Sweden is one of the countries in the world where investing in mutual funds is most prevalent among the population. The supply of funds in the market has increased significantly in recent decades as well as the public debate on ethical issues. This has contributed to the development of the market for ethical funds. There is no clear definition of what an ethical fund is but generally it is a fund that takes into account factors related to social responsibility in different ways. This study analyzes the ethical funds historical performance levels in comparison with the corresponding traditional mutual funds. Three questions have been answered with the help of quantitative and qualitative analysis. A computational model has been constructed in Excel to analyze historical data from a range of ethical funds and traditional mutual funds. The results of the calculations are the basis for the quantitative portion of the analysis. These have been supplemented by external expertise. The effects, which the commodity prices have had on the yield differences between traditional and ethical funds, have also been studied. In this study, the price of oil has been chosen to illustrate these effects. It is not possible to reliably reach any general conclusions about how ethical funds as a fund category have performed in comparison with the corresponding traditional mutual funds. However, a pattern is observed, that the risk levels for the selected ethical funds, during the periods studied when the market went sharply up or down, respectively, were higher in all cases. The reason for this seems to be the diversification problems that have arisen due to the ethical constraints, something that both the underlying theory on the subject and the discussion with one of Swedbank Roburs portfolio manager’s support. The increased level of risk has contributed to the fact that ethical funds have found it harder to reach an equivalent risk-adjusted rate of return when the bull and the bear markets were examined. / Sverige är ett av de länder i världen där sparandet i fonder är som mest utbrett bland befolkningen. Utbudet av fonder på marknaden har ökat markant de senaste decennierna och i takt med att samhällsdebatten kring etiska frågor ökat, har en ny marknad vuxit fram, marknaden för etiska fonder. Det finns ingen tydlig definition på vad en etisk fond är men generellt är det fonder som tar hänsyn till faktorer kopplade till socialt ansvarstagande på olika sätt. Denna undersökning analyserar etiska fonders historiska prestationsnivåer i jämförelse med motsvarande traditionella aktiefonder. Tre frågeställningar har besvarats med hjälp av kvantitativ och kvalitativ analys. En beräkningsmodell har byggts i Excel i syfte att analysera historisk data från ett urval av etiska fonder och traditionella aktiefonder. Resultaten från beräkningarna ligger till grund för den kvantitativa delen av analysen som därefter har diskuterats med extern expertis. Råvaruprisernas effekter på skillnader i avkastning mellan traditionella och etiska fonder har också analyserats. I denna undersökning har oljepriset valts för att studera dessa effekter. Det går inte att med säkerhet komma fram till några generella slutsatser kring hur etiska fonder som fondkategori presterat i jämförelse med motsvarande traditionella aktiefonder. Dock kan ett mönster observeras under de perioder som undersökts då marknaden gått kraftigt uppåt respektive neråt, nämligen att risknivåerna för de utvalda etiska fonderna varit högre i samtliga fall. Anledningen till detta tycks vara de diversifieringsproblem som uppstått till följd av de etiska restriktionerna, något som bakomliggande teori inom ämnet och intervju med en av Swedbank Roburs förvaltare stödjer. Den ökade risknivån bidrar till att de etiska fonderna haft svårare att uppnå en likvärdig riskjusterad avkastning när den uppåtgående och den nedåtgående perioden granskats.

This study uses a sample of 600 companies from Europe to investigate the risk-adjusted returns of four portfolios with high and low ESG ratings between 2011 and 2021. Four asset pricing models and additional measures for risk and return are tested on different portfolio weights. The findings show that there are no statistical differences in risk-adjusted returns between portfolios with high and low ESG scores. These findings are evident when sole capital gain is considered, and when dividends are reinvested. Differences can however be discerned between portfolio weights. All portfolios show excess returns when adjusted for risk factors in the market. The results from this study contribute to the literature surrounding ESG assets by providing evidence of how high- and low-rated ESG stocks have performed in the European market. This study has practical implications for actors in the capital markets, as it is evident from the results that ESG ratings have no apparent effect on the risk-adjusted returns of a portfolio. If sustainability is of high importance, high ESG companies offer the advantage of aligning financial performance with stakeholder goals, as well as providing adequate returns.

Many studies have been published on active versus passive management, yet there was a significant gap in how Scandinavian-managed equity funds perform during intense crises, specifically the 2019-2023 period. The study investigated whether Scandinavian actively managed funds could achieve higher risk-adjusted returns than Scandinavian passively managed funds during two intense crises, Covid-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war. The efficient market hypothesis (EMH) was introduced to analyze markets' efficiency and help determine active managers' ability to outperform passive funds with market information. The data consisting of 95 funds was analyzed with a direct quantitative comparative analysis guided by objective ontology and positivist epistemology. To analyze the data over time, a cross-sectional time series was implemented to analyze patterns during the five-year period. The comparison between active and passive funds was performed with the risk-adjusted return, measured by the Sharpe ratio. Our findings showed consistent results that active fund management lacks a significant advantage over passive index funds in four out of five portfolios, aligning with our hypothesis. The results also support the EMH, suggesting that there is market efficiency. The findings provide implications for investors' decision-making process as the study contributes to the discussion on whether active or passive funds are the superior choice. During the period of 2019-2023, the optimal investment decision to achieve the highest risk-adjusted return was to invest in passively managed funds. While the research acknowledges behavioral aspects of fund managers during crises, future research should delve deeper into qualitative factors influencing the management strategy.

Višnevska V., Lietuvos KIS rizikos ir grąžos palyginamoji analizė: Finansų rinkų studijų programos magistro baigiamasis darbas / vadovas Prof. habil. dr. A. Buračas; Mykolo Romerio universitetas, Ekonomikos fakultetas, bankininkystės ir investicijų katedra. Vilnius, 2007. 69 psl. Šiame darbe pristatomos plačiausiai paplitusios kolektyvinio investavimo subjektų (KIS) rūšys bei galimi jų klasifikavimo bei kategorizavimo pagrindai, apžvelgiami žinotini investicinės grąžos bei investicijų rizikos teoriniai bei praktiniai aspektai, apžvelgiami KIS sektoriaus veiklą reglamentuojantys ES ir nacionaliniai teisės aktai, pristatoma KIS sektoriaus problematika Europos Sąjungoje bei Lietuvoje, pateikiama KIS rizikos bei grąžos kompleksinio vertinimo specifika, pristatomas universalus bet kokio tipo KIS vertinimo algoritmas, įvairiais pjūviais analizuojama jauna LR KIS rinka. Pirmojoje darbo dalyje pristatomas tyrimo objektas, antrojoje bei trečiojoje – tyrimo dalykas, o darbo empirinėje dalyje nagrinėjama reali 2007 metų rugsėjo 30 d. LR egzistavusi KIS įvairovė, sudaromas jų reitingas remiantis atlikta rizikos ir grąžos palyginamąja analize bei trumpalaikės grąžos palyginimu. Remiantis išsamiai pristatytais pasaulinėje praktikoje nusistovėjusiais metodais suklasifikuoti fondai buvo vertinami pagal individualius jų rizikos ir grąžos parametrus naudojantis matematiniais bei analitiniais metodais bei MS Excel duomenų analizės funkcijomis ir rezultatų apdorojimo programa SPSS. Pirma... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Višnevska V., Comparative Analysis of Risk and Return of The Lithuanian Collective Investment Undertakings: Financial Markets Study Programme Final Master Thesis / supervisor Prof. Habil. Dr. A. Buračas, Banking and Investment Department, Faculty of Economics, Mykolas Romeris University. Vilnius, 2007. 69 p. This master thesis reviews the most widespread types and classifications of mutual funds, overlooks the most important theoretical and practical aspects of investment return and investment risks in Lithuania. The work overlooks the collective investment undertakings (CIU) sector problems within the European union and Lithuania, present legal acts regulating CIU activity at the EU and national level, provides specific mutual fund risk and return complex evaluation methods, suggests universal algorithm for analyzing any type of mutual fund and analysis of the young Lithuanian mutual fund market using different cross-sections. The first part of the paper presents the object of the study – mutual fund concept, their variety and possible classifications. In the second and third parts the theoretical and practical aspects of investment risks and return are disclosed, whilst the empirical part is composed of analysis of the variety of mutual funds that existed as of September 30, 2007, provides Lithuania based mutual funds rating in accordance with the performed risk- return and short term return analysis. Funds were classified based on the througoughtly presented methods and... [to full text]

The interest for sustainable funds have increased recently. ESG has become a part of companies everyday life and SRI a part of the investment strategies used by equity funds. In lack of research in the field of mutual equity funds, we choose to investigate how investment strategies in “social responsible investment” (SRI) affect the risk-adjusted return. The study investigated 51 equity funds between 2014 and 2019 that had been reporting their sustainability strategies in the so called “hållbarhetsprofilen”. From this information portfolios were constructed based on the funds strategic work in comparison to conventional funds counterparts. Carhart fourfactor model were used to calculate the risk-adjusted return, the sharpe ratio to determine return in relation to the another measure of risk and the strandarddevation to calculate the total risk in each portfolio. The study concluded that all swedish equity funds worked with combinations of several SRI strategies to implement sustainable investment. In line with previous research our results show that funds managed with a strategy of low rate exclusion show a higher risk-adjusted return compared to strategys with higher exclusion rates. The conclusion though, after statistical testing was that the results could not be proven significant between the two groups of SRI-funds, meaning that we could not prove any difference in risk-adjusted returns between the groups. Further the results showed that the total risk-exposure between SRI and conventional equity funds, due to reduced diversification was not higher in SRI funds in comparison with their conventional peers. Nor did we find any evidence for ESG-integration to dampen total risk during the time for investigation. / Intresset för hållbara fonder har ökat på senare tid. ESG har blivit en del av bolagens vardag och SRI en del av förvaltarnas strategier. Då det saknas forskning inom området på aktiefonder har vi valt att undersöka hur investeringsstrategier inom “Socially Responsible Investment” (SRI) påverkar den riskjusterade avkastningen. Studien undersökte 51 stycken aktiefonder mellan 2014 och 2019 som hade rapporterat sina hållbarhetsstrategier via den så kallade hållbarhetsprofilen. Från denna information skapades portföljer beroende på fondernas strategiska arbete som sedan jämfördes med konventionella fonder som motsvarigheter. Carhart fyrfaktormodell användes för att beräkna den riskjusterade avkastningen, sharpekvoten för att utröna avkastning i förhållande till risken och standardavvikelsen för att beräkna den totala risken i portföljen. Slutsatserna av undersökningen blev att samtliga aktiefonder arbetar med kombinationer av flera hållbarhetsstrategier för att genomföra hållbara investeringar. I linje med tidigare forskning visade resultaten även att exkludering i låg grad uppvisar en högre riskjusterad avkastning jämfört med en högre exkluderingsgrad. Detta resultatet var dock efter statistiskt test inte signifikant, vilket i sin tur genererade slutsatsen att den riskjusterade avkastningen inte påverkades av i vilken grad fonden använde sig av negativ screening. Den totala risken påverkades varken av att SRI-fonderna i jämförelse med de konventionella fonderna haft sämre möjligheter till diversifiering eller att SRI-fondernas på grund av ESG-integrering kunnat minska risken.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-06-15T13:29:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexandre Berlanda Costa.pdf: 625532 bytes, checksum: 7a02a02ff657753f6ba5d14030cb8622 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-15T13:29:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexandre Berlanda Costa.pdf: 625532 bytes, checksum: 7a02a02ff657753f6ba5d14030cb8622 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-27 / Nenhuma / A existência da Anomalia de Ações de Baixo Risco (AABR) conflita com duas teorias econômicas tradicionais: a hipótese da eficiência de mercados e o trade-off risco/retorno. Essa anomalia permite que os agentes de mercado explorem uma provável ineficiência do mercado adotando uma estratégia de investir em ações de baixo risco e obter retornos superiores se comparados com ações de risco maior. Estudos anteriores já comprovaram a presença da AABR no mercado brasileiro. Além de investigar a presença, essa pesquisa investiga também a persistência e a magnitude da AABR, utilizando cinco modelos de precificação de ativos com os seguintes fatores de risco: mercado, tamanho, valor, momento e iliquidez. O método escolhido consiste na análise do desempenho de carteiras de ativos (Qn) formadas por quintis dos coeficientes betas de mercado obtidos em cada modelo, sendo o desempenho das carteiras determinado por quatro medidas de performance. As carteiras de ativos são formadas e avaliadas com ações negociadas na BM&FBOVESPA no período de 2001 a 2013; sendo os coeficientes betas dos ativos estimados em relação à carteira teórica IBOVESPA. A comparação das performances das carteiras Q1 e Q5 possibilitou identificar a presença e persistência da AABR na maioria das estratégias de montagem e retenção de carteiras. Os resultados, apesar de persistentes e economicamente relevantes, não são estatisticamente significantes. Na comparação entre os modelos de precificação, o modelo de Dois Fatores foi o que apresentou os melhores resultados em todas as medidas de performance, demonstrando a importância do efeito de liquidez na escolha dos ativos para a determinação da AABR. / The existence of the Low-Beta Stocks Anomaly (LBSA) conflicts with two traditional economic theories: the efficient-market hypothesis and the risk-return tradeoff. This anomaly could allow market participants to exploit a market inefficiency through adopting a strategy of investing in low risk stocks, hence obtaining superior returns compared to those of higher risk stocks. Previous studies have identified the presence of the AABR in the Brazilian market. This research investigates not only the presence of the LBSA in the Brazilian Market but also its persistence and magnitude of the LBSA by using five asset pricing models, including factors such as market risk, size, value, momentum and illiquidity. The method adopted herein consists in analyzing the performance of stocks’ portfolios (Qn) that were built based on the market beta coefficients obtained in each model. This performance was evaluated through four performance measures. Stock’s portfolios were build with stocks traded in the BM&FBOVESPA stock exchange, in the period 2001-2013. Stocks’ beta coefficients were estimated considering the IBOVESPA index’s theoretical portfolio as a proxy for the market portfolio. Through the comparison of Q1 and Q5 portfolios’ performance, it was possible to identify the presence and persistence of the LSBA in most of the portfolio building and holding strategies adopted. The results, however persistent and economically significant, were not statistically significant. Comparing the different asset pricing models, the Two-Factor model achieved the best results in all performance measures, demonstrating the importance of the liquidity effect on the choice of the assets to exploit the LBSA.

Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2014. / The use of a Covered Call strategy has long been favoured by investors the world over for its potential to enhance yield in a long-only equity portfolio. There already exists a wealth of research examining the risk and return features and theories of this strategy. This paper aims to contribute to this debate by conducting research that is specific to the South African equity market and considered from the perspective of a retail investor, particularly by tracking the negative friction induced by transaction costs. It also seeks to answer the question of which Covered Call strategies provide the best risk-adjusted returns by pricing various expiry range and moneyness combinations over differing market trend phases during a 13-year period of trade on the JSE.

<p>The purpose of the thesis has been to explore the use of hedge fund styles when constructing portfolios of hedge funds (i.e. funds of hedge funds). The central question is if the use of hedge fund styles can significantly explain and improve risk adjusted returns (characterized by Sharpe ratios). The study has been done in collaboration with Optimized Portfolio Management AB who desire further knowledge and evaluation of hedge fund styles for their fund of hedge funds.</p><p>To be able to create successful ex ante portfolios we have explored various prediction models for both risk and return. Our findings indicate that return prediction is problematic using simple models such as regression since the risk exposure of the indices appear to change significantly over time. One can however using exponentially weighted moving averages (EWMA) achieve relatively promising estimations of future returns. </p><p>Covariance matrix estimation seems to be more straightforward. We have achieved promising results using both traditional EWMA models as well as improved estimators using principal component analysis.Covariance prediction models were evaluated separately using a minimum-variance portfolio optimization technique and provided a significant risk reduction compared to the aggregated hedge fund universe (represented by a naively diversified portfolio). Combinations of risk and return prediction models were evaluated using traditional mean-variance portfolio construction methods, which were optimized for Sharpe ratios. These provided a significant increase in risk adjusted returns relative to the aggregated hedge fund universe. The allocation is however discouraging due to serious instability over time.</p><p>Our findings indicate that there indeed is an advantage of taking hedge fund styles into consideration when constructing funds of hedge funds in a risk adjusted perspective. However, further research into return prediction needs to be done in order to stabilize portfolio allocation. An alternative seems to be tactical style allocation on a more fundamental analysis basis.</p>

The purpose of the thesis has been to explore the use of hedge fund styles when constructing portfolios of hedge funds (i.e. funds of hedge funds). The central question is if the use of hedge fund styles can significantly explain and improve risk adjusted returns (characterized by Sharpe ratios). The study has been done in collaboration with Optimized Portfolio Management AB who desire further knowledge and evaluation of hedge fund styles for their fund of hedge funds. To be able to create successful ex ante portfolios we have explored various prediction models for both risk and return. Our findings indicate that return prediction is problematic using simple models such as regression since the risk exposure of the indices appear to change significantly over time. One can however using exponentially weighted moving averages (EWMA) achieve relatively promising estimations of future returns. Covariance matrix estimation seems to be more straightforward. We have achieved promising results using both traditional EWMA models as well as improved estimators using principal component analysis.Covariance prediction models were evaluated separately using a minimum-variance portfolio optimization technique and provided a significant risk reduction compared to the aggregated hedge fund universe (represented by a naively diversified portfolio). Combinations of risk and return prediction models were evaluated using traditional mean-variance portfolio construction methods, which were optimized for Sharpe ratios. These provided a significant increase in risk adjusted returns relative to the aggregated hedge fund universe. The allocation is however discouraging due to serious instability over time. Our findings indicate that there indeed is an advantage of taking hedge fund styles into consideration when constructing funds of hedge funds in a risk adjusted perspective. However, further research into return prediction needs to be done in order to stabilize portfolio allocation. An alternative seems to be tactical style allocation on a more fundamental analysis basis.

Due to globalization investors have increasing opportunities to invest on international markets for diversification purposes. This thesis illustrates the added risks of investing internationally due to volatile exchange rates. The purpose is to analyze how a volatile exchange rate affect the risk and return of a portfolio invested in Sweden, when the investor is located in Japan, United Kingdom or the USA. To analyze the effect of exchange rate volatility the focus is on a portfolio consisting of Swedish stocks from the Stockholm Stock Exchange (SSE) O-list. First the risk and return to a hypothetical Swedish investor not exposed to exchange rate volatility is calculated. Then the effects the exchange rates had on the risk and return if a US investor, UK investor and a Japanese investor invested in the same portfolio is analyzed. For the historical period 2005 the portfolio generated a return of 34.36% and a risk of 7.7%. The empirical work showed that for the international investors the risk was increased with between 1.95% – 410.52% and that the actual return decreased due to weakening currencies against the Krona. In an attempt to predict future exchange rate movements the thesis analyses two financial relationships, PPP and IRP, to calculate equilibrium movements. Both PPP and IRP predicted a depreciation of the Dollar and Pound Sterling against the Krona over the next period, but an appreciation of the Yen against the Krona over the same period. The analytical discussion covers the importance of a well functioning financial system, the institutional effects on exchange rates and the confidence in government policies and their ability to succeed in doing what has been promised.