We examine the potential gains of using exchange rate forecast models and forecast combination methods in the management of currency portfolios for three exchange rates: the euro versus the US dollar, the British pound, and the Japanese yen. We use a battery of econometric specifications to evaluate whether optimal currency portfolios implied by trading strategies based on exchange rate forecasts outperform single currencies and the equally weighted portfolio. We assess the differences in profitability of optimal currency portfolios for different types of investor preferences, two trading strategies, mean squared error-based composite forecasts, and different forecast horizons. Our results indicate that there are clear benefits of integrating exchange rate forecasts from state-of-the-art econometric models in currency portfolios. These benefits vary across investor preferences and prediction horizons but are rather similar across trading strategies.

A maior evidência da globalização financeira é o crescente fluxo de capitais entre os países. Esse movimento procura capturar as oportunidades de ganhos de capital oferecidas pelos países emergentes aumentando o retorno total ou reduzindo o risco do portfolio. Isso se deve ao baixo grau de correlação entre os países desenvolvidos e alguns países emergentes. Raj (1994), Fry (1994) e Solnik (1991, 2004) encontraram evidências de redução de risco e aumento do retorno via diversificação internacional. Para além da redução do risco, outros benefícios observados para os países receptores foram: o desenvolvimento do mercado de capitais local, a maior liquidez das ações negociadas e o desenvolvimento do mercado financeiro. Este estudo objetiva analisar a contribiuição dos mercados africanos na diversificação do portfolio de investimento internacional. A amostra considera os sete maiores mercados acionários (EUA, Japão, Inglaterra, Hong Kong, Alemanha, Espanha e Suiça), os BRICs (Brasil, China, Rússia e Índia) e os mercados africanos (Namíbia, Botswana, Quénia, Mauritius, Nigéria, Egito, África do Sul e Tunísia). Os outros mercados africanos, não considerados no estudo, devem-se às restrições encontradas nos dados históricos dos mercados de ações. O estudo refere-se ao período do mês de Janeiro de 2000 a Junho de 2007. Os mercados africanos, em geral, tiveram um desempenho superior comparativamente aos mercados desenvolvidos. Usando o modelo Portfolio Selection, encontra-se o portfolio eficiente para o investidor estrangeiro de vários países. O baixo coeficiente de correlação registrado entre os países desenvolvidos e os países africanos reduziu o risco total do portfolio. Botswana, Nigeria, Mauritius e Tunisia foram os países que mais contribuíram na melhoria dos portfolios. A ponderação dos mercados africanos totalizou, aproximadamente, 81% do total do portfolio eficiente. / The greatest evidence of financial globalization is the increasing capital flows among countries. Those investments seek to capture the opportunities provided by emerging economies increasing the total return, or even reducing the risks associated with the portfolios. This is due to the low degrees of correlation among developed markets and some emerging countries. Raj (1994), Fry (1994) and Solnik (1991, 2004) found evidences of risk reduction and of increasing returns of an international diversified portfolio. Other benefits observed for recipient countries were the capital markets development higher levels of liquidity, and more financial development. This aims to evaluate the contributions of African countries to a global diversified portfolio of investments. The sample considered the seven largest equity markets (USA, Japan, UK, Hong Kong, Germany, Spain and Switzerland), the BRICs (Brazil, China, Russia and India) and African markets (Botswana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Egito, South Africa and Tunisia). Other African markets were not included in the analysis due to some restrictions of stock markets data. The study refers to the January 2000 to June 2007 period. African markets in a general way achieved a superior performance compared to developed markets. Using a Portfolio Selection Model we found an optimal portfolio for an international investor. The low correlation coefficient among developed and African countries reduced the risks of the total portfolio. Botswana, Nigeria, Mauritius and Tunisia were the countries that have greater potential for improving the portfolios, the weight of African securities was over 81% of the total portfolio.

Com o ambiente corporativo amplamente competitivo, a necessidade de inovação e geração de novos produtos e serviços se tornou ainda maior para as organizações. O desenvolvimento desses novos produtos e serviços dentro das organizações é representado através de projetos que compete recursos com outros empreendimentos e deve fazer parte da estratégia corporativa. Dentro deste contexto, as organizações possuem um conjunto de projetos quem devem ser identificados, selecionados, priorizados e desenvolvidos. O gerenciamento de portfólio de projetos surge como uma alternativa que visa operacionalizar a estratégia de uma organização através de métodos, processos e ferramentas. Neste sentido, percebeu-se, por meio de uma pesquisa do tipo qualitativa com abordagem exploratória, a necessidade de um trabalho que pudesse verificar o desempenho do portfólio de projetos das organizações e proporcionasse um entendimento sobre as práticas de gerenciamento de portfólio utilizadas por duas empresas selecionadas. Como resultado do estudo, pode-se perceber que houve uma tendência de avaliações positivas por parte dos entrevistados em relação ao desempenho do portfólio de suas empresas, talvez até devido a um cenário anterior de pouca organização. As empresas estudadas apresentaram também processos definidos de gerenciamento de portfólio de projetos, bem documentados, adaptados ao negócio e à realidade das empresas. Em ambos os casos tais processos aparecem suportados por um elemento da estrutura organizacional chamado de Escritório de Projetos ou PMO, contando também com o apoio da alta administração das empresas. Concluiu-se também que os processos apresentados podem ser melhorados com a adoção de práticas presentes na literatura e ainda não utilizadas nas empresas. Por fim, as diferenças observadas entre as empresas pesquisadas não pareceram de grande magnitude, nem tanto significativas, o que sugere a realização de outros estudos nessa área. / In a competitive environment, the need for innovation and new products and services development has become even more important for organizations. The development of new products and services within the organization is represented through projects that compete with other businesses and resources should be part of corporate strategy. In this context, organizations have a set of projects that should be identified, selected, prioritized and developed. The project portfolio management is an alternative that aims to operationalize the strategy of an organization through methods, processes and tools. Therefore, through a qualitative study with an exploratory approach, the need for a research that could check the project portfolio performance and an understanding of the portfolio management practices used by two companies selected. As a result of the study, we could observe that there was a trend of positive ratings by the respondents regarding the portfolio performance, perhaps due to a previous scenario with less organization. The companies studied also had defined processes for project portfolio management, well documented, adapted to their business needs and reality. In both cases these processes appear supported by an element of the organizational structure called the Project Management Office or PMO, also supported by their senior management. It was also shown that the processes can be improved by adopting practices from the literature and not used in business. Finally, the differences between the companies researched did not seem of great magnitude, nor significant, which suggests the need of further studies in this area.

The study critically reviews the application of the Sharia investment screening process, from both Sharia and practical perspectives. In practice, there appears to be inconsistencies in the Sharia investment screening criteria among Islamic investment institutions, especially in terms of the tolerance level, as well as the changing of the Sharia rules. This certainly affects the confidence in the Sharia screening criteria standards, which might adversely affect the Islamic mutual funds industry. The non-income generating aspects, such as social and environmental concerns, are not incorporated in the contemporary Islamic investment screening process. This seems to be rather paradoxical, since it contradicts the Sharia-embedded ethical values of fairness, justice and equity. The thesis contends that external audits regarding the implementation of Sharia rules should be adopted to ensure the compliance of the investment with Sharia guidelines. Furthermore, it is desirable for Sharia boards to adopt corporate governance practice and take proactive roles, especially in Muslim countries, in order to influence companies to adopt Sharia-compliant investment practices. The tolerance levels of conventional finance activities of companies in Muslim countries should be re-evaluated and lowered in the Islamic investment screening criteria. This is partly due to the popularity and wide availability of Islamic banking and alternative Sharia instruments to interest-based finance, coupled with the fact that Muslim shareholders form the majority and hence, can vote to influence companies to adopt Sharia-compliant financing modes. In addition, the study provides empirical evidence that the Sharia screening process does not seem to have an adverse impact on either the absolute or the risk-adjusted performance of Islamic equity mutual funds in Saudi Arabia, compared to their conventional counterpart equity mutual funds and also compared to their market benchmarks. This is regardless of the geographical investment focus subgroup examined and the market benchmark used (whether Islamic or conventional). Furthermore, the systematic risk analysis shows that in most cases Islamic equity mutual funds in Saudi Arabia tend to be significantly less exposed to market risk compared to their conventional counterpart equity mutual funds, and compared to their conventional market benchmarks. Thus, the assumption that Sharia investment constraints lead to inferior performance and riskier investment portfolios because of the relatively limited investment universe seems to be rejected. This implies that Muslim investors in Saudi Arabia can choose Islamic investments that are consistent with their beliefs without being forced to either sacrifice performance or expose themselves to higher risk. The investment style analysis also shows that the Sharia screening process does not seem to influence Islamic equity mutual funds in Saudi Arabia towards small or growth companies compared to their conventional counterparts of similar geographical investment focus. Moreover, the study provides empirical evidence that the performance difference between Islamic and conventional socially responsible indices is insignificant despite applying different sets of screening criteria. However, Islamic indices tend to be associated with relatively lower systematic risk compared to their conventional socially responsible counterparts. Therefore, Islamic investment portfolios can be marketed to socially responsible investors who share similar beliefs in terms of excluding certain industries such as tobacco, alcohol, pornography, defense, etc., in spite of no financial filters being used by conventional socially responsible investors. This finding is especially appealing in Muslim countries where there are usually no mutual funds categorized as socially responsible, but rather Islamic. Moreover, the study also provides empirical evidence that incorporating conventional sustainability criteria into the traditional Sharia screening process does not lead to inferior performance or higher exposure to systematic risk. The results indicate that regardless of the restriction used - whether Islamic, socially responsible or Islamic socially responsible - restricted investment portfolios do not seem to be associated with inferior performance or higher exposure to risk. This finding opens the door for Sharia scholars and Muslim investors to reconsider broader social and environmental aspects as part of the Sharia investment screening process. With regards to investment style, Islamic and Islamic socially responsible indices seem to be skewed towards growth cap as compared to their conventional and conventional socially responsible indices, while Islamic socially responsible also leans towards a large cap. This implies that despite the performance similarity between, Islamic, conventional and conventional socially responsible indices, the returns driver of each type of investment tends to be different.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / F. Todd Goodson / The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent teacher candidates perceive value in the process of constructing an electronic academic portfolio. This study will also attempt to answer what process teacher candidates used in developing their electronic academic portfolios and what value teacher candidates assign to each of the steps in the process as well as how the teacher candidate intends to use the academic portfolio during the final semester prior to the professional semester. A qualitative multi-case study was used to conduct the research. Data collected included a pre and post survey as well as three one-on-one interviews with eleven teacher candidates. Teacher candidates were also asked to keep an electronic journal to answer the following questions. 1. Describe the process you used to create your electronic academic portfolio. 2. Describe your personal frustrations with creating your electronic academic portfolio. 3. Describe your personal triumphs with creating your electronic academic portfolio. The analysis of the data took place throughout the final semester prior to the professional semester, during which time teacher candidates are taking his or her last five restricted methods courses. The researcher recruited one additional reader in the field of education. The reader was trained prior to the actual coding day by the researcher to identify themes from the pilot study. • Theme A: Pride • Theme B: Organization • Theme C: Technology Skills • Theme D: Value • Other The commonalities were coded by the reader and the researcher. The goal of this was to examine teacher candidate perceptions in creating and electronic academic portfolio. Teacher preparation programs must determine if the process of creating an electronic academic portfolio has positive effectiveness.

Using a stylized two period model we obtain portfolio solutions from two solution approaches that belong to the class of local approximation methods - the approach of Judd and Guu (2001, hereafter 'JG') and the approach of Devereux and Sutherland (2010, 2011,hereafter 'DS') - and compare them with the true portfolio solution. We parameterize the model to match mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis of return data on aggregate MSCI stock market indices. The optimal equity holdings in the true solution depend on the size of uncertainty, and the precise form of this relationship is determined by the distributional properties of equity returns. While the DS method and the JG approach provide the same portfolio solution as the size of uncertainty goes to zero, else the two solutions can differ substantially. Because under the DS method portfolio holdings are never approximated in the direction of the size of uncertainty, even higher-order approximations lead to the (zero-order) constant solution in our example model. In contrast, the JG solution generally varies as the size of uncertainty changes, and already a second-order JG solution can account for effects of skewness and kurtosis of equity returns. (authors' abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

The purpose of this study was to explore the conceptions of academics at the NMMU concerning the nature and purpose of teaching portfolios in higher education. The study was guided by the following research question: What are the conceptions of academics concerning the nature and purpose of teaching portfolios in higher education? A case study, involving academics at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), was used to answer the research question. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods research design was employed to collect data from an electronic questionnaire consisting of Likert-scale type of responses and open-ended questions, followed by two focus group interviews with academics that had prior experience in the development of a teaching portfolio. Forty-five academics responded to the questionnaire sent to all the academics at the NMMU, providing a broad perspective on the conceptions of NMMU academics regarding the nature and purpose of teaching portfolios. The two focus group interviews were conducted with six and eight academics respectively who was purposively chosen for their prior experience with the development of teaching portfolios. The aim of the focus group interviews were to elaborate on the data generated by the questionnaire. The quantitative data gathered by the questionnaire was statistically analysed, generating descriptive statistics of the Likert type response statements. The transcripts of the focus group interviews were thematically analysed. The conceptual framework that initially guided the formulation of the sub-research questions was amended to include the themes that emerged from the thematic analysis of the data, namely: the portfolio development process, the uses of and purposes for developing teaching portfolios, the attitudes of academics towards teaching portfolios, and the benefits gained from the development of teaching portfolios. The findings of the study revealed that of the participants find work overload and additional responsibilities as major constraints and collaboration among peers as the most helpful factor in the development of a teaching portfolio. The findings further revealed that the majority of the participants identified items to be included in a teaching portfolio that would enable them to use the portfolio in the development of their teaching. A mixture of attitudes towards teaching portfolios was identified. Some academics (in particular those who have prior experience in the development of portfolios) displayed a positive attitude towards teaching portfolios, while participants reported a negative attitude towards teaching portfolios by most of their colleagues (mostly those who have not developed a portfolio yet). The negative attitudes do seem to overpower the positive attitudes towards teaching portfolios. The challenge to the NMMU would therefore be to get academics to make use of the initiatives provided by the NMMU to assist them with the teaching portfolio development process. Four recommendations that may serve as guidelines to assist in the successful implementation of teaching portfolios at the NMMU were made, based on the findings of the study. Although the results of this study cannot be generalized to other higher education institutions, they do provide insights in the conception of the academics regarding the nature and purpose of teaching portfolios at the NMMU that can be of benefit to other higher education institutions.

No description available.

The Sustained Investigation is a student-directed body of work completed as a requirement of the AP Studio Art (APSA) course. This work involves three audiences: students themselves, their teachers, and AP readers who evaluate their portfolios. Students must consider not only the personal meaning and relevance of their work, but the extent to which that significance can or should be communicated to these outside viewers. Teachers are faced with a related challenge: to guide students through work that is essentially self-defined. The purpose of this research was to document teacher, student, and reader descriptions of the pursuit of worthwhile ideas as they relate to the perceived goals and purposes of the Sustained Investigation. This research was undertaken as a collective case study involving interviews of APSA teachers and students across four school sites, as well as a selection of readers. Findings indicate that the term idea might describe a range of approaches to organizing a body of work, including themes, concepts, political stances, feelings, and other sources or motivations. Furthermore, this work often reflects multiple concurrent ideas, involving primary and secondary goals for one’s work. The development of ideas was often linked to a nonlinearity of practice; ideas were clarified through the process of making rather than beforehand. Respondents indicated that ideas should be meaningful to the creator, largely relating meaning to personal relevance. Meaning might be pursued by selecting topics of personal significance, developing individual creative processes, or reflecting on this experience as an opportunity to fully embody the role of artist. Meaningful ideas were differentiated from successful ones. Notions of success were defined in terms of the degree of internally and externally imposed challenge involved in this endeavor. Participants agreed that students should be considered the primary audience for their own work. For some students, awareness of readers motivated them to take on challenging work, but this awareness did not influence their choice of central ideas. The findings of this study, particularly the nuance in distinctions between idea, meaningful idea, and successful idea, may be useful in informing pedagogical and creative practice in the AP program and beyond.

Merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions have been the subject of numerous studies over the years. The effect of the method of payment in M&A transactions has been studied in first world countries where information transfer is regarded as being highly efficient. The aim of this research was to study the effect of the method of payment to both acquirer and target companies post the announcement of M&A transactions within the context of emerging economies. South African JSE listed firms were used as a proxy for emerging market companies.Event study methodologies are only as sound as the statistical methodologies used to conduct the tests as well as the accuracy with which expected returns can be calculated. This being so, the aim of the research was to apply rigorous testing using various event study methodologies and making use of the literature to ensure that the findings were robust and the testing thorough. The various testing methodologies did not always provide the same findings further emphasising that the results are only as conclusive and robust as the methodologies used.Using the well substantiated event study methodology it was found that target companies do not significantly outperform acquirer firms. Although target companies showed a 12.5% increase over the longest event window being a 120 day window, whilst acquirers only reported 6.40% the difference was not found to be significant. The additional returns to target companies are likely due to the bid premium to stave off competition.Results indicate that acquirer companies using shares as the method of payment do send a negative signal to the market that their shares used as the currency of exchange in the M&A transaction is inflated. As a result acquirer companies using shares underperformed acquirer companies using cash as the method of payment.Finally target companies bought where cash was used as the method of payment outperform targets bought using shares as the method of payment. This is likely due to the capital gains tax implications in the year the M&A transaction takes place where cash is the method of payment.Although South Africa is regarded as being a less efficient market than first world economies with regards to information transfer, based on the study (which focused on large capitalisation companies with high trading volumes) South Africa does show similar results to those of first-world economies for acquirer cash against acquirer share returns as well as for target cash against target share returns, when looking at the method of payment as a market signal in M&A transactions. This research did not however find significantly higher positive returns for target companies against acquirer companies returns. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted