The goal of this thesis is to measure the concentration risk of a portfolio as a part of a investment risk considered from the view of insurance companies by various methods and also to compare achieved results. Concentration risk in credit portfolios originates in uneven distribution of invested funds to individual obligors and it is important to manage it. In the theoretical part there are two methods presented - one is being used in practice CreditMetrics), the other one, the EU Directive, will be put into effect in the near future (Solvency II). In the practical part the methods are applied on model portfolios and the results are compared in order to decide how the methods reflect the concentration risk.

Decisions, such as choosing between different rewards, are known to be influenced by a number of variables such as value, uncertainty and delay associated with a rewarding outcome. Various structures in the brain are responsible for handling different aspects of reward related decision making. To understand how such decisions are made, we can attempt to reverse engineer the brain. This involves understanding how brain activity is related to the representation and processing of rewards and also to subsequent behavior in response to rewarding events. One of the central elements of the reward circuitry of the brain is the ventral striatum. It has traditionally been known as the limbic-motor interface and thought to act as a link between various structures in the brain that are responsible for processing reward and reward related behavior. To study the neural processes that underlie processing rewards, I recorded from the ventral striatum of rats as they performed a cue-reward task. The aim of my project was twofold: First, to examine how rats behave in response to changes in value and uncertainty associated with a particular rewarding outcome and second, to investigate how rewards and cues that predict rewards are represented in the neural activity of the ventral striatum. Rats (n=6) were trained on a cue-reward task, where cues indicated the mean or variance of associated outcome distributions. Behavioral responses to the reward predictive cues demonstrated that the rats learned the value and risk associated with subsequent reward outcomes. Ventral striatal gamma oscillations are known to align to rewards in a variety of reward motivated tasks. However, it is not clear if these oscillations are associated with anticipation of obtaining the reward or the reward itself. In previous studies, reward delivery has been correlated with the anticipation of reward. In the current work, a delay is used to distinguish between anticipation of reward and the reward delivery itself. This is achieved by making the rats nose poke for a fixed time interval before the arrival of reward. The analysis presented in this thesis reveals that ventral striatal gamma oscillations occur both during the anticipation and delivery of reward, opening up the possibility of formal tests. They also align to arrival of cues that predict rewarding outcomes. This suggests that gamma oscillations might be essential for modulating behavior in response to cues and rewards both before and after reward delivery. Ventral striatum is ideally situated to modulate behavior in response to rewarding events. Past studies show that ventral striatal neural activity is associated with reward and reward motivated actions. However, as suggested by the research presented in this thesis, it is not clear what specific aspects of the decision making process can be attributed to the ventral striatum once learning in complete. Studying the ventral striatum is important because its malfunctioning is implicated in brain disorders such as drug addiction.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to theoretically describe the risks connected to entrepreneurship. Stress is put mainly on financial risks that are related to price shifts of agricultural commodities and to changes in the exchange rates. The basis lies in theoretical identification of the nature of possible risks, methods of risk evaluation and description of instruments that serve for the risk elimination. This theoretical knowledge is further applied in case studies dealing with hedging of commodity and currency risks of firms that conduct business in agricultural basic industry. The analysis of firm's position, demonstration of hedging and final evaluation of efficiency are included.

The graduation thesis addresses the problems of managing and measuring of financial risks in activities of insurance companies. The first chapter handles the definitions of the financial risk and it classification. The second chapter defines a random variable returns of measure of financial assets. Sets up formulas of the return measure and also focuses on problem of time aggregation. The third chapter theoretically describes methodology of value at risk as the most widely used method for measuring and managing risk by insurance companies and regulatory authority. The fourth chapter contains an empirical study from practice which compares the two basic method of computing value at risk. The fifth chapter is the main part of the graduation thesis and focuses on verifying of the model and his imperfections. It verifies also achievements of initial assumptions. The sixth chapter targets on possibilities of extension value at risk method by liquidity risk incorporation.

Banking has a unique role in the well-being of an economy. This role makes banks one of the most heavily regulated and supervised industries. In order to strengthen the soundness and stability of banking systems, regulators require banks to hold adequate capital. While credit risk was the only risk that was covered by the original Basle Accord, with the 1996 amendment, banks have also been required to assign capital for their market risk starting from 1998. In this research, the impact of the market risk capital regulations on bank capital levels and derivative activities is investigated. In addition, this study also evaluates the impact of using different approaches that are allowed to be used while calculating the required market risk capital, as well as the accuracy of VaR models. The implementation of the market risk capital regulations can influence banks either by increasing their capital or by decreasing their trading activities and in particular trading derivative activities. The literature review concerning capital regulations illustrates that in particular the impact of these regulations on bank capital levels and derivative activities is an issue that has not yet been explored. In order to fill this gap, the changes in capital and derivatives usage ratios are modelled by using a partial adjustment framework. The main results of this analysis suggest that the implementation of the market risk capital regulations has a significant and positive impact on the risk-based capital ratios of BHCs. However, the results do not indicate any impact of these regulations on derivative activities. The empirical findings also demonstrate that there is no significant relationship between capital and derivatives. The market risk capital regulations allow the use of either a standardised approach or the VaR methodologies to determine the required capital amounts to cover market risk. In order to evaluate these approaches, firstly differences on bank VaR practices are investigated by employing a documentary analysis. The documentary analysis is conducted to demonstrate the differences in bank VaR practices by comparing the VaR models of 25 international banks. The survey results demonstrate that there, is no industry consensus on the methodology for calculating VaR. This analysis also indicates that the assumptions in estimating VaR models vary considerably among financial institutions. Therefore, it is very difficult for financial market participants to make comparisons across institutions by considering single VaR values. Secondly, the required capital amounts are calculated for two hypothetical foreign exchange portfolios by using both the standardised and three different VaR methodologies, and then these capital amounts are compared. These simulations are conducted to understand to what extent the market risk capital regulations approaches produce different outcomes on the capital levels. The results indicate that the VaR estimates are dependent upon the VaR methodology. Thirdly, three backtesting methodologies are applied to the VaR models. The results indicate that a VaR model that provides accurate estimates for a specific portfolio could fail when the portfolio composition changes. The results of the simulations indicate that the market risk capital regulations do not provide a `level playing field' for banks that are subject to these regulations. In addition, giving an option to banks to determine the VaR methodology could create a moral hazard problem as banks may choose an inaccurate model that provides less required capital amounts.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:30:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luiz Guilherme Azevedo Mauad.pdf: 2910298 bytes, checksum: 249a2bed427bd7a8dc926ab2d3586459 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-07-01 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Purchasing high quality and low price products has become a consumer fixation, mainly where the lowest price is demanded and in reverses auctions, whether electronic or not. The importance of establishing retail prices of projects, products and services has been increasing. Therefore, it has become a strategic and challenging task for managers while also being one of their great fears. In a global and highly competitive market, price setting may influence consumers buying choices: a product s value and quality, which meet their expectations, will sell a product or project. On the other hand, a price inaccurately fixed may turn offers down and lead a company into unwished results. Research shows that markup pricing method is still the most common technique used by companies. However, fixing a price based on this method and taking into account a deterministic cost value may lead a company into making the wrong decisions and taking unnecessary risks. Prices undergo the influence of several costs and market related factors, which, somehow, have some kind of uncertainty risk. Nevertheless, when one is dealing with costs this uncertainty becomes more latent. Therefore, they must be taken into consideration in the company s pricing process. The present research study, based on RiskMetrics concepts such as VaR and, mainly, CorporateMetrics, proposes and applies a pricing model named Cost at Risk based Price (PCeR) in a high technology venture. The model approaches costs incurred stochastically instead of deterministically and takes into account the risks inherent to their composing parameters. The model has proven to be a useful and flexible tool, which offers to managers greater understanding when fixing retail prices. That understanding may assist organizations to reach a market, overcome their competitors and grow profitably. / Adquirir produtos com qualidade e preços baixos tornou-se uma obsessão para o consumidor,principalmente, nas concorrências em que o menor preço é exigido e nos leilões reversos,realizados por meio eletrônico ou não. A fixação de preços de venda para projetos, produtos e/ou serviços adquire, a cada dia, maior importância. Torna-se uma atividade estratégica e um dos grandes desafios para os gestores e, porque não dizer, um dos seus grandes temores. Em um mercado global e altamente competitivo, o dimensionamento de preço pode influir na decisão de compra do consumidor: o estabelecimento de valor e qualidade que atendam à sua expectativa favorece a venda do produto, ou projeto, já um preço mal dimensionado pode fazê-lo refugar ofertas e levar a empresa a resultados indesejados. Estudos mostram que a precificação custo acrescido , ainda hoje, é a técnica mais utilizada pelas empresas, para cumprir essa função. Porém, definir o preço, com base neste modelo e considerar apenas um valor de custo determinístico, poderá levar a empresa a decisões errôneas e riscos desnecessários. Sabe-se que o preço sofre influência de uma série de fatores ligados ao custo e ao mercado que, de certa forma, contêm certo grau de incerteza, porém é nos custos que estas incertezas tornam-se mais latentes. Então, não se pode deixar de considerá-las no processo de precificação da empresa. Este trabalho, baseado nos conceitos propostos pelo RiskMetrics, como o VaR e, principalmente, nas CorporateMetrics, propõe e aplica, em uma empresa de alta tecnologia, um modelo de precificação denominado Preço baseado no Custo em Risco (PCeR), que aborda os custos incorridos não mais de maneira determinística, mas de forma estocástica, levando em consideração os riscos inerentes aos parâmetros que o compõem. O modelo mostrou ser uma ferramenta útil e flexível aos gestores, oferecendo uma maior visibilidade na definição do preço de venda, visibilidade essa que pode levar a organização a conquistar mercado, superar a concorrência e crescer com lucratividade.