WHAT WAS DONE? This study researches the success of several value investment strategies in the stock markets of the United Kingdom and Germany based on nine firm fundamentals that are extracted from listed firms annual financial statements. In this regard, we first examine alternative forecast combination methods in a novel way to utilise fully the financial information at hand. Second, we examine the drivers of investment returns, particularly the role of information uncertainty, for which a new direct measure is developed. Finally, we evaluate the performance of these financial health investment strategies in alternative institutional environments by focusing on the differences between the two markets regarding both their corporate culture and their legal environment. WHY WAS IT DONE? Similar to economics, the discipline of finance is a social science because its observations emanate from economic transactions between humans. Nevertheless, a significant part of the research in this area is undertaken by means that are almost exclusively applied to the natural sciences, such as mathematics or physics. Although the reasons seem manifold, an increased form of scientificity, in conjunction with greater credibility of the research process and results, is deemed to be of primary importance. However, the benchmark for evaluating these research outcomes differs from those used in the natural sciences. From the example of the efficient market hypothesis one can see that alternative research results that cast serious doubt upon efficiency per se are disregarded as aberrations, leading to the assumption that the hypothesis in its entirety is more or less valid. This study assumes that inefficiencies in the stock market do exist for prolonged periods of time and investors are actually able to benefit from them. HOW WAS IT DONE? Secondary financial statement data of listed companies in the United Kingdom and Germany were downloaded from Datastream for the period between 1992 and 2010. A quantitative analysis of the significance of the correlation between groups of firms with similar financial characteristics and their one-year-ahead stock returns was subsequently performed. Various combination methods for differential weighting of individual financial statement items were conducted. The aim was to increase the profitability of the investment strategy. WHAT WAS FOUND? In general, a classification of stocks according to certain internal criteria of financial health is capable of separating future winners from losers and at the same time confirms the results of a previous US study. More specifically, we first show that a wide range of combination methods generate profitable investment strategies whereby especially measures of profitability are the central indicator of a firm s future performance. Secondly, the more complex methods neither consistently nor substantively outperform the simpler methods. Thirdly, information uncertainty does not seem to be the prime driver of the profitability of an investment strategy. Lastly, we show that financial health investment strategies are profitable both in market-oriented, common law settings and in bank-oriented, code law settings.

The aim of this thesis is on stock valuation and possible methods of determining the internal value. The focus is on alternative method -- value strategy. This strategy is practicaly demostrated on evaluating a concrete company.

The purpose of this thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of the term impact investing and examine how Nordic impact investors manage risk, return, and social and/or environmental in emerging markets. Relevant aspects to impact investing have been identified to enable this thesis to be conducted. The thesis derives from a qualitative research method, this to gain a deeper understanding of the term and how Nordic impact investors conduct their business in emerging markets. The thesis is based on a deductive research approach due to that the term impact investing has a limited amount of previous research.   The literature review highlights relevant theories related to the research questions. The concepts presented are impact investing, emerging markets, dual interest, and risk management. These theories have later been put into a conceptual framework to showcase the interconnections. From the conceptual framework, three main concepts (impact investing, dual interest, and risk management in emerging markets) have been established and then later analysed based on the empirical data gathered from a multi-case study.   The analysis chapter includes a comparison and discussion between the empirical findings and the literature review in order to answer the thesis research questions. Furthermore, the analysis follows the same concepts presented in the operationalization. The final chapter reveals the conclusions drawn based on the analysis conducted. The final chapter further highlight implications both theoretical and practical, followed by suggestions for future research. The theoretical implications of the thesis pinpoint that impact investing require conceptual clarity to raise more awareness and gain recognition. Furthermore, risk management is an essential part of conducting investments in emerging markets. The practical implications showcase that impact investing can be conducted in several different ways and that there are no distinct patterns on how to manage impact investments best. Furthermore, the thesis stresses the importance of impact investing in emerging markets.

A theme of the master’s thesis is to describe current state of capital market and pension system in the Czech Republic. It includes a list of laws that are relevant to this topic. Foreign pension systems are also described. A main is Proposel Part where for concrete person are proposed variations of saving or investing to keep money in reserve for retirement. In each variation is described advantage and disadvantage of this solution.

Tato disertační práce se zaměřuje na problematiku investování a podporu rozhodování pomocí moderních metod. Zejména pokud jde o analýzu, hodnocení a výběr tzv. brownfieldů pro jejich redevelopment (revitalizaci). Cílem této práce je navrhnout univerzální metodu, která usnadní rozhodovací proces. Proces rozhodování je v praxi komplikován též velkým počet relevantních parametrů ovlivňujících konečné rozhodnutí. Navržená metoda je založena na využití fuzzy logiky, modelování, statistické analýzy, shlukové analýzy, teorie grafů a na sofistikovaných metodách sběru a zpracování informací. Nová metoda umožňuje zefektivnit proces analýzy a porovnávání alternativních investic a přesněji zpracovat velký objem informací. Ve výsledku tak bude zmenšen počet prvků množiny nejvhodnějších alternativních investic na základě hierarchie parametrů stanovených investorem.

Att slå marknaden har varit ett kontroversiellt ämne inom akademin under en väldigt lång tid.Enligt EMH, en grundläggande finansteori, är det inte möjligt att “slå marknaden” under enlång tid utan att ta högre risk. Hedgefond-förvaltaren Joel Greenblatt publicerade år 2006 enformel som ska kunna prestera över marknaden till lägre risk, även långsiktigt, The MagicFormula. Denna studie utvärderar en Magic Formula-portfölj på den svenska marknaden i syfteatt undersöka om den kan generera en abnormal avkastning i perioden år 2000-2020. Dettagenomförs genom en kvantitativ analys. Resultaten visar att Magic Formula-portföljensintercept är signifikant skiljt från 0 i Fama & Frenchs trefaktormodell som inkluderar enmarknads-, storleks- och värdefaktor. Eftersom de riskpremier som testats för inte förklararavkastningen dras slutsatsen att antingen är trefaktormodellen bristfällig, eller så existerar enanomali kopplat till strategin.

Syfte: Företagens påverkan på samhället kopplat till ansvarsfulla investeringar är inget nytt. De senaste årens ökade kapitalflöden från en bred samling investerare mot hållbara investeringar leder fram till den här studiens syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom en uppdelning av nordiska finansiella bolag i portföljer utifrån ESG-betyg undersöka om ESG-betyget påverkar den riskjusterade avkastningen i de olika portföljerna. För att svara på denna högaktuella fråga genomför författarna i studien en tidsresa bakåt i tiden bland tongivande forskare, och, i flera fall nobelprisvinnares finansiella teorier för att finna svar. Önskan är att binda samman dessa med 2020-talets investerare och dess frågeställning om hållbara kapitalplaceringar.  Metod: Genom en kvantitativ forskningsansats avser denna att studie att kontrollera om det finns ett samband mellan finansiella bolags ESG-betyg och den riskjusterade avkastningen under perioden 2011 till 2020. Totalt analyseras 48 bolag med ESG-betyg och 84 bolag utan betyg. Resultat och slutsats: Studien visar inget tydligt samband mellan ESG-betyg och riskjusterad avkastning för nordiska finansiella bolag. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar till forskningsområdena CSR, ESG-betyg och hållbara investeringar genom att visa på att dessa inte har något tydligt samband till varandra. Det praktiska bidraget visar att fondinvesterare inte bör betala en premie för hållbara fonder samt att det står aktieinvesteraren fritt att välja mellan finansiella bolag med eller utan ESG-betyg. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Det föreslås att forska vidare på ämnet insiderhandel kopplat till hållbarhet, för att se om företagsledning agerar opportunistiskt på information rörande hållbarhet på ett liknade sätt som vid finansiell information. / Purpose: The link between the impact of corporations on society when it comes to responsible investing is no new thing. The latest years increased capital flows from a wide range of investors to sustainable investing leads to the purpose of this study; The purpose is to investigate how ESG score is impacting the risk adjusted return in a range of portfolios based on the ESG score of the underlying companies. To answer this current question the writers are making a time travel backwards to see what the theories of renounced, and sometimes Nobel Prize awarded, scientists can tell. Then connect these theories with the investors of 2020 and their questions on sustainable investing. Method: Through a quantitative research approach, this study intends to check whether there is a connection between financial companies' ESG score and the risk-adjusted return they provide during the period 2011 to 2020. A total of 48 companies with ESG score and 84 companies without score are analyzed. Result & Conclusions: The study shows no clear relationship between ESG score and risk-adjusted return for Nordic financial corporations. Contribution & Conclusions: The study contributes to the research areas CSR, ESG score and sustainable investments by showing that these have no clear connection to each other. The practical contribution shows that fund investors should not pay a premium for sustainable funds and that it shows that stock investors can freely choose between financial companies with or without ESG score. Suggestions for future research: It is suggested to study the field of insider trading linked to sustainability, to see if that information is valued in the same way as financial information.

The housing and service sector in Sweden are estimated to be responsible for 40 % of the total primary energy usage (Energimyndigheten, 2011). There exist a lot of inventions that have the possibility to greatly improve the environmental performance of a building´s LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) (Swentec, 2012) (Rutqvist, 2008). In order to achieve implementation of new innovative sustainable installations in buildings it is important to understand the process during the investment decision. Understanding the decision making process used in practise, is the first step towards creating a strategy for how to get a new technology implemented. By conducting a survey including both contractors and developers in Sweden an overview of the building sectors standpoint on environmental sustainability is achieved. In order to refine the information and achieve a more detailed picture of the issue the survey was followed up by In-depth interviews.The findings show that valuation techniques are varying a lot between companies but surprisingly many of the companies do use inferior methods such as pay back-time for investment calculations. Overall in the construction business technical and economic risk aspects are not being valued explicitly but rather through the use of product ratings and brand promise of well-known suppliers. Negative externalities are not being included in the calculations and the valuation of intangibles is not done explicitly but rather seen as implicitly derived from the cost and value of sustainability certifications.

In recent years there has been an increasing trend of investors to search for and invest in more sustainable assets. Given this fact, the question arises whether these investors are paid back a premium for their investment, or whether they trade in a lower return but intentionally do something “sustainable”. And on top of that, are more sustainable assets less volatile and more resistant to fluctuations of the market, or is there an inverse correlation?Whilst research within equities, in general, has led to a wide range of research output on risk and performance in regard to the companies’ Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) rating, research within the Real Estate industry is still rather scarce. By utilizing a variety of risk and performance indicators, this work has looked at a wide range of in Europe publicly traded Real Estate companies, over a period of 5 years. By relying on data from different ESG data providers, the author of this work has come to rather mixed results both in regard to performance as well as risk, depending on the dataset used. These mixed results can be partially explained by the difference in the assessment of ESG data and the grading methods of the dataset providers. Lastly, a large lack of data on ESG reporting of the analyzed firms has been observed during the course of this work. This fact has unfortunately condensed the scope of this study. However, it is expected that through public regulations, obliging companies to publish data on ESG, this issue will be resolved, leading to more extensive studies on this field in the future. / Under de senaste åren har det funnits en ökande trend bland investerare att söka efter och investera i mer hållbara tillgångar. Med tanke på detta faktum uppstår frågan gällande huruvida dessa investerare får tillbaka en premie för sin investering, eller om de utsätts för en lägre avkastning, dock med en medveten avsikt att göra ett mer ”hållbart” val. Utöver detta, är mer hållbara tillgångar mindre volatila och mer motståndskraftiga mot fluktuationer på marknaden, eller gäller snarare ett motsatt samband? Medan forskning inom aktier generellt sett har lett till ett brett utbud av forskningsresultat inom risk och prestation med avseende på företagets Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG), så är fastighetsbranschen i sin helhet ett relativt outforskat område. Genom att använda en mängd olika risk- och prestationsindikatorer har denna studie analyserat flera datauppsättningar kring börsnoterade fastighetsföretag i Europa, under en 5 års period. Genom att förlita sig på data från olika ESG-dataleverantörer har författaren till detta arbete kommit till ganska blandade resultat med avseende på prestanda och risk, beroende på vilken datauppsättning som analyserats. Dessa blandade resultat kan delvis förklaras av skillnader i bedömning av ESG-data och graderingsmetoderna hos datauppsättningsleverantörerna. Slutligen har en stor brist på data om de analyserade företagens ESG-rapportering observerats under arbetets gång. Detta faktum har tyvärr minskat omfattningen av denna studie. Det förväntas dock att denna fråga kommer att lösas genom offentliga regleringar som tvingar företag att publicera data om ESG, vilket kan leda till mer omfattande studier på området i framtiden.

This thesis investigates the two investment strategies Dogs of Dow and The Magic Formula. We test how the strategies perform when getting weighted to ESG scores and also if they outperform OMXSPI during the years 2012-2022. What we find in our study is that when returns are risk adjusted, both Dogs of Dow and The Magic Formula and their ESG weighted portfolios outperform the benchmark during the period. We also conclude that ESG weighted portfolios yield lower returns than equally weighted Dogs of Dow and The Magic Formula portfolios. The portfolio that produce the highest return was the equally weighted Dogs of Dow portfolio. For the value at risk we find that on a five percent significant level, the portfolios observe values from -1,55% to -1,69%.