The traditional way to analyze stocks and portfolios within the area of finance have been restricted to Sharpe and Markovitz. The Omega function and its properties enlighten the field of finance and differs from the traditional ways when it comes to the volatility of the stocks. The Omega function, the Sharpe performance criteria and mean-variance model by Markovitz will be used. All calculations are done in Matlab and the data sheets are excel tables. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the nordic small cap market by using the Omega function, Sharpe performance criteria and the mean variance model by Markovitz. In order to to see how the purposed methods differs.

Submitted by Hubertus Schlögl (tassilo.schloegl@web.de) on 2018-02-01T16:37:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Macroeconomic Indicators and Systematic Risk - Is there a difference between Emerging and Developed Markets? Hubertus Tassilo Schlögl 338933 - EESP.pdf: 877788 bytes, checksum: 2e7cfedabad96e3c0375688472e9cb5e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Josineide da Silva Santos Locatelli (josineide.locatelli@fgv.br) on 2018-02-01T17:55:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Macroeconomic Indicators and Systematic Risk - Is there a difference between Emerging and Developed Markets? Hubertus Tassilo Schlögl 338933 - EESP.pdf: 877788 bytes, checksum: 2e7cfedabad96e3c0375688472e9cb5e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-02-02T11:15:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Macroeconomic Indicators and Systematic Risk - Is there a difference between Emerging and Developed Markets? Hubertus Tassilo Schlögl 338933 - EESP.pdf: 877788 bytes, checksum: 2e7cfedabad96e3c0375688472e9cb5e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-01-16 / This explorative study is about the influencing effects of US macroeconomic announcements on changes in systematic risk with the focus on the difference between emerging and developed markets. Seven different US macroeconomic indicators have been examined and used to estimate betas as a proxy for the systematic risk around the announcement dates. In the period from 1996 until 2017, betas have been estimated over a three-month pre- and post window, resulting in 27 announcements per US macroeconomic indicator. The study also tries to provide insights of the consequences for portfolio managers, based on patterns of changes in betas and their relationship with changes in Sharpe ratios. The study results reveal that betas change consistently over the sample period, however, to a small magnitude. Also, the changes in mean Sharpe ratios around these announcement dates have not been found as statistical significant. However, the study results indicate that there is a positive relationship between changes in Sharpe ratios and changes in betas for developed countries as the Pearson correlation coefficient illustrates. / O seguinte estudo analisa a influência das publicações de dados macroeconómicos nas variações do risco sistemático, salientando os diferentes efeitos sobre os mercados emergentes e os países desenvolvidos. Foram examinados sete diferentes indicadores macroeconómicos dos EUA, sendo estes utilizados para determinar uma estimativa dos valores do risco sistémico perto das datas das publicações macroeconómicos dos EUA. No período entre 1996 e 2017, os betas foram estimados sobre um intervalo de tempo de três meses antes e depois de cada publicação, resultando em 27 publicações por cada indicador do EUA. Nesta análise também se tenta explicar as consequências destes efeitos para os gestores de carteiras, baseando-se em padrões de variações dos betas e a sua relação com as variações dos Sharpe Ratios. Os resultados desta análise evidenciam que os betas variam consistentemente ao longo do período da amostra, ainda que numa baixa magnitude. Além disso, as variações no valor médio dos Sharpe Ratios nas datas próximas aos relativos anúncios económicos não são estatisticamente significativas. Contudo, os resultados desta análise indicam que existe uma relação positiva entre variações dos Sharpe Ratios e variações nos betas dos países desenvolvidos, como o coeficiente de correlação de Pearson demonstra.

Bakgrund: De senaste åren har en stark underprissättningstrend observerats i det ökande antalet börsnoteringar, vilket har skapat ett starkt investerarintresse. En stor del av dessa nyintroducerade bolag är småbolag, varav de flesta noteras på mindre handelsplatsformer, så kallade MTF:er. MTF:en Aktietorget introducerade flest företag till den svenska aktiemarknaden 2010-2014, varför detta har valts till studiens undersökningsområde.Tidigare studier har bevisat att det finns en hög volatilitet i nyintroduktioner och småbolag, vilket i finansiella sammanhang betyder att en sådan investering är mer riskfylld. Dock saknas liknande studier på downside volatilitet, alltså risken för förlust. Denna studie ämnar därför att jämföra den traditionellt riskjusterade avkastningen i form av sharpekvoten, mot avkastningen justerad för downside risk, den så kallade sortinokvoten. Detta nyare mått på risk är en del av den postmoderna portföljteorin, som tar hänsyn till en mer förlustaversiv investerare. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att analysera den riskjusterade avkastningen i nynoteringar på Aktietorget för att jämföra med etablerade bolag på OMX Stockholm. Den riskjusterade avkastningen beräknas genom sharpe-respektive sortinokvoten och jämförs sedan för att undersöka eventuella skillnader i bedömningen av aktiernas prestation. Genomförande: Uppsatsen är en eventstudie med deduktiv ansats. Undersökningen har inkluderat nynoteringar på Aktietorget mellan 2010-2014 och jämförelseaktier består av branschindex från OMXSPI.Den riskjusterade avkastningen har beräknats via modifierade kvoter. Samband mellan sharpe-respektive sortinokvoten har undersökts genom icke-parametrisk rangordningskorrelation. Slutsats: Studien kan inte bevisa en signifikant abnormal avkastning i nynoteringar på Aktietorget, men observerar en genomsnittlig överavkastning upp till en månad. De riskjusterade kvoterna har mycket stark rangordningskorrelation, vilket innebär att studiens resultat inte kan motivera en fortsatt användning av sortinokvoten. / Background: In recent years, a strong underpricing trend has been observed in the increasing number of IPOs, which has created a strong investor interest. A large part of these IPO companies are small firms, most of which are listed on smaller trading venues, known as MTFs. The MTF Aktietorget introduced most companies to the Swedish stock market during 2010-2014, so it has been chosen as the area for this research.Previous studies have shown that there is high volatility in new introductions and small companies, which in financial terms means that such an investment contains more risk. However, similar studies on downside risk are lacking. This study therefore aims to compare the traditional risk-adjusted return in the form of the sharpe ratio, against the return adjusted for downside risk, the so-called sortino ratio. This newer measure of risk is part of the postmodern portfolio theory, which takes into account a more loss-aversive investor. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the risk-adjusted return in IPOs on Aktietorget and compare it with the return of established companies on OMX Stockholm. The risk-adjusted return is calculated by the sharpe and sortino ratios, respectively, and are later compared with each other to investigate possible differences in the estimation of performance for the stocks. Methodology: This paper is an event study with a deductive approach. The study has included IPOs on Aktietorget between 2010-2014 and comparative stocks, consisted of industry index from OMXSPI.The risk-adjusted return has been calculated using modified ratios and the relationship between the sharp and sortino ratios has been investigated by non-parametric ranking correlations. Conclusion: The study can't prove any significant abnormal return in IPOs on Aktietorget, but observes an average excess return of up to one month. The risk-adjusted ratios have very strong rank correlation, thus empirical results can't motivate the continued use of the sortino ratio.

Active management funds are associated with higher transaction costs, which is something that has been acknowledged for a long time. The question is whether these costs can compensate with a higher return. This paper investigates how two active strategies, momentum and growth investing, have performed in relation to a passive index. To test this, we investigated the Frankfurt stock market during 2005-2020 on stocks from the automobile sector. By doing this, the purpose was investigated whether growth and momentum has had a higher risk-adjusted return than the benchmark index during the 15 years of observation. The result showed that both growth and momentum performed better than a passive index fund, despite its costly variables. However, the risk adjusted return was not significant higher. This study includes transaction costs in its calculation, which other studies ignore and focus on one industry with a consistent benchmark index for the same industry. By doing this, we believe that the test will be more accurate, and avoid potential industry effects on return and hopefully contribute with new thoughts on the subject.

Diploma thesis deals with the evaluation and the comparison of the performance of mutual funds and investment funds with a focus on the real estate sector. The essence and principles of mutual funds, ETF and REIT are presented, and the resulting weaknesses and advantages. According to the selected indicators, the profitability, riskiness and expense of the investment opportunities are examined and investment recommendations for management of an investment company and potential retail investors are established.

The study evaluated the development role of targeted development investments in South Africa and their risk adjusted performance over a 10-Year period, that is from 2008 to 2017. Targeted development investments as a subset of socially responsible investments have transformed the way capital is allocated towards development funding needs. In the South African context this study is relevant given it offers a contrast between investments made in the public sector where development impact is a key objective, versus private sector targeted investments that aim to achieve financial returns whilst also driving development impact objectives aligned to sustainable development goals. The role and impact of these investments in the post democratic era is put in the spotlight given the country is dealing with economic, social, and environmental challenges that have necessitated the need to assess the nature and role of the investment industry in solving these complex development challenges (Giampocaro & Pretorius, 2012). The study on the role of the public sector focused on the investments and development impact indicators tracked by the Top 3 public sector investment institutions or corporations. The analysis on the performance of the private sector TDI funds examined their risk adjusted performance using Treynor, Sharpe, Sortino, and Information ratios. The risk adjusted performance was used to test whether the TDI fund returns under or outperformed against five benchmark categories. The research findings showed mixed results where TDI funds either underperformed or outperformed against the benchmark categories. The findings highlighted the need for a hybrid development model where both the public and private sector actively play a role in the development landscape as guided by their respective investment mandates. The findings advocate for corporate and institutional investors to increase capital allocations and investments towards financing development needs given the scope to maximise investor returns, whilst considering socially responsible investing and issues relating to the development and empowerment of previously disadvantaged communities.

The thesis examines the strategy of country momentum and is evaluated with 30 different country exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the period 1996-2018. The empirical evaluation is designed to apply different formation- and holding periods with overlapping portfolios. The results show positive momentum returns in various periods and a few portfolios present a higher average return than the market. However, none of the portfolios is presenting any significant positive returns or alphas, meaning that the three hypotheses cannot be rejected. On the other hand, some portfolios have higher Sharpe ratios and Morningstar value than the market. Thus, meaning that the individual investor could prefer the momentum portfolio over the market despite the insignificant returns.

The diploma thesis deals with comparison performance of leverage and inverse exchange traded funds and their underlying assets in the USA. The theoretical part is focusing on the description of collective investment, mutual funds, exchange traded funds and overview of the main conclusions of empirical studies which are focused on the similar topic. The empirical part is focused on comparison performance of leverage and inverse ETF on given investment horizons according to the yield-risk indicator in 2014–2019. Based on result is recommended the most appropriate investment strategy for each underlying asset.

A high return is a driving factor for most investors. The ways to reach success are many and different investment strategies on how to earn high returns have been discussed for decades. Value stocks (low P/E ratios) and growth stocks (high P/E ratios) are two strategies among the investment area with different and contrary results on which strategy can give the highest possible return. However, studies of the P/E effect have shown different results the last years compared to previous findings of a value premium for low P/E stocks, with trends of a higher return for growth stocks compared to value stocks. This led us to the research question “Does a portfolio of growth stocks present a higher return than a portfolio with value stocks on the Swedish and Norwegian stock markets?”. The problem that the study aims to answer is therefore if a portfolio of growth stocks provides a higher return than a portfolio of value stocks between the years 2001-2021. The long timespan will give us the opportunity to evaluate the stock markets during both booms and busts. Our study is made on historical data on the Swedish and the Norwegian stock markets since we found a lack of previous research in these countries within the research area. To fulfil the purpose of the study and to answer the research question, a quantitative method is used with historical data provided from Eikon (Thomson Reuters DataStream) where firms are sorted on the P/E ratios and after that growth and value portfolios are created. We will present both the actual return as well as a risk adjusted return for the stocks. The risk adjusted returns are conducted by using the financial measurements Sharpe ratio and Jensen’s alpha. The result of the study shows that on a 5 % significance level, growth stocks presented a higher actual return than value stocks for both Sweden and Norway. The same evidence was found for the returns for growth stocks compared to market index. Though, when testing the risk adjusted returns, the null hypothesis could not be rejected, which implies that a statistical difference between the portfolios could not be found.

ESG investing is a hot subject in today’s world with socially responsible investments under management reaching 35.3 trillion in the beginning of 2020. Corporations today are highly affected by social and government pressure to take on corporate social responsibility. This rise in corporate social responsibility has led to a need for a deeper understanding of what lies beneath the ESG score and how this affect financial performance. In this study we disassemble the ESG score into its 10 subcategories and test how risk and financial return get affected by investing in a high scored portfolio compared to a low scored one. The study is carried out from the start of 2012 to the end of 2021. When testing our portfolios, the Fama-French five-factor model is applied, and we find results that shows that the alpha is positive and significant in 16 out of 20 portfolios. Our findings suggest that investing in low scored portfolios produce higher excess return than both the top portfolio and the market and that a portfolio consisting of low scored corporations have a higher Sharpe ratio in general than a portfolio consisting of high scored stocks. Furthermore, we find results indicating that for most of the ESG subcategories, investing in the portfolios with high ESG subcategory scores will provide significant excess return to the market.