In this thesis, I study the performance behaviour of hedge funds and mutual funds. I study a basket of various risk statistics that are widely used to measure the fluctuation of asset prices. Those risk statistics are used to rank the performance of the assets. The linear dependence relation of these risk measures in ranking assets is investigated and the set of risk measures is reduced by excluding risk measures that produce linearly dependent ranking vectors to other risk measures. The ranks within each of the selected remaining risk statistics are standardised and then linearly transformed into a new set of linearly independent factors where principal component analysis is carried out as a variable reduction technique to remove the noise while preserve the main variation of the original data. The transformed factors are sorted in descending order according to their contribution to the variation of the original data. The factor loadings of the first two principal components PC1 and PC2 are reviewed and interpreted as styles (PC1 as consistency and PC2 as aggression). The universe of a set of hedge funds is classified according to these styles as BL=(low consistency, low aggression), BR=(high consistency, low aggression), TL=(low consistency, high aggression) and TR=(high consistency, high aggression). I examine the performance behaviour of the four different classified classes whereby this classification method provides an indication on returns and management styles of hedge funds. A three-factor prediction model for asset returns is introduced by regressing 12 weeks' forward rank of return on the historical ranks of risk statistics. The first few principal components, which explain the main variation of information captured by risk statistics, are used in the prediction model. The robustness of the model is tested by applying the model to the following 12-week period using the set of independent factors. An investment strategy is constructed based on the prediction model using the set of independent factors. I discover high evidence of predictability and I test for out-of-sample forecasting performance. I then examine the use of subsets of risk statistics from the basket rather than using the set of all risk statistics. I further study the use of the so-called σ2/μ risk measure in predicting the market “turning point” of performance of a portfolio of hedge funds. Risk measure quantity σ2/μ replaces the traditional variance σ2 in the Black-Scholes option valuation formula when it is evaluated for hedge funds.

This thesis deals with the issue of investment decision. The goal of thesis is to evaluate for the company owners optimal investment variant of predetermined investment opportunities. Thesis is divided into theoretical-methodological part, which summarizes all the methods and procedures and practical part. The practical part consists mainly of net present value calculations, which chosen input data will be afterwards analyzed by sensitivity test. Application of these apparatuses will reveal the best investment opportunity, respectively their combination

The purpose of this work is to determine the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country's economy (for example, Russia and the Republic of Tajikistan). The paper examines the nature and types of foreign investments, analyzes foreign theoretical concepts of foreign investments, systematizes, describes the investment climate of Russia and Tajikistan, and determines their place in global investments. Recommendations for improving the investment policy of the countries reviewed are proposed. For the first time, foreign investments were classified according to various criteria, and as a recommendation it was suggested that foreign investments include funds made by migrants for the purchase of patents and licenses. The practical value of the work in identifying the main directions of improving the investment climate of the countries considered. / Цель данной работы определить роль прямых иностранных инвестиций (ПИИ) в экономике страны (на примере России и республики Таджикистан). В работе исследованы сущность и виды иностранных инвестиций, проанализированы и систематизированы зарубежные теоретические концепции иностранных инвестиций, описан инвестиционный климат России и Таджикистана и определено их место в глобальных инвестициях. Предложены рекомендации по улучшению инвестиционной политики рассмотренных стран. Впервые проведена классификация иностранных инвестиций по различным признакам и в качестве рекомендации предложено к иностранным инвестициям отнести средства, вносимые мигрантами на приобретение патентов и лицензий. Практическая ценность работы в определении основных направлений улучшения инвестиционного климата рассмотренных стран.