in the case law research.

O objetivo geral deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência do mercado futuro como forma de mitigação do risco associado aos preços do boi gordo para as praças de Araçatuba (SP) e Goiânia (GO). Calculou-se a efetividade do hedge por meio da razão ótima de hedge para as praças estudadas no período de 2002 a 2013, utilizando três tipos de modelos econométricos. No primeiro modelo, as variâncias e covariâncias condicionais foram tratadas como constantes e os preços spot e futuro não foram considerados correlacionados no tempo; no segundo modelo, relaxou-se a hipótese de que os preços spot e futuro não são correlacionados no tempo, portanto, adicionou-se um vetor de correção de erros ao modelo; e, no terceiro modelo, assumiu-se que as variâncias e covariâncias condicionais não são constantes. Os resultados obtidos por esses métodos indicaram que o uso do contrato futuro de boi gordo diminuiu a variância dos retornos no período estudado, de modo que as estimativas dinâmicas foram inferiores na efetividade em diminuir o risco de preço diante das estimativas obtidas por modelos estáticos. Ainda com o intuito de avaliar a eficiência do mercado futuro de boi gordo, foram quantificados a variância e os retornos do confinador nas praças estudadas através de simulações de compra de boi magro e posterior venda de boi gordo, realizando, simultaneamente, o hedge no mercado futuro. Observou-se que a utilização do contrato futuro diminuiu o coeficiente de variação para os períodos analisados em comparação às estratégias que não realizaram a utilização do hedge. / The general objective of this research was to evaluate the efficiency of futures market in order to mitigate the risk of price of live cattle to the producers of Araçatuba (SP) and Goiânia (GO). To measure this effectiveness, we estimated the optimal hedge ratio from the period of 2002 to 2013, using three types of econometric models. In the first model, conditional variances and covariances were treated as constant and the spot and future prices were not considered correlated in time; in the second model, we relaxed the hypothesis that spot and future prices were not correlated in time, so, we added an error correction vector to the model; and, in the third model, we assumed that the conditional variances and covariances are not constant. The results obtained by these methods indicated that the use of live cattle contract was able to reduce the risk and also that the dynamic estimates do not overcome the static estimates. We also calculated the variance of returns for the producers of Araçatuba e Goiânia by purchasing simulations of steers and subsequent sale of live cattle, performing simultaneously the hedge on the market future. It was observed that the use of the futures contract decreased the coefficient of variation for the periods analyzed compared to the strategies that did not undergo the use of hedging.

by Wong Fat Keung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-46). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1 --- Fund's return --- p.7 / Chapter 2.2 --- Value weighted Index of Hedge Funds --- p.8 / Chapter 2.3 --- Sharpe' s(1992) style analysis --- p.8 / Chapter 2.4 --- Econometric Procedure and Hypothesis Test --- p.11 / Chapter 3. --- DATA --- p.15 / Chapter 3.1 --- Market Data --- p.15 / Chapter 3.2 --- Hedge Fund Data --- p.16 / Chapter 3.3 --- Selecting Market Factor --- p.17 / Chapter 4. --- RESULTS --- p.19 / Chapter 4.1 --- Interest Rate Market --- p.19 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Did the hedge fund industry as a whole manipulate the interest rate market? --- p.19 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Did the Jaguar Fund NV manipulate the interest rate market? --- p.23 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Did the Quantum Fund NV manipulate the interest rate market? --- p.24 / Chapter 4.2 --- Hang Seng Index Future Market --- p.26 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Did the hedge fund industry as a whole manipulate the Hang Seng Index Future Market? --- p.26 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Did the Jaguar Fund NV manipulate the Hang Seng Index Future Market? --- p.29 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Did the Quantum Fund NV manipulate the Hang Seng Index Future Market? --- p.31 / Chapter 4.3 --- Hang Seng Index Market --- p.33 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Did the hedge funds as a whole manipulate the Hang Seng Index Market? --- p.33 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Did the Jaguar Fund NV manipulate the Hang Seng Index Market? --- p.34 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Did the Quantum Fund NV manipulate the Hang Seng Index Market? --- p.35 / Chapter 5. --- CONCLUSION --- p.37 / Chapter 5.1 --- Contribution --- p.41 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.44 / APPENDIX A TABLES --- p.47 / Table 1. Hedge Funds in value-weighted Index (vw38) --- p.47 / Table 2. Net Asset Value of Hedge Funds ( --- p.48 / Table 3. Hedge Fund Returns Around Crash --- p.49 / Table 4. Regression result of value-weighted index (vw38) --- p.50 / Table 5. Regression result of individual fund --- p.51 / Table 6. Correlation of return rates between different market segments from 11/1988 to 10/1999 --- p.52 / Table 7. Correlation of return rates between different market segments from 9/1997 to 10/1999 --- p.53 / Table 8. Regression result of 2-month HIBOR rate and dollar positions of hedge funds --- p.54 / Table 9. Regression result of 2-month HIBOR rate and dollar positions of Jaguar Fund NV --- p.55 / Table 10. Regression result of 2-month HIBOR rate and dollar positions of Quantum Fund NV --- p.56 / Table 11. Regression Result of Hang Seng Index Future Price against Dollar Positions of Hedge Funds --- p.57 / Table11b. Estimated Profit of Hedge Funds in the turmoil period in Hang Seng Index Future (in billions) --- p.58 / Table 12. Regression Result of Hang Seng Index Future Price against Dollar Positions of Jaguar Fund NV --- p.59 / Table 12b. Estimated Profit of Jaguar Fund NV in the turmoil periodin Hang Seng Index Future (in HK billions) --- p.60 / Table 13. Regression Result of Hang Seng Index Future Price against Dollar Positions of Quantum Fund NV --- p.61 / Table 13b. Estimated Profit of Quantum Fund NV in the turmoil periodin Hang Seng Index Future (in HK billions) --- p.62 / Table 14. Regression Result of Hang Seng Index Price against Dollar Positions of Hedge Funds --- p.63 / Table 15. Regression Result of Hang Seng Index Price against Dollar Positions of Jaguar Fund NV --- p.64 / Table 16. Regression Result of Hang Seng Index Price against Dollar Positions of Quantum Fund NV --- p.65 / APPENDIX B. FIGURES --- p.67 / Figure 1. Hong Kong Dollar Position of Hedge Funds --- p.67 / Figure 2. Hong Kong Dollar Position of Hedge Funds and 2m HIBOR Rate --- p.68 / Figure 3. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Jaguar Fund NV --- p.69 / Figure 4. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Jaguar Fund and 2m HIBOR Rate --- p.70 / Figure 5. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Quantum Fund NV --- p.71 / Figure 6. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Quantum Fund NV and 2m HIBOR Rate --- p.72 / Figure 7. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Hedge Funds in Hang Seng Index Future --- p.73 / Figure 8. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Hedge Funds in Hang Seng Index Future --- p.74 / Figure 7. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Hedge Funds in Hang Seng Index Future --- p.73 / Figure 8. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Hedge Funds in Hang Seng Index Future --- p.74 / Figure 9. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Jaguar Fund NV in Hang Seng Index Future --- p.75 / Figure 10. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Jaguar Fund NV in Hang Seng Index Future --- p.76 / Figure 11. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Quantum Fund NV in Hang Seng Index Future --- p.77 / Figure 13. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Hedge Funds in Hang Seng --- p.79 / Figure 17. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Quantum Fund NV in Hang Seng Index --- p.83 / Figure 18. Hong Kong Dollar Positions of Quantum Fund NV in Hang Seng Index --- p.84 / Figure 19. Net Profit of Hedge Funds in Hang Seng Index Future (in HK Billions) --- p.85 / Figure 20. Net Profit of Jaguar Fund NV in Hang Seng Index Future (in HK Billions) --- p.86

A operação de hedge tem como função primária a proteção contra as oscilações de mercado, tais oscilações são subdivididas principalmente em variação da taxa de juros, taxa de câmbio e preço de commodities. Uma das maneiras para se operacionalizar o hedge é por meio da utilização de derivativos. Assim, é do interesse de credores, investidores e demais interessados obter mais informações acerca dessas operações, surgindo o seguinte questionamento: em empresas brasileiras de capital aberto, quais fatores possuem relação com a utilização de derivativos para fins de hedge de variação de taxa de juros e hedge de variação cambial? Dessa forma, o presente estudo busca apresentar as principais características de empresas brasileiras de capital aberto que fazem uso dos derivativos para fins de hedge, de câmbio e de taxa de juros, no período de 2010 a 2014. Primeiramente, foi verificado se o uso do derivativo pelas empresas tinha finalidade de proteção ou especulação. Essa verificação foi espelhada nos trabalhos de Allayannis e Ofek (2001) e Chernenko e Faulkender (2011). O modelo adaptado de Allayannis e Ofek (2001) baseou-se em uma análise em dois estágios para obter a informação sobre a finalidade do uso dos derivativos pela empresa. Já o modelo de Chernenko e Faulkender (2011) utilizou dados em painel e estimadores diferentes (between e within) para obter informações acerca das características das empresas relacionadas ao uso do derivativo para fins de hedge ou especulação. Agrupou-se ao modelo de Cherneko e Faulkender (2011) uma adaptação do modelo apresentado por Carneiro e Sherris (2008). O modelo utilizado por Carneiro e Sherris (2008) destacou-se por apresentar uma variável alternativa à tradicionalmente utilizada nos estudos das características relacionadas à operação de hedge. Portanto, o objetivo desse modelo agrupado foi obter as características das empresas, distinguindo-as quanto à finalidade do uso do derivativo (proteção ou especulação), com foco na proteção. Destaca-se, entre os resultados, que o montante das dívidas atreladas à moeda estrangeira foi apontado como uma característica relacionada ao uso de derivativos para fins de hedge. No entanto, há evidências de que as empresas mais alavancadas utilizaram os derivativos para fins de especulação no período analisado. Conclui-se, portanto, que, no período analisado, nem todas as empresas utilizaram os derivativos exclusivamente para fins de hedge. / The primary function of the hedge is to protect against market fluctuations. Such oscillations are mainly divided in changes in interest, exchange rates and commodity prices. One way to operationalize the hedge is through the use of derivatives. Thus, it is interesting for creditors, investors and other interested parties to obtain more information about these operations. In light of this, the following question arises: in Brazilian public companies, which factors are related to the use of derivatives for hedging purposes of interest rate and exchange rate variations? Thus, this study aims to present the main characteristics of Brazilian public companies that influence the use of derivatives for hedging purposes, for both currency exchange and interest rate variations, in the period between 2010 and 2014. First, it was checked if the use of derivative by companies had hedging or speculation purposes. This procedure was mirrored in the works of Allayannis and Ofek (2001) and Chernenko and Faulkender (2011). The model adapted from Allayannis and Ofek (2001) was based on a two stage analisys that obtains information about the purpose of the derivative use by the company. The Chernenko and Faulkender (2011) model used panel data and different estimators (between and Within) to obtain information about the firm characteristics that are related to the use of derivatives for hedging or speculation purposes. An adaptation of the model presented by Carneiro and Sherris (2008) was grouped in the Cherneko and Faulkender (2011) model. The model used by Carneiro and Sherris (2008) stood out for presenting an alternative variable to the ones traditionally used in studies of the hedging related characteristics. Therefore, the objective of this model was to determine the characteristics of firms that use derivatives, distinguishing them by the purpose of derivative use (protection or speculation), with a grater focus on protection. One of the main results is that the amount of debt linked to foreign currency was pointed as a characteristic related to the use of derivatives for hedging purposes. However, there is evidence that the most leveraged companies used derivatives for speculative purposes during the period. In conclusion, not all companies used derivatives solely for hedging purposes in the analysed period.

A ascensão de um grande número de pessoas em países em desenvolvimento para a classe média, no inicio do século XXI, aliado ao movimento político para transferência de base energética para os biocombustíveis vêm aumentando a pressão sobre os preços das commodities agrícolas e apresentando novas oportunidades e cenários administrativos para os produtores agrícolas dessas commodities, em especial aquelas que podem se diversificar em muitos subprodutos para atender diferentes mercados, como o de alimentos, químico, têxtil e de energia. Nesse novo ambiente os produtores podem se beneficiar dividindo adequadamente a produção entre os diferentes subprodutos, definindo o melhor momento para a comercialização através de estoques, e ainda controlar sua exposição ao risco através de posições no mercado de derivativos. A literatura atual pouco aborda o tema da diversificação e seu impacto nas decisões de produção e comercialização agrícola e portanto essa tese tem o objetivo de propor um modelo de decisão fundado na teoria de seleção de portfólios capaz de decidir a divisão da produção entre diversos subprodutos, as proporções a serem estocadas e o momento mais adequado para a comercialização e por fim as posições em contratos futuros para fins de proteção ou hedge. Adicionalmente essa tese busca propor que esse modelo seja capaz de lidar com incerteza em parâmetros, em especial parâmetros que provocam alto impacto nos resultados, como é o caso dos retornos previstos no futuro. Como uma terceira contribuição, esse trabalho busca ainda propor um modelo de previsão de preços mais sofisticado que possa ser aplicado a commodities agrícolas, em especial um modelo híbrido ou hierárquico, composto de dois modelos, um primeiro modelo fundado sob a teoria de processos estocásticos e do Filtro de Kalman e um segundo modelo, para refinar os resultados do primeiro modelo de previsão, baseado na teoria de redes neurais, com a finalidade de considerar variáveis exógenas. O modelo híbrido de previsão de preços foi testado com dados reais do mercado sucroalcooleiro brasileiro e indiano, gerando resultados promissores, enquanto o modelo de decisão de parâmetros de produção, comercialização, estocagem e hedge se mostrou uma ferramenta útil para suporte a decisão após ser testado com dados reais do mercado sucroalcooleiro brasileiro e do mercado de milho, etanol e biodiesel norte-americano. / The rise of a large number of people in developing countries for the middle class at the beginning of the century, combined with the political movement to transfer the energy base for biofuels has been increasing pressure on prices of agricultural commodities and presenting new opportunities and administrative scenarios for agricultural producers of these commodities, especially those who may diversify into many products to meet different markets such as food, chemicals, textiles and energy. In this new environment producers can achieve benefits properly dividing production between different products, setting the best time to market through inventories, and still control their risk exposure through positions in the derivatives market. The literature poorly addresses the issue of diversification and its impact on agricultural production and commercialization decisions and therefore this thesis aims to propose a decision model based on the theory of portfolio selection able to decide the division of production between different products, the proportions to be stored and timing for marketing and finally the positions in futures contracts to hedge. Additionally this thesis attempts to propose that this model is capable of dealing with uncertainty in parameters, especially parameters that cause high impact on the results, as is the case of expected returns in the future. As a third contribution this paper seeks to also propose a model more sophisticated to forecast prices that can be applied to agricultural commodities, especially a hybrid or hierarchical model, composed of two models, a first one based on the theory of stochastic processes and Kalman filter and a second one to refine the results of the first prediction model, based on the theory of neural networks in order to consider the exogenous variables. The hybrid model for forecasting prices has been tested with real data from the Brazilian and Indian sugar ethanol market, generating promising results, while the decision model parameters of production, commercialization, storage and hedge proved a useful tool for decision support after being tested with real data from Brazilian sugar ethanol market and the corn, ethanol and biodiesel market in U.S.A.

Under Accounting Statement CPC 38, from 2010 on Brazilian companies started adopting accounting standards correspondent to IAS 39 regarding hedge accounting, whose disclosure is optional and, in cash flow hedge operations, may avoid losses disclosure in the income statements due to deferred values in other comprehensive income (OCI), promoting better earnings disclosure. In this scenario, by means of statistical models we investigate whether firm\'s financial exposure to currency risk and the high exchange rate depreciation environment promote the deferral of losses on firm\'s OCI and, in addition to the tax deferral on exchange gains and losses, the hedge accounting choice for 379 Brazilian listed companies between 2010- 2017. Our results show that firms\' high leverage in foreign currency, the high exchange rate variation on country level and the tax deferral choice influence positively the hedge accounting choice and, consequently, reduce the disclosure of losses on income statements, evidencing potential earnings management activity, since OCI\'s balances are not entirely understood by analysts and investors (even the most sophisticated). Our paper contributes to the disclosure, accounting choice and earnings management theories, highlighting the claim for enhancement of financial instruments accounting standards on uniformity and comparability. / Com o CPC 38, a partir de 2010 as companhias brasileiras passaram a adotar as normas contábeis correspondentes ao IAS 39 no tocante à contabilidade de hedge, cuja divulgação é facultativa e, especificamente em relação ao hedge de fluxo de caixa, pode diferir a divulgação de perdas cambiais em outros resultados abrangentes (ORA) e, consequentemente, promover o disclosure de melhores resultados. Nesse cenário, por meio de modelos estatísticos o estudo investiga se a alta exposição à variação cambial em um ambiente de alta depreciação da taxa de câmbio resulta em diferimento de perdas em ORA e, em conjunto com o diferimento da tributação da variação cambial, promove a escolha da contabilidade de hedge para 379 companhias abertas brasileiras no período de 2010 a 2017. Os resultados evidenciam que a alta alavancagem em moeda estrangeira, a alta depreciação do câmbio e o diferimento da tributação impactam positivamente a escolha pela contabilidade de hedge e, consequentemente, reduzem a divulgação de perdas cambiais no resultado, apontando a existência de gerenciamento de resultados, já que os saldos em ORA não são corretamente interpretados pelos analistas e investidores, mesmo os mais sofisticados. O estudo contribui para as teorias de disclosure, de escolha contábil e de gerenciamento de resultados, e aponta para a necessidade de aprimoramento das normas contábeis relativas a instrumentos financeiros em termos de uniformidade e comparabilidade.

Background Out of the different fund categories hedge funds have had the highest development in Sweden since 1994. Swedish investors’ interest in hedge funds doubled from 2005 to 2006. Hedge funds are said to be an investment with a low risk and not being dependent upon business cycle movements. Historically there have been high initial investments, most often over 100 000 SEK, required to invest in hedge funds. This has started to shift towards lower initial investments. This is a reason why hedge funds start to become interesting to private investors and not only to institutional, and wealthy private investors. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to explore what different investment strategies and sub strategies that are used within Swedish hedge funds. Also specific risks and risk measurements, depending on investment strategy, will be investigated and compared. Method In order to meet the purpose of this thesis a qualitative approach has been used. A questionnaire, with both closed and open-end questions, was sent to 13 hedge fund managers operating in the Swedish hedge fund market. Afterwards, four semi-structured interviews were conducted. Two of the interviewees are hedge fund managers who also answered the questionnaire. The others were with a person who is a hedge fund analyst and a person working at the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA). Conclusion Out of the five different investment strategies investigated the two most widely used in Swedish hedge funds are funds of hedge funds and equity hedge. The sub strategies that are used within the Swedish hedge fund market are those with a focus on low risk. Within Swedish hedge funds there are some specific risks and risk measurements that are useful. Sharpe ratio is best used to compare similar funds. Standard deviation is useful to evaluate each specific hedge fund. How much leverage capital that can be used is decided by SFSA. Yet, the risks depend on the hedge fund manager rather than the investment strategy used. This, due to the fact that the hedge fund managers have an own interest in the hedge fund.

<p>Background</p><p>Out of the different fund categories hedge funds have had the highest development in Sweden since 1994. Swedish investors’ interest in hedge funds doubled from 2005 to 2006. Hedge funds are said to be an investment with a low risk and not being dependent upon business cycle movements. Historically there have been high initial investments, most often over 100 000 SEK, required to invest in hedge funds. This has started to shift towards lower initial investments. This is a reason why hedge funds start to become interesting to private investors and not only to institutional, and wealthy private investors.</p><p>Purpose</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to explore what different investment strategies and sub strategies that are used within Swedish hedge funds. Also specific risks and risk measurements, depending on investment strategy, will be investigated and compared.</p><p>Method</p><p>In order to meet the purpose of this thesis a qualitative approach has been used. A questionnaire, with both closed and open-end questions, was sent to 13 hedge fund managers operating in the Swedish hedge fund market. Afterwards, four semi-structured interviews were conducted. Two of the interviewees are hedge fund managers who also answered the questionnaire. The others were with a person who is a hedge fund analyst and a person working at the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA).</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Out of the five different investment strategies investigated the two most widely used in Swedish hedge funds are funds of hedge funds and equity hedge. The sub strategies that are used within the Swedish hedge fund market are those with a focus on low risk. Within Swedish hedge funds there are some specific risks and risk measurements that are useful. Sharpe ratio is best used to compare similar funds. Standard deviation is useful to evaluate each specific hedge fund. How much leverage capital that can be used is decided by SFSA. Yet, the risks depend on the hedge fund manager rather than the investment strategy used. This, due to the fact that the hedge fund managers have an own interest in the hedge fund.</p>

<p>Background:</p><p>Hedge funds have its origin in 1949 when Alfred W Jones constructed a fund that used a new technique where he took long positions and hedged them with short positions. This fund got a large publicity when it was proved that it had outperformed any other fund by 87 percent during a ten year period. Though, it was not until the early 1990’s hedge funds became popular for the general public. The goal for hedge funds in general is to yield an absolute return and there are many different strategies for reaching this goal. This has lead to the following three research questions:</p><p>Have Hedge funds been able to reach its goal for an absolute return in both bullish and bearish times?</p><p>Which strategy has shown the best performance in markets on the rise and in declining markets and is it possible to place the different strategies in order of precedence?</p><p>Is it possible to come up with a guideline for investing in hedge funds on the Swedish market?</p><p>Purpose:</p><p>The purpose with this thesis is to study the returns on a large number of hedge funds in the American fund market based upon their investment strategy, both when the market is gaining and when it is declining.</p><p>Method:</p><p>In this thesis we have investigated twelve different strategies in the American market. By using secondary data from HFRI’s hedge fund database we have conducted a quantitative research by calculating key statistics for the strategies. We have also plotted performance diagrams were the strategies are compared with S&P 500. To be able to answer our research questions we constructed a table containing a summary of the risk and return for the strategies in bullish and bearish market times.</p><p>Results:</p><p>Our research showed that there were two strategies that were capable of delivering an absolute return for the entire period. However, when looking deeper into the yearly returns we found that there were another eight strategies that presented a negative return for just one out of the total eleven years. To conclude the research we have placed the strategies in order of precedence that works as a guideline for investing in the Swedish market in bull and bear markets.</p>