Robo-advisory is a new service in the financial market and is designed to support financial decisions. Previous researches show that attitudes toward robo-advisory are an important aspect of their acceptance, and therefore this study is designed to investigate how the attitudes to robo-advisory is affected by five chosen factors. Previous studies also show a lack of financial literacy in young women leading to poor investment decisions. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to study how the factors influence the attitudes toward robo-advisors from a perspective of a young women in order to see if robo-advisory could be used as a substitute for financial literacy. This qualitative research was conducted on ten young women age​ 20-30. The collected data has then been transcribed, and then analyzed based on a content analysis with categories created for the purpose of the survey. The result shows that without financial literacy or previous use of robo-advisory in their social circle, the perception of risk and trust for robo-advisory is unlikely to change. It also shows that previous bad experience of robot-based systems affect the attitude toward robo-advisory negatively. This research can be useful in the design of robo-advisory and how to shape the service to get this target group to start using it. Because attitudes have a major impact on the use of the service, the results of this survey are a good basis for companies to relate to.

Risk and tracking error budgeting was originally adopted by large institutional investors, including pension funds, plan sponsors, foundations, and endowments. More recently, risk and tracking error budgeting have gained popularity among financial advisors, multi-managers, fund of funds managers, high net worth individuals as well as retail investors. These techniques contribute to the portfolio optimisation process by limiting the extent to which a portfolio can deviate from its benchmark with regards to risk and tracking error. This is an ambitious paper that attempts to determine the optimal strategy to practically implement risk and tracking error budgeting as a portfolio optimisation technique in South Africa. This study attempts to bridge the gap between active, passive, and smart-beta investment management styles by introducing a low-cost portfolio construction technique, for core-satellite portfolio management, which contributes to the risk and tracking error budgeting process. Core-satellite portfolios are designed to expose the portfolio to a low-cost primary “core” consisting of passive and enhanced index funds, thus systematic risk “beta”, limiting the tracking error of the portfolio. The secondary “satellite” component is allocated to active and smart-beta managers to exploit expected excess return “alpha”. The primary aim of this research is to construct a rule-based product range of core-satellite portfolios called “replica portfolios”. The product range builds on the foundation of the Association for Savings & Investments South Africa (ASISA) framework. The study identifies three “target portfolios” from ASISA's framework, namely (1) High Risk: SA General Equity, (2) Medium Risk: SA Multi-Asset High Equity and (3) Low Risk: SA Multi-Asset Low Equity. Through this framework, active managers from each category are shortlisted using a Sharpe and Information Ratio filter. A secondary filtering technique, namely Returns Based Style Analysis (RBSA) is used to determine the style, R-squared and alpha-generating ability of active managers versus the passive asset classes and style indices they seek to replicate. Applying Euler's theorem for homogenous functions, we decompose the risk of the coresatellite portfolio into the risk contributed by each of its components. The primary mandate of the core-satellite portfolios in the product range is to allocate risk and tracking error efficiently across several investment management styles and asset classes in order to maximise returns while remaining within the specified risk parameters. iii The results highlighted that active managers, after fees, predominantly failed to outperform their benchmarks and passive building blocks, as identified through RBSA over the sample period (October 2009 – September 2019). However, only a small number of active managers generated superior risk-adjusted returns and were included in the core-satellite range of products. This study recommends to investors that they exploit the “hot-hands effect” by investing in specialised, benchmark agnostic active managers who consistently produce superior risk-adjusted returns. By blending active, passive and smart-beta strategies, investors are exposed to less total risk, less risk per holding and a lower tracking error. The three coresatellite portfolios developed in this study generated absolute and risk-adjusted returns that are more significant than their active and passive counterparts. Fee arbitrage was derived through the range of core-satellite products, resulting in tangible alpha over the sample period. The study encourages investors to use smart-beta strategies alongside active and passive funds since it improves Sharpe and Information ratios while enhancing the original portfolio's characteristics.

In times when traditional saving accounts are no longer attractive due to the current interest rates, robo-advisors appears to be an alternative investment utility. Robo-advisor has made investment advisory services available to the general public by offering automated system to allocate assets that is tailored to each individual’s investment needs and risk profile. The successful implementation of robo-advisors depends heavily on the extent of how much customers are fully motivated to use these services. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that affect Swedish consumers intention to use robo-advisors using UTAUT (unified theory of acceptance and use 2) with the extended factors perceived risk and trust. The results indicate that performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation and perceived risk influence how Swedish consumers formulate their behavioral intention to use robo-advisors. / I samband med det låga ränteläget har traditionella sparkonton blivit mindre attraktiva och genererat en ökad efterfråga bland konsumenter på nya investeringsalternativ. Finansiell robotrådgivning har gjort investeringsrådgivning tillgängligt för allmänheten genom att erbjuda automatiserade system för portföljförvaltning. Framgångsrik etablering av finansiella robotrådgivningstjänster beror i vilken utsträckning potentiella kunder är motiverande att börja använda dessa system. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar svenska konsumenters intention till användning av finansiella robotrådgivningstjänster. Studiens undersökningsmodell är baserad på the unified theory of acceptance and use 2 (UTAUT2), med adderade faktorer: uppfattad risk och tillit. Data samlades in via en surveyundersökning och tolkades med hjälp av Partial Least Square Structual Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Resultatet indikerar att förväntad prestation, underlättande förutsättningar, hedonisk motivation och uppfattad risk har betydande effekt för hur intention till användning formas.

Bakgrund: Bakgrunden presenterar digitaliseringens utveckling och jämför det med media som tidigare varit analogt. Därefter redogörs för utvecklingen av automatiserade finansiella rådgivare och de utvecklingsstadier det genomgått. I samband med utvecklingen påträffas olika aspekter hos unga småsparare som påverkar förtroendet som övergången från att använda mänskliga finansiella rådgivare till robotrådgivare. Syftet: Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur företag inom fondförsäljning och aktiemäklarbanker kan nyttja robotrådgivningstjänster bland unga småsparare. Undersökningen fokuserar främst på aspekterna informationsspridning och riskupplevelse.  Teoretisk referensram: Denna studie utgår från tre olika teorier, vilka omfattar Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, Theory of perceived risk och Innovation Diffusion Theory. Metod: Studien utför en kvantitativ ansats genom en tvärsnittsdesign. Urvalsramen inkluderar unga vuxna som är 18 till 30 år. Datainsamlingen genomfördes via sociala medier och skolplattformar, och totalt deltog 151 unga högskolestudenter i enkätundersökningen.  Slutsats: Utifrån resultaten förekommer det en positiv korrelation mellan användningen och riskupplevelsen, vilket gör att robotrådgivare har en möjlighet att attrahera unga vuxna till segmentet.

Bakgrund: Banksektorn genomgår en digital utveckling och förändringen sker i en allt snabb takt. Nya marknadsförhållanden med regelverk, en förändrad konkurrenssituation och ett förändrat kundbeteende har ställt banksektorn inför nya utmaningar och möjligheter som bankerna behöver förhålla sig till för att upprätthålla och stärka förtroendet gentemot sina kunder. Syfte: Studiens huvudsyfte är att undersöka hur banker hanterar förtroenderelaterade frågor under den ökade digitaliseringen inom banksektorn. Vidare syftar studien till att skapa en djupare förståelse för robotiserade rådgivningsprocesser och dess påverkan på bankkundernas förtroende i samband med att den fysiska kontakten mellan bank och kund minskar. Metod: Studien är utav en kvalitativ karaktär med en abduktiv forskningsansats och baseras på intervjuer med fem respondenter med relevanta yrkesroller som berör digitalisering- och förtroendefrågor inom den svenska banksektorn. Slutsats: Studiens resultat påvisar att digitaliseringen medför nya möjligheter och utmaningar som bankerna kan dra nytta av förutsatt att dem hanterar den digitala utvecklingen på ett korrekt sätt. Resultatet tyder vidare på att bankerna behöver förhålla sig till dem förändrade marknadsförhållandena och ständigt bemöta kundernas förväntansbild. / Background: The banking industry is facing a digital transformation and the change is taking place at a rapid pace. New market conditions, a changing competitive situation and a changing customer behavior have put the banking industry in front of new challenges and opportunities that banks needs to manage to maintain and strengthen their customers trust towards themselves. Purpose: The main purpose of the study is to investigate how banks handles trust-related issues in the context of the increased digitalization in the banking industry. Furthermore, the study aims to create a deeper understanding of robo-advising and its impact on banking customers' trust while the physical contact between banks and customers decreases. Method: The study is of a qualitative character and follows an abductive research effort. The study is based on interviews with five respondents with relevant professional roles that concern digitalization and trust within the Swedish banking industry. Conclusion: The study's results show that digitalization brings new opportunities and challenges that banks can benefit from, given they handle the digital development properly. The result further indicates that banks need to manage the changing market conditions and constantly respond to customers' expectations.

近幾年來金融科技快速發展,傳統金融業被破壞式創新顛覆, 智能投顧的興起改變了資產管理行業的傳統模式,填補了一般大 眾理財市場的空缺。隨著互聯網理財模式在中國得到大眾認可, 智能投顧平台在中國開始萌芽,處於探索階段。在這樣的背景下, 本研究以中國智能投顧市場為研究對象,採用歸納法和對比分析 法,探究中國智能投顧業發展趨勢之相關實務。 本文根據前人的研究,對智能投顧的概念、特徵以及類型進 行了總結,歸納全球各國智能投顧業發展現況;根據中國財富管 理市場成熟程度來分析中國智能投顧業發展前景;參考美國智能 投顧發展模式和中國 P2P 網路借貸平台發展模式,歸納出適合中 國發展智能投顧業的經驗:1)讓傳統金融業者成為行業領導者, 2)明確服務範疇,規範從業證照,3)對算法進行嚴格監管,4) 發展被動型基金,財富管理市場產品多樣化,5)儘早建立完善 的風控體系;此外還根據各國智能投顧業之監管措施,對中國監 管機關􏰀出宏觀的監管建議,並希望此研究報告對之後想要進一 步研究智能投顧的學者􏰀供參考。