This thesis investigates if Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investments can be considered as an independent asset class. As ESG and responsible investing has increased substantially in recent years, responsible investments have entered the portfolios with other asset classes too. Therefore, there is a need in studying ESG investment properties with other financial asset classes. By collecting daily price data from October 2007 to December 2018, we research the directionalities between ESG, ethical, conventional, commodities and currency. Initially, we employed a MODWT, multiscale investment horizon wavelet analysis transformation of the data. The decomposed wavelet data is then applied in pairwise linear and non-linear Granger causality estimations to study the directionality relationships dependent on investment horizon. Additionally, econometric filtering processes have been employed to study the effects of volatility on directionality relationships. The results mainly suggest significant directionality relationships between ESG and the other asset classes. On the medium-term investment horizon, almost all estimations indicate strict bidirectionality. Thus, on the medium-term, ESG can be said to be integrated with the other asset classes. For the long-term horizon, most relationships are still predominantly bidirectional between ESG and all other asset classes. The biggest differences are found on the short-term horizon, with no directionality found between ESG and commodities that cannot be explained by volatility. Furthermore, most directionality relationships also disappear when controlling for the volatility transmission between ESG and currency on the short-term horizon. Thus, our findings suggest significantly more integration between ESG and ethical and conventional as bidirectionality overwhelmingly prevails regardless of investment horizon. As previous research has found similarities between ethical and conventional as well as ESG having similar characteristics to commodities as conventional and ethical, we suggest that ESG should be considered as being integrated and having strong similarities with other equities. Thus, it should be treated as being part of the conventional equity asset class. Deviations from bidirectionality could be caused by ESG variable specific heterogeneity. However, despite our rejection of ESG as an independent asset class, it still carries significant potential as it excludes firms with climate-harming practices, thereby helping in combating climate-related as well as social and governance issues the world is facing.

Bakgrund: Inom investering förekommer ett flertal tumregler och myter. En myt som cirkulerat bland investerare är att framsidor i branschtidskrifter, benämnt Cover Stories, skulle utgöra en indikator för en contrarian strategi. Våren 2007 presenterade den första studie där det undersöktes om Cover Stories hade utgjort indikatorer för enskilda företag i USA. Vi kommer att undersöka om Cover Stories i Affärsvärlden och Veckans Affärer utgjort en indikator på den svenska marknaden under tidsperioden 1987 till 2006. Utfallen av våra resultat kan eventuellt bidra till att investerare inte fattar beslut utifrån en felaktig myt om samband inte kan påvisas. Finner vi ett samband kan vi fastställa att det funnits fog för myten. Syfte: Vår studie syftar till att undersöka huruvida Cover Stories har kunnat användas som indikator i en contrarian eller momentum strategi under tidsperioden 1987 till 2006. Genomförande: Vår studie har genomförts med den amerikanska studien som utgångspunkt. Affärsvärldens och Veckans Affärers framsidor har undersökts för tidsperioden 1987 till 2006. Under denna tidsperiod fann vi 298 företag som kunde kategoriseras beroende på om Cover Storyn var positiv eller negativ till företaget i fråga. Kategoriseringen som gjorts i ursprungsstudien ansåg vi vara för generell varför en metodutveckling gjordes. Därefter beräknades avkastningen kring publiceringsdagen för olika tidsintervall. Eventuell överavkastning beräknades genom att 1) justera för marknadens avkastning samt 2) justera för respektive bransch avkastning. Detta för att utreda huruvida trender kunde fastställas och om det var möjligt att använda Cover Stories som en indikator. De erhållna resultaten är testade för statistiskt signifikans. Slutsats: Generellt har positiva Cover Stories utgjort en momentum indikator medan negativa Cover Stories utgjort contrarian indikator. Kategorispecifika resultat visar dock på värden som till största del saknar statistisk signifikans. Vidare är spridningen i hur företag avkastar stor. Sammantaget finner vi därför inget stöd för myten och rekommenderar inte en contrarian strategi med Cover Stories som indikator, vilket är i linje med ursprungsstudien. / Background: Myths and rules of thumb are widely spread within finance. One among many others is that Cover Stories of financial magazines are effective contrarian indicators. In spring of 2007 the first study was presented were it had been investigated if Cover Stories could have been used as indicators for companies in the U.S. We will examine whether Cover Stories in the Swedish financial magazines ‘Affärsvärlden’ and ‘Veckans Affärer’ constitute indicators for the Swedish market from 1987 to 2006. The outcome of our study can either prevent investors from making incorrect decisions based on a myth for which we have found no proof or strengthen the myth if we the magazines indeed could have been used as an indicator. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether Cover Stories could have been used as indicators for either a contrarian or momentum strategy in the period of 1987 to 2006. Realization: The basis of our study has been the study made on the U.S.-market. The Cover Stories of ‘Affärsvärldens’ and ‘Veckans Affärer’ have been categorized for the period of 1987 to 2006, depending on the nature of the Cover Story, i.e. if it is depicting the company in a positive or negative manner. We considered the categorisation which hade been applied in the original study to be too general. Therefore we further developed the methodology regarding the categorisation. Subsequently the change of the stock price, for each company being the object of a cover story, before and after publication was compared. The return was then adjusted for the market return and the return of respective industry, again for each company. This enabled us to determine whether Cover Stories had been useful as an indicator. The results have been tested statistically. Findings: Positive Cover Stories constituted a momentum indicator while negative Cover Stories represented contrarian indicators. The majority of the results in the specific categories lack statistic significance, furthermore are the discrepancy in the returns of the companies considerable. To sum up, our results do not support the myth and we would not recommend a contrarian strategy based solely on Cover Stories as an indicator.

<p>Bakgrund: Inom investering förekommer ett flertal tumregler och myter. En myt som cirkulerat bland investerare är att framsidor i branschtidskrifter, benämnt Cover Stories, skulle utgöra en indikator för en contrarian strategi. Våren 2007 presenterade den första studie där det undersöktes om Cover Stories hade utgjort indikatorer för enskilda företag i USA. Vi kommer att undersöka om Cover Stories i Affärsvärlden och Veckans Affärer utgjort en indikator på den svenska marknaden under tidsperioden 1987 till 2006. Utfallen av våra resultat kan eventuellt bidra till att investerare inte fattar beslut utifrån en felaktig myt om samband inte kan påvisas. Finner vi ett samband kan vi fastställa att det funnits fog för myten.</p><p>Syfte: Vår studie syftar till att undersöka huruvida Cover Stories har kunnat användas som indikator i en contrarian eller momentum strategi under tidsperioden 1987 till 2006.</p><p>Genomförande: Vår studie har genomförts med den amerikanska studien som utgångspunkt. Affärsvärldens och Veckans Affärers framsidor har undersökts för tidsperioden 1987 till 2006. Under denna tidsperiod fann vi 298 företag som kunde kategoriseras beroende på om Cover Storyn var positiv eller negativ till företaget i fråga. Kategoriseringen som gjorts i ursprungsstudien ansåg vi vara för generell varför en metodutveckling gjordes. Därefter beräknades avkastningen kring publiceringsdagen för olika tidsintervall. Eventuell överavkastning beräknades genom att 1) justera för marknadens avkastning samt 2) justera för respektive bransch avkastning. Detta för att utreda huruvida trender kunde fastställas och om det var möjligt att använda Cover Stories som en indikator. De erhållna resultaten är testade för statistiskt signifikans.</p><p>Slutsats: Generellt har positiva Cover Stories utgjort en momentum indikator medan negativa Cover Stories utgjort contrarian indikator. Kategorispecifika resultat visar dock på värden som till största del saknar statistisk signifikans. Vidare är spridningen i hur företag avkastar stor. Sammantaget finner vi därför inget stöd för myten och rekommenderar inte en contrarian strategi med Cover Stories som indikator, vilket är i linje med ursprungsstudien.</p> / <p>Background: Myths and rules of thumb are widely spread within finance. One among many others is that Cover Stories of financial magazines are effective contrarian indicators. In spring of 2007 the first study was presented were it had been investigated if Cover Stories could have been used as indicators for companies in the U.S. We will examine whether Cover Stories in the Swedish financial magazines ‘Affärsvärlden’ and ‘Veckans Affärer’ constitute indicators for the Swedish market from 1987 to 2006. The outcome of our study can either prevent investors from making incorrect decisions based on a myth for which we have found no proof or strengthen the myth if we the magazines indeed could have been used as an indicator.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether Cover Stories could have been used as indicators for either a contrarian or momentum strategy in the period of 1987 to 2006.</p><p>Realization: The basis of our study has been the study made on the U.S.-market. The Cover Stories of ‘Affärsvärldens’ and ‘Veckans Affärer’ have been categorized for the period of 1987 to 2006, depending on the nature of the Cover Story, i.e. if it is depicting the company in a positive or negative manner. We considered the categorisation which hade been applied in the original study to be too general. Therefore we further developed the methodology regarding the categorisation. Subsequently the change of the stock price, for each company being the object of a cover story, before and after publication was compared. The return was then adjusted for the market return and the return of respective industry, again for each company. This enabled us to determine whether Cover Stories had been useful as an indicator. The results have been tested statistically.</p><p>Findings: Positive Cover Stories constituted a momentum indicator while negative Cover Stories represented contrarian indicators. The majority of the results in the specific categories lack statistic significance, furthermore are the discrepancy in the returns of the companies considerable. To sum up, our results do not support the myth and we would not recommend a contrarian strategy based solely on Cover Stories as an indicator.</p>

Viešojo administravimo magistro baigiamojo darbo tema aktuali kiekvienam dalyvaujančiam savanoriškam pensijų kaupime. Šiuo metu šis klausimas aktualus ypač dėl neramumų finansų rinkose, lėtėjančios ekonomikos pasaulyje, nes neatsakingas pensijų fondų valdymas gali pabloginti dalyvaujančiųjų finansinę padėtį ateityje, t.y. pabloginti Lietuvos socialinę padėtį. Pagrindinė magistro baigiamojo darbo užduotis yra išsiaiškinti, ar fondų valdytojai laikosi teisinių investavimo reikalavimų, ar jų nepažeidinėja siekdami uždirbti didesnę grąžą. Tam patikrinti buvo atliekamas vienos pasirinktos valdymo įmonės pensijų fondų valdymo auditas. Magistro baigiamajame darbe buvo siekiama aptarti audito esmę, apžvelgti jo raidą, išnagrinėti pagrindinius klausimus susijusius su investavimo auditu, apžvelgti Lietuvos pensijų sistemos ypatumus, aptarti ją reglamentuojančius teisės aktus ir atlikti pensijų fondų auditą, iškeliant hipotezę, ar pensijų fondai valdomi skaidriai, patikimai, fondo valdymo sistema aiški bei laikomasi teisės aktų reikalavimų. Darbe buvo naudojami tokie tyrimo metodai, kaip mokslinės literatūros analizavimas ir sisteminimas bei teisės aktų analizė. Visi minėti uždaviniai buvo įgyvendinti, o hipotezės patvirtintos ir padarytos išvados, kad pasirinktos įmonės valdomi pensijų fondai griežtai laikosi visų teisinių reikalavimų ir yra griežtai prižiūrimi vidaus kontrolės. Taip pat padaryta išvada, kad rinkų koregavimosi laikotarpiu buvo pasirinktas efektyvus fondų valdymas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The subject of master‘s work in Public Administration is relevant for everyone lithuanian who participate in the second pillar pension system. At present the question is especially relevant when the market is turbulent, the economy is slowing in the world and negligent management of pensio funds could worsen the financial situation of people who participate in the second pillar pension system in their old age. The main task of master‘s work is to ascertain the fund‘s manager follows the law investment requirements, and they don‘t violate them for the reason to earn larger return. The audit for pension funds‘ management of one investment management company was performed to be sure that the fund‘s managers are in right way every time. There were discussed about the essence of audit and it‘s evolution, there were explored the main points of investing audit, there were reviewed the pension system‘s peculiarities of Lithuania and it‘s law documents and there were performed the audit of pension fund‘s management in this master‘s work. The hypothesis is described as the pension funds are managing clearly and reliably, the fund‘s management system is clear and the law requirements are invulnerable. The analysis methods which are using in study is the systematisation and analysis of nonfiction, analysis of law documents. All definited tasks were implemented at work and the hypothesis were confirmed. The conclusions of master‘s work was proposed: the pension funds of one checked... [to full text]

This thesis explores the rapidly growing phenomenon of equity crowdfunding from the perspective of professional investors. The aim was to contribute to the relatively thin aca-demic field of equity crowdfunding, shedding light on why it is yet to be recognized as an important instrument for raising capital and provide suggestions for improvement. The data was collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews with Angel Investors that through their experience could identify benefits and constraints with equity crowd-funding not obvious to the crowd. Benefits of using equity crowdfunding platforms were outweighed by the identified constraints such as corporate governance issues, uncertainties concerning laws and regulations, high risk, and lack of intellectual capital. This eventually led to suggestions for improvements that included channelling the crowd investments through a mutual fund, and allowing the crowd to co-invest with Angel Investors to get around the constraints. Conclusively, the Angel Investors were positive towards the underlying ideology of equity crowdfunding of helping more entrepreneurial ventures reaching their full potential by tapping a previously unutilized source of capital, the crowd. However, there is scepticism to how the phenomenon is currently working in practice.

Submitted by Rodolfo Zeidler (rodolfo.zeidler@gmail.com) on 2014-10-14T12:22:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_RodolfoZeidler_MPFE_27.09.2014.pdf: 1031393 bytes, checksum: f0f0d7d38e2df5bf53a35f847db68555 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by JOANA MARTORINI (joana.martorini@fgv.br) on 2014-10-14T12:55:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_RodolfoZeidler_MPFE_27.09.2014.pdf: 1031393 bytes, checksum: f0f0d7d38e2df5bf53a35f847db68555 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-14T13:09:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_RodolfoZeidler_MPFE_27.09.2014.pdf: 1031393 bytes, checksum: f0f0d7d38e2df5bf53a35f847db68555 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-10-13 / O objetivo deste trabalho é realizar procedimento de back-test da Magic Formula na Bovespa, reunindo evidências sobre violações da Hipótese do Mercado Eficiente no mercado brasileiro. Desenvolvida por Joel Greenblatt, a Magic Formula é uma metodologia de formação de carteiras que consiste em escolher ações com altos ROICs e Earnings Yields, seguindo a filosofia de Value Investing. Diversas carteiras foram montadas no período de dezembro de 2002 a maio de 2014 utilizando diferentes combinações de número de ativos por carteira e períodos de permanência. Todas as carteiras, independentemente do número de ativos ou período de permanência, apresentaram retornos superiores ao Ibovespa. As diferenças entre os CAGRs das carteiras e o do Ibovespa foram significativas, sendo que a carteira com pior desempenho apresentou CAGR de 27,7% contra 14,1% do Ibovespa. As carteiras também obtiveram resultados positivos após serem ajustadas pelo risco. A pior razão retorno-volatilidade foi de 1,2, comparado a 0,6 do Ibovespa. As carteiras com pior pontuação também apresentaram bons resultados na maioria dos cenários, contrariando as expectativas iniciais e os resultados observados em outros trabalhos. Adicionalmente foram realizadas simulações para diversos períodos de 5 anos com objetivo de analisar a robustez dos resultados. Todas as carteiras apresentaram CAGR maior que o do Ibovespa em todos os períodos simulados, independentemente do número de ativos incluídos ou dos períodos de permanência. Estes resultados indicam ser possível alcançar retornos acima do mercado no Brasil utilizando apenas dados públicos históricos. Esta é uma violação da forma fraca da Hipótese do Mercado Eficiente. / The main purpose of this work is to back-test the Magic Formula in the Bovespa Stock Exchange, gathering evidences of violations of the Efficient Market Hypothesis in the Brazilian market. The Magic Formula was developed by Joel Greenblatt and consists in a methodology for stock picking that creates portfolios of stocks with high ROICs and high Earnings Yield, following the Value Investing philosophy. Many portfolios were created in the period between December 2002 and May 2014 combining different number of assets per portfolio and different holding periods. All the portfolios, independently of their number of assets or holding periods, presented returns higher than Ibovespa. The differences between the CAGR from the portfolios and from the Ibovespa were significant, the worst performance portfolio presenting CAGR of 27,7%, as compared with 14,1% of Ibovespa. The portfolios also held positive results after being adjusted for risk. The worst return-volatility ratio was 1.2, as compared to 0.6 from Ibovespa. The portfolios containing the assets with the lowest scores also presented good results in the majority of the scenarios, contradicting the initial expectations and the results observed in other works. In addition, simulations were performed for various 5-year periods aiming to check if the results were robust. All the portfolios presented higher CAGR than Ibovespa in all the simulated periods, independently of the number of assets included in the portfolio or the holding period. These results indicate that it is possible to reach above-market returns using historical public data in Brazil. This is a violation of the Efficient Market Hypothesis in its weak form.

Submitted by Leonardo Milane (lemilane@santander.com.br) on 2016-02-15T21:54:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Leonardo Milane - Magic Formula.pdf: 348511 bytes, checksum: 91d8cd74adea7ad467c334e5d332aeb4 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br) on 2016-02-15T21:55:58Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Leonardo Milane - Magic Formula.pdf: 348511 bytes, checksum: 91d8cd74adea7ad467c334e5d332aeb4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-16T11:16:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Leonardo Milane - Magic Formula.pdf: 348511 bytes, checksum: 91d8cd74adea7ad467c334e5d332aeb4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-04 / The main purpose of this work is to back-test the Magic Formula in the IBX- 100 index, in order to gather evidence of effectiveness of the respective methodology in the selection of the best stocks and portfolios that beat the IBX-100 in the long run. The Magic Formula was developed by Joel Greenblatt and consists in a methodology for stock picking that creates portfolios of stocks with high ROICs and high Earnings Yield, following the Value Investing philosophy. Many portfolios were created in the period between January 2000 and June 2015 combining different number of stocks per portfolio and different holding periods. Some portfolios did beat the market index, while some did not. Portfolios with a higher number of stocks and longer holding periods seem to perform better than portfolio with fewer stocks and shorter holding periods. The portfolio with 10 stocks, holding period of 1 year, showed the highest CAGR among all portfolios (17,77%), surpassing the IBX-100 CAGR of 13,17% in the same period, even risk-adjusting. Regardless the holding period and the number of stocks, all portfolios presented lower systematic risk than the IBX-100 index (all betas were significant and lower than 1). On the other hand, all alphas were low, rarely significant, suggesting that the active portfolio management that follows the Magic Formula criteria did not add substantial higher returns when compared to market returns. / O objetivo desse trabalho é realizar um procedimento de back-test da Magic Formula no IBX-100, a fim de reunir evidencias sobre a eficiência de tal metodologia no processo de seleção das melhores ações e formação de carteiras que superem o desempenho do IBX-100 no longo prazo. Desenvolvida por Joel Greenblatt, a Magic Formula é uma metodologia de formação de carteiras que consiste em escolher ações com altos ROICs e Earnings Yields, seguindo a filosofia de Value Investing. Diversas carteiras foram montadas no período de janeiro de 2000 a junho de 2015 utilizando diferentes combinações de número de ativos por carteira e períodos de permanência. Nem todas as carteiras apresentaram retornos superiores ao índice de mercado. Aparentemente, as carteiras com mais ações e períodos de permanência mais longos apresentam desempenho superior às carteiras menores e com rotatividade maior (períodos de permanência mais curtos). A carteira de 10 ações, com período de permanência de 1 ano, apresentou o maior CAGR dentre todas as outras (17,77%), superando o CAGR de 13,17% do IBX-100 no mesmo período. Esse resultado foi superior mesmo quando ajustado ao risco. Independentemente do período de permanência e número de ações, todas as carteiras apresentaram riscos sistemáticos menores do que o índice IBX-100 (todos os betas foram significativos e menores do que 1). Por outro lado, os alfas das carteiras foram muito baixos e, raramente, significativos, sugerindo que a gestão ativa de acordo com os critérios da Magic Formula não adiciona retornos substancialmente maiores do que o retorno relacionado à variações de mercado.

Investors and fund managers have, since the start of financial markets, always been on the lookout for new ways of beating the market. However, researchers of the Efficient Market Hypothesis have shown that markets are usually highly efficient, implying that there are few possibilities of earning returns that are higher than the market returns, on a risk adjusted basis. Prevailing theories, such as the Capital Asset Pricing Model, has shown that increased return must stem from taking on higher risk. Though, this model’s explanatory power has been challenged by numerous researchers who propose different factors, other than market risk, which could hold explanatory power when it comes to returns in the stock market. This area of research is called factor investing, and has shown that factors such as momentum, size, and value, all can lead to outperforming the market.This study examines how a model based on two common factors, quality and value, would have performed on the Swedish stock market. The study is based on five portfolios chosen by the quality and value factors, each one held for 5 years, examined over a 25-year time span and uses the capital asset pricing model as a tool to measure whether or not the selected factors outperform the market. The study has taken a quantitative approach to examining the research question, using a positivistic and objectivistic view.The results of the study show evidence that the quality and value factors can lead to significant outperformance relative to the market index. Both total returns and risk adjusted returns were higher than the market index for some of the portfolios created using the quality and value factors. Furthermore, statistical evidence was found of that CAPM not fully explains all returns, and thus, that the returns are in part explained by the quality and value factors. The findings led to the conclusion that the quality and value factors does, in fact, hold explanatory power beyond that of CAPM. Purchasing quality companies at a reasonable price is shown to be a sound investment strategy, and that a portfolio created using the quality and value factors has good chances of outperforming the market index.

In last decade passed investment in the Czech republic discontinuous innovation. The expanse of investors fund is adherent to voucher privatization, which they realized in 1992 {--} 1994. At the beginnig of new millenium in the Czech republic begin penetrated foreign investments company. The faulted year for collective investing was in 2004, when Czech republic enter in Europion Union. The market of life insurance in last years noted big boom. Since 1996 the market of life insurance trebled. In my graduation theses I compare two products {--} investment life insurance and open muttual funds. The investment life insurance is Flexi 2009 from Pojišťovna České spořitelny, a.s. and open muttual funds is Evropslá penze Plus/Baby from Conseq Management Investment, a.s. The similar products are in the czech market many, but is not possible to characterise and compare all. Investment life instance is more difficult product than open muttual funds. Especially is adress those, who has commitment to third persons, for example familly or long loan. Open muttual funds is a form of savings, which offer interesting assesment investment instruments. I can´t say, that one product is better than second. For me both muttualy added. From existencial reasons is more necessary life insurance in result cover human risks of clients and their familly. I would recommend clients, who want conclude investment life insurance or enter in world of investing in the form of open muttual funds to not restrict to selection only one insurance or investment company. In time of charge wars are prices very different in almost the same products. Client should have a comparison ond offers selected products from more financial institucions or financial advisors, who have almost all company under {\clqq}one roof`` and they can select. They should know, what is for their clients important, what not and mainly why.

Institutional Investors own a large share of publicly traded companies, controlling a significant amount of the economy‟s working capital. These investors currently use little or no sustainability-related information to make their decisions, reinforcing a loop of increasingly unsustainable growth. This paper puts forward a new investment strategy that recognizes true movement towards sustainability and its link with bottom line benefits for investors: Strategic Sustainable Investing (SSI). To achieve this desired future, Institutional Investors must be able to recognize corporations that are strategically leading the transition towards sustainability. An Analysis Tool was developed to help address this need by identifying sectoral Emerging Sustainability Issues (ESI) using a consensus-based scientific definition of sustainability. Once ESIs are identified, companies‟ strategies regarding each issue are assessed. This Tool was scrutinized by a panel of experts in the financial and sustainable development industries, and was tested on three companies within the Unconventional Oil &amp; Gas Sector in Canada. Results confirmed the usefulness of a tool that can recognize which companies are leading the sustainable development agenda, and identified the need for future research on the financial materiality of sustainability-oriented actions.