Over the last three decades, scholars in management, policy, and geography have examined the growing economic, social, and spatial impact of the financial sector. Venture capital firms have been a focus, generating a contested but deep literature around the roles of such "value-adding" capital providers in supporting the growth of firms, industries, and various territorial innovation models. In parallel, there has been substantial government support-financial, regulatory, and otherwise-of these private sector financial intermediaries, despite scepticism. The past twenty years have seen the emergence and rapid growth of analogous funders in the third sector, itself the realm of substantial experimentation and growth. These new intermediaries, "venture philanthropists", have become important players in shaping, structuring, and channelling funding to the third sector. The activities and effects of venture philanthropists are underexplored, as are their growing interactions with governments-despite intentional and striking similarities between the evolution of venture capital and that of venture philanthropy. This dissertation addresses these gaps by systematically examining the emergence, evolution, and operational practices of two influential British venture philanthropy funds: the first such fund in Europe (Impetus Trust) and the first fund in the world co-created with the state (Inspiring Scotland). The two venture philanthropy organisations (VPOs)-one with roots in venture capital, the other with roots in the voluntary and government sectors-both conducted the venture capital-inspired operational model of venture philanthropy in similar ways. That said, the VPOs reflected the logics and practices of their founders and funders. Impetus Trust more closely resembled early-stage venture capital, with a reliance on London-based networks, funders, and service providers-and a heavily London-focused portfolio. Inspiring Scotland evidenced the logics of government rather than charity in several instances, with substantial original research into social issues, heavily structured portfolios on set timelines, and regionally-distributed staff. This approach broadened access, allowing support of SPOs and their clients across various (and underserved) geographies, but limited options for opportunity-driven or expressive functions of philanthropy. I surveyed the CEOs of most organisations supported by the two venture philanthropy funds (82 of 98 charities and social businesses), supplemented by interviews of selected CEOs and the founders and staff of the two funds. I find that, overall, the two VPOs each engaged in seven core activities of venture capital, intentionally adapting them to the third sector: sourcing and selection, due diligence, an engaged relationship, provision of funding, provision of non-financial support, creation of network linkages, and intentional exiting of relationships. As in venture capital, this process had broader effects: providing signals of investee quality, preparing investees for subsequent funding, and expanding networks. The combination of long-term relationships and high formal reporting requirements imposed significant costs for SPOs-and also created a virtuous cycle of trust and collaboration between VPOs and SPOs. The venture philanthropy model also had broader societal effects, creating data regarding individual organisations and the efficacy of responses to social issues, which in both cases informed policy. As intermediaries, venture philanthropists decreased power differentials and improved the flow of (oft-anonymized) information amongst funders, statutory bodies, and funded organisations, facilitating several types of collaboration. SPO managers indicated that they received, on average, approximately ten different types of non-financial support-like strategy consulting, human resources support, or legal counsel. These managers reported in interviews and surveys that the non-financial services provided by venture philanthropists were highly valued, on average. Further, managers believed these services provided more value than it cost the VPOs to provide them. Likewise, managers highly valued most forms of new networking connections (though not all services or linkages were found to be valuable). Smaller SPOs valued services and network links more highly than larger SPOs, although all sizes of SPOs indicated both were valuable, on average. Importantly, this data was provided by SPO managers and focused on the SPO-VPO dyad-rather than provided by VPOs and focused at the portfolio or trust level. This filled an important gap in the literature: academics and practitioners often lament that the voices of charities supported by foundations are not often enough heard, which limits our understanding of many aspects of organizational philanthropy and its effects-in particular the burdens and benefits for recipient organisations. I documented the co-creation of the first government-supported venture philanthropy fund through eleven interviews with founding managers and government officials. This model, in which state, private, and civil society actors collectively founded and funded a value-adding capital provider, militates against neoliberal assumptions of an ever-diminishing state, as does the leveraging of private resources in alignment with state aims-though it raises concerns around democratic processes, accountability, and local control. This work helps inform the changing nature of the voluntary sector and its relationship with the state. I focus on the increasing interaction of actors between and across systems-sometimes in new roles and coordinated by new intermediaries-in the allocation of resources and delivery of services in the public interest. These new interactions inform broad bodies of work that seek to understand changing sectoral roles, most notably discourses surrounding neoliberalism(s), financialisation, and public management. Overall, I find privately- and publicly-funded venture philanthropy playing a role in the third sector analogous to the role of venture capital in the private sector, with similar practices and concomitant effects in data generation, network formation and strengthening, facilitating partnerships, and signalling the quality of supported organisations. By examining two such emerging models of capital provision, I contribute grounded understanding of the way such systems are created and function across the private, public, and third sectors.

The increasing amount of power and potentially negative impacts that corporations exert within society has become a growing concern for many people. In response to this and due to the changing role of business in society, more and more members of social groups, who are affected by corporate activities, are claiming their rights to be better informed of and more involved in corporate decision-making. Consequently, the need for companies worldwide to be more accountable for the ways in which they conduct their business has grown at a tremendous rate. Especially during the last decade, companies have globally been placed under increasing pressure from different stakeholder groups to demonstrate and prove their commitments to the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In order to facilitate and guide these CSR-commitments, society has for many years already begun to implement various standards of behaviour/performance, which corporations need to achieve in order to be accepted as being part of the citizenry. However, despite an abundance of such standards in terms of CSR-related guidelines and codes, a clear need has been identified for the development of better measuring tools of CSR, in order to efficiently assess and monitor companies’ performance. The Bench Marks is one of the most comprehensive sets of social and environmental criteria and business performance indicators available. It offers an ethical standard on which to base decisions about global corporate social responsibility. Consequently, the need arose from the Bench Marks Foundation - in collaboration with the Bench Marks Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility at the North-West University – to develop the current Bench Marks CSR Framework into a practical measuring instrument. This need has successfully been fulfilled through this research by means of two methods, namely a literature review and an empirical study. During the literature study, the concepts CSR and Corporate Personality were contextualised - particularly with the investigation of related concepts; as well as critically examined - specifically in terms of their theoretical measurement properties. During the empirical research, quantitative research techniques have been utilised which involved: the application of certain ‘theoretically recognised phases’ of measuring instrument development; as well as a survey in the form of a ‘preliminary measuring instrument’ (in questionnaire format) that was administered on a random sample respondents (n = 350), including the statistical analysis of the results. 189 Questionnaires were completed, which gave a response rate of 54%. The statistical analysis mainly served as an effective guideline for determining the best CSR items (in terms of reliability and validity) to be included in the final version of the instrument. Apart from measuring CSR performance in line with the Bench Marks, the instrument that has been developed by this study, can also be used as a measuring mechanism for Corporate Personality. This is achieved by assessing company behaviour in terms of the theoretical dimensions of CSR (economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic) and Sustainable Development (economic, social and environmental). In doing so, this instrument provides companies with a unique way of identifying their status of being true Corporate Citizens. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Sociology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Examensarbete, Civilekonomprogrammet, Ekonomihögskolan vid Linnéuniversitetet Författare: Gustav Johannesson och Martin Westport Handledare: Andreas Stephan Medbedömare: Anna Stafsudd Titel: Sambandet mellan Corporate Social Performance och finansiell risk - En kvantitativ studie som undersöker nordiska företag Bakgrund: Företags sociala ansvar har ständigt funnits på företagsagendan under senaste åren efter ökade globala utmaningar och större påtryckningar från intressenter. Man kan se allt större risker som är kopplade till företags hållbarhetsarbete. Med bakgrund till detta finns det ett stort intresse och en uppåtgående trend kring hållbara investeringar där Norden är ledande inom området. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att förklara sambandet mellan Corporate Social Performance, både på en sammanslagen och individuell nivå, och finansiell risk. Metod: Genom den deduktiva forskningsansatsen och den kvantitativa forskningsstrategin som är baserad på paneldata testar författarna sina hypoteser. Författarna bygger sina hypoteser på intressentteorin och riskhanteringsteorin som testas med ett nordiskt urval på 144 företag under tidsperioden 2002-2016. Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att det finns ett negativt samband mellan Corporate Social Performance och finansiell risk. Det finns även ett negativt samband mellan företags sociala prestationer och finansiell risk. Detta är i linje med författarnas förväntningar. Däremot visar resultatet inga samband mellan företags miljömässiga och styrningsmässiga prestationer och deras finansiella risk. / Degree Project, The Business Administration and Economics Programme, School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University Authors: Gustav Johannesson and Martin Westport Supervisor: Andreas Stephan Co-assessor: Anna Stafsudd Title: The relationship between Corporate Social Performance and Financial Risk - A quantitative study that examines Nordic companies Background: Corporate Social Responsibility has been on the corporate agenda in recent years following increased global challenges and greater pressure from stakeholders. One can see more risks associated with corporate sustainability. This has led to a great interest globally and an upward trend in Socially Responsible Investing where the Nordic region is at the leading edge. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explain the relationship between Corporate Social Performance, both at a combined and an individual level, and financial risk. Method: Through the deductive research approach and the quantitative research strategy that is based on panel data, the authors test their hypotheses. The authors base their hypotheses on stakeholder theory and risk management theory and test them with a Nordic sample of 144 companies over the period 2002-2016. Conclusion: The study results show that there is a negative relationship between Corporate Social Performance and financial risk. There is also a negative relationship between social performance and financial risk. This is in line with the authors’ expectations. However, the results show no relationship between companies’ environmental and governance performance and their financial risk.

Submitted by Anish Narang (anish.narang2015@fgvmail.br) on 2015-02-25T13:01:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Anish narang.pdf: 1328100 bytes, checksum: 030185d48abceb21a619de4e291e2ddc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2015-03-03T12:46:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Anish narang.pdf: 1328100 bytes, checksum: 030185d48abceb21a619de4e291e2ddc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2015-03-03T12:46:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Anish narang.pdf: 1328100 bytes, checksum: 030185d48abceb21a619de4e291e2ddc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-03T12:48:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Anish narang.pdf: 1328100 bytes, checksum: 030185d48abceb21a619de4e291e2ddc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-10-30 / This paper deals with the subject of mitigating high ‘Equity Capital’ Risk Exposure to ‘Small Cap’ Sector in India. Institutional investors in India are prone to be risk averse when it comes to investing in the small cap sector in India as they find the companies risky and volatile. This paper will help analyse ‘Key Factors of success’ for ‘Institutional Investors’ whilst investing in Small Cap sector in India as some of these Indian small cap stocks offer handsome returns despite economic downturn. This paper has been harnessed carefully under the influence of expert investors, which includes Benjamin Graham (Security Analysis); Warren Buffet; Philip Fisher (Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits); and Aswath Damodaran.

Dans la théorie financière classique, les marchés sont supposés efficients et lesinvestisseurs sont réputés rationnels. Ils sélectionnent leurs portefeuilles sur la base deparamètres financiers définis, en fonction de leur propre aversion au risque. Avec ledéveloppement de l’Investissement Socialement Responsable (ISR) dans le milieu des années90, un vaste champ de recherche s’ouvre en sélection de portefeuilles. En effet, lesinvestisseurs intègrent des éléments extra-financiers dans leur stratégie de gestion de portefeuille, en rupture avec la théorie financière classique.Ainsi, le développement de ce nouveau type d’investissement a enthousiasmé lacommunauté scientifique et les publications académiques se sont multipliées. Cependant ces recherches se sont concentrées sur les performances des ISR des grandes places financières occidentales, avec des résultats divergents. L'objectif de cette thèse est d’approfondir l'analyse du comportement financier des fonds et indices SR issus de trois marchés émergents – Afrique du Sud, Brésil et Inde – compte tenu des risques spécifiques de ces places financières et de ces fonds, et d’apprécier leur intérêt en termes de diversification internationale des portefeuilles.Notre thèse se compose de quatre chapitres indépendants, qui suivent une certainelogique d’écriture et de composition afin de répondre au mieux à nos questions de recherche. Les deux premiers chapitres introduisent l’objet et le champ de cette étude. Ils présentent un intérêt essentiellement théorique pour conceptualiser l’objet de la recherche et contextualiser son champ d’application.Les deux derniers chapitres sont consacrés aux analyses empiriques. Les ISR y sontanalysés comme objets de performances financières pures, mais aussi comme vecteurs de diversification de portefeuille ce qui, à notre connaissance, est encore relativement absent des publications académiques. D’autre part, deux échelles de temps et d’espace ont été croisées en scindant la recherche selon les différentes phases de la crise financière de 2008, et en analysant les performances en dimensions locales et internationales. Sur le champ théorique, cette étude apporte de nouveaux éléments concernant la compréhension des ISR dans une logique interculturelle, en questionnant la perception del’éthique, les stratégies financières qui en résultent, et leurs impacts économiques. Lesrésultats empiriques ont démontré l’intérêt financier des ISR dans ces trois marchés en termesde performances et de diversification de portefeuilles, d’un point de vue domestique etinternational. / According to traditional financial theory, markets are deemed efficient and investors rational. They base the choice of their portfolios on well-defined financial parameters, following their own risk aversion. With the development of socially responsible investments (SRIs) in the middle of the 90s, a vast domain of research became available when selectingone’s portfolio. Indeed, investors integrate new elements which are out of the financial scope to their strategy of portfolio management, thus diverging from the traditional financial theory. The birth and development of this new type of investments has triggered the scientific community’s enthusiasm with more and more academic publications being written on the matter. Research has mostly tackled SRIs related to the main western marketplaces withdiverging results. The objective of this thesis is to deepen the analysis of the financial behavior of these funds and socially responsible indicators from three emerging markets – South-Africa, Brazil and India – while taking into consideration the risks specific to thesemarketplaces and funds, and to appreciate their interest in terms of internationaldiversification of portfolios.This thesis is divided into four independent sections which follow a certain logic in writing and composition in order to answer our questions in the best way possible. The two first sections will introduce the subject and domain of this research. They will mostly deal with the theoretical aspect in order to conceptualize the research’s subject and put it into context. The two following sections will focus on empirical analysis. SRIs will be analyzed as pure financial performances, but also as vectors of diversification for portfolios which is, to our knowledge, relatively absent from academic publications. Moreover, two scales were used for space and time, dividing the research according to the different phases of the 2008financial crisis and by analyzing performances following local and international dimensions. On the theoretical aspect, this study brings new elements concerning the comprehension of SRIs in a cross-cultural context, by questioning ethical perception, resulting financial strategies, and their economic impact. The empirical results have shown the financial interest for SRIs in these three markets in terms of performance and diversification of portfolios, from both a domestic and an international point of view. / Na teoria financeira clássica, os mercados são supostamente eficientes e osinvestidores supostamente racionais. Esses últimos selecionam suas carteiras de açõesbaseando-se em parâmetros financeiros definidos em função do seu sentimento de aversão aorisco. Com o desenvolvimento do Investimento Socialmente Responsável (ISR), meados dosanos 90, abriu-se um vasto campo de pesquisa em seleção de carteiras de ações. De fato, osinvestidores integram dados extra-financeiros na elaboração de suas estratégias de gestão dascarteiras de ações, rompendo, assim, com a teoria financeira clássica. O desenvolvimento desse novo tipo de investimento entusiasmou a comunidadecientífica e multiplicaram-se as publicações acadêmicas. As pesquisas concentraram-se nasperformances dos ISR nos grandes mercados financeiros ocidentais, obtendo-se entretantoresultados divergentes. O objetivo dessa tese é aprofundar a análise do comportamentofinanceiro dos fundos e índices SR nos mercados emergentes – África do Sul, Brasil e Índia –levando em conta seus riscos específicos e apreciar o seu interesse no que concerne adiversificação internacional das carteiras de ações.Nossa tese compõe-se de quatro capítulos independentes seguindo uma lógica deredação e composição afim de responder da melhor forma possível as questões da pesquisa.Os dois primeiros capítulos introduzem o objeto do campo de pesquisa. Eles apresentam uminteresse essencialmente teórico para conceituar o objeto da pesquisa e contextualizar o seucampo de aplicação. Os dois últimos capítulos são consagrados as análises empíricas. Os ISR sãoanalisados como objetos de performances financeiras puras e também como vetores dediversificação das carteiras de ações, o que, a nosso conhecimento, ainda é relativamenteausente das publicações acadêmicas. Por outro lado, duas escalas de tempo e espaço foramcruzadas dividindo a pesquisa segundo as diferentes fases da crise financeira de 2008 eanalisando as performances a nível local e internacional.No campo teórico esse estudo traz novos elementos para a compreensão dos ISRdentro de uma visão intercultural, questionando a percepção da ética, as estratégiasfinanceiras resultantes e seus impactos econômicos. Os resultados das análises empíricasdemonstraram o interesse financeiro dos ISR nos três mercados em termos de performances ede diversificação tanto no nível nacional que internacional.

Syfte: Det huvudsakliga syftet är att testa om Piotroskis F_SCORE tillämpat på aktier med hög book-to-market kvot kan överavkasta marknadsportföljen samt, som en konsekvens av detta, undersöka vilken grad av marknadseffektivitet som föreligger. Det sekundära syftet är att tillföra ett kunskapsbidrag till företagsledare om relevansen i book-to-market kvoten. Metod: Detta är en kvantitativ studie som utgår från ett positivistiskt synsätt och en hypotetiskt-deduktiv ansats. Statistiska tester i form av regressionsanalyser har utformats för att bestämma resultatets signifikansnivå. Den empiriska datan har inhämtats från databasen Thomson Reuter Datastream och sammanställts i Excel för att sedan analyseras i statistikprogrammet Stata. Resultat & slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att värdeportföljen överavkastar marknadsindex samt att den gör det över en längre tidsperiod. Det går också att fastställa att den riskjusterade avkastningen för värdeportföljen är högre än för marknaden, vilket tyder på att överavkastningen inte beror på en högre risk. Det går dock inte att avgöra om den effektiva marknadshypotesen råder eller ej, däremot går det att utesluta att den starka och semi-starka formen av marknadseffektivitet gäller. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: För att studera vidare huruvida den svaga formen av marknadseffektivitet råder är ett förslag till vidare forskning att göra en studie utifrån Contrarian modellen för att använda teknisk analys som endast tar hänsyn till historiska kursrörelser för att förutspå framtida avkastning. Ett annat förslag till vidare forskning är att genomföra en liknande studie som denna men då bortse från book to market kvoten och istället köpa aktier med ett F_SCORE högre eller lika med 5 samt att blanka de aktier som har ett F_SCORE under 5. Det tredje förslaget är att studera vidare kring sambandet mellan avkastning och anomalier som småbolagseffekten, likviditet och beteendefinans för att få en tydligare förståelse för vad som orsakar överavkastningen. Uppsatsens bidrag: Det teoretiska bidraget är att den aktuella investeringsstrategin överavkastar marknadsindex för vald tidsperiod utan en nödvändigtvis högre risk. F_SCORE antar en normalfördelningskurva där de bolag som har F_SCORE över fem generellt presterar bättre. Resultatet visar även att book to market kvoten är ett användbart nyckeltal för bolagsvärdering. Det praktiska bidraget är att det kan vara av vikt för företagsledare att fokusera på book to market kvoten för att locka investerare. För investerare är bidraget att denna investeringsstrategi kan slå marknadsindex utan att risken i portföljen ökar. / Aim The main aim is to test if Piotroskis F_SCORE applied on stocks with high book-to- market ratio outperforms the market portfolio and therefore determine the level of market efficiency. The secondary aim is to provide knowledge to business executives about the relevance of a book-to-market policy. Method This study is a quantitative research which assumes a positivistic research philosophy with a deductive approach. Several regression analyses have been used to confirm the statistical significance of the different estimated parameters. The empirical results give answers to two hypotheses based on the aim of this research. The empirical data have been collected from Thomson Reuter Datastream, compiled in Excel and analyzed with the statistical software Stata. Result & Conclusions The empirical results of this study show that the value portfolio has a higher return than the market index. The risk-adjusted return for the value portfolio is higher compared to the market portfolio. This indicates that the higher return of the value portfolio is not due to a higher risk. By the results of this study there is not possible to determine whether the market is fully efficient or not. It is only possible to exclude the strong and semi-strong form of market efficiency. Suggestions for future research For future studies, we suggest further research about the weak form of market efficiency. Using historical data to determine future return, as Contrarian model, is one suggestion to reach further evidence of market (in)efficiency. Since F_SCORE assumes a normal distribution and because of the poor performance of the low F_SCORE firms another suggestion is short-sell these stocks to see if the return ca be increased. This empirical field needs further research about which factors that causes the higher return for these stocks. The small firm effect, liquidity and behavioral finance are just a few anomalies that may have a relationship with excess return. Contribution of the thesis The investment strategy in this research shows a higher excess return compared to the market index as well as a higher risk-adjusted return over the given period. This is not only a contribution to investors but also in a theoretical field due to the efficient market hypothesis. F_SCORE have a normal distribution curve where the stocks with F_SCORE of 5 or higher generally have a higher mean return. Another contribution is the relevance of book to market ratio as a useful strategy for valuating companies. The practical contribution gives business executives better understanding about the relevance of a book-to-market policy when attracting investors.

本文以全球第一個演算法交易雲端平台－Quantopian進行研究，藉由平台社群討論區內公開之演算法交易策略，透過交易策略篩選和初步優化，以演算法交易策略為投資標的，搭配不同權重策略建構投資組合。權重策略部分，本文提出適用於組合式交易策略的績效指標加權 (Performance Index Weighted) 法，應用因子投資的觀念，融合排序相關性較低、不同面向之績效指標作為報酬率驅動因子，並參考Asness et al. (2013) 以因子排序作為權重計算依據，提供了簡單直覺、非最適化求解而且穩健的加權方式，更直接地將交易策略各面向績效的優劣反應在權重上。 根據數值分析，發現組合式交易策略長期而言，整體績效表現平均優於個別演算法交易策略，最小變異、績效指標加權和均等權重投資組合的風險亦明顯低於個別交易策略，且最小變異、績效指標加權和均等權重投資組合在降低投資組合風險的同時，並未犧牲過多報酬，風險調整後績效表現優於個別交易策略。而績效指標加權投資組合之年化報酬率、風險衡量和風險調整後績效表現皆優於最小變異、平均數－變異數、均等權重的加權投資組合，此種權重策略可使投資組合之夏普比率 (Sharpe ratio) 顯著提升，且投資組合的風險大幅降低，最大跌幅 (Max drawdown) 在四年半的實驗區間內降至10%以下的水準，風險調整後績效優異。 透過Quantopian社群演算法交易平台，個人投資者也能站在巨人的肩膀上學習，集合眾人的力量，憑藉量化交易創造出和機構法人一樣具有競爭力的投資組合。如Chan (2009) 所言，個人投資者也能憑藉量化交易，設計一套演算法交易策略。 / Quantopian is a crowd-sourced hedge fund which allows members on the platform to develop their own algorithmic strategies and even get capital allocations from Quantopian. In this paper, we constructed portfolios by Quantopian trading platform and proposed Performance Index Weighted method which generate consistently profit in our study. First, we filtered algorithmic trading strategies shared on the Quantopian community and improved the performance slightly. Second, we combined multiple algorithmic strategies with varied portfolio weight method, such as minimize-variance, performance index weighted, mean-variance, and equal weighed method to construct a portfolio. To elaborate, Performance Index Weighted portfolio is actually an application of factor investing, in which the portfolio weight depends on the ranking of performance index (factors), and these index measure returns, risk, and also risk-adjusted returns, which truly reflects how well the algorithmic strategy is. As a result, we used the performance index as a return driver and invested more in well-ranked strategies directly. Performance index weighted is a simple, robust, and fully intuitively way to construct a portfolio. In numerical analysis, we found that using multiple strategies to construct a portfolio could generate better performance than a single algorithm strategy on average. Moreover, the annual returns, risk measure, and risk-adjusted returns of Performance Index Weighted portfolio turn out to be better than minimize-variance portfolio, mean-variance portfolio, and equal weighted portfolio. As a result, Performance Index Weighted portfolio has significantly higher Sharpe ratio and lower Max Drawdown (lower than 10% in our out-of-sample test) than other portfolios, which shows excellent risk-adjusted performance. Most important of all, retail traders could learn more precisely by standing on the shoulders of giants through Quantopian trading platform. Also, by collecting wisdom from the crowd, we create an opportunity for retail traders to construct competitive portfolios just as institutional investors do.

This diploma thesis is engaging in investing on international stock markets and the main objective was to analyze the profit potential with consideration of possible risks. At first I have characterized international stock market and the theory of effective markets. In the second chapter I was focusing on methods that are used for stock valuations. The third chapter is comparing particular investment strategies that proved to be profitable in a long term. The secondary objective of my diploma thesis was recognition of investment risks, thus the fourth chapter is engaging in market and exchange rate risks. The fifth chapter is focusing on the hedging of exchange rate risk. I was applying obtained theoretical knowledge on a case study about BP company. All the results of the analysis were included in the final investment recommendation. The thoughts of the investment recommendation were then generalized into common investment principles.

The thesis focuses on a content and a relevance of a statement of cash flows in relation to business non-financial entities. It is based on the IAS 7 and supplemented by the Czech accounting standards. The thesis defines cash and cash equivalents, deals with a structure of a statement of cash flows, presents specific cash flows and ways of interpretation of cash flows. It also contains rules for creating a consolidated statement of cash flows. The practical part of the thesis examines an ability of a specific economic software to make a statement of cash flows in accordance with the Czech accounting rules.

The green bond market offers investors the opportunity to take an explicit focus on sustainable investment projects. However, it is yet to be determined whether this novel asset class offers attractive yields compared to non-green bonds. To address this question, we study European green bonds and how they diverge from conventional bonds in terms of yields. Using a dataset of 88 matched pairs of European green bonds between 2015 and 2019, we document a significant negative green bond premium of -12 bps on average in the secondary market. The green bond premium is defined as the yield differential between a green and a conventional bond while controlling for liquidity. The results suggest that European investors accept a lower financial return in exchange for receiving non-pecuniary benefits and thus challenging the assumptions of classical asset pricing models. Furthermore, we use a matching method and two-step regression to control for liquidity and identify the determinants of the green bond premium. The results show that the negative green bond premium is less pronounced for lower-rated bonds. Moreover, we find support for variations in the green bond premium across different business sectors. Government-related green bonds experience a greater negative green bond premium than green bonds related to financials and industrial corporates.