The instructional practices of three current classroom teachers who formerly served as Servant Leader Interns (SLIs) in the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools (CDFFS) Program were examined. Haskell (2001) outlined eleven principles of transfer of learning, which were used to survey the levels of transfer established from service in Freedom Schools to practice in the traditional classroom. Individual surveys, The Freedom School Pedagogies Teacher Observation Record (FSPTOR) along with interviews of each participant were used for data collection; all three components were used to triangulate the findings. The findings from this study verified that low transfer was observed when the minimal application of the principles of learning was applied. This study revealed that for transfer to occur at high levels, it is imperative that adherence to all 11 principals is made, and the understanding of transfer, the application of transfer, and reflection on transfer are implemented. If the transfer of instructional practices is a goal of CDFFS for SLIs, the CDFFS program should consider implementing transfer of learning theory in future SLI training.

This diploma thesis deals with the management of free capital of a selected company on the financial market with a focus on mutual funds and ETFs. The result is the construction and analysis of the potential appreciation of the investment strategy interpreted through historical data and a comparison of the results with alternative options for the appreciation of financial capital, especially in the form of mutual funds.

Diplomová práce se zaměřuje na vytvoření projektové žádosti pro organizaci AIESEC Česká republika, která odpovídá požadavkům na čerpání finančních prostředků z fondů Evropské unie.

Closed-end funds (CEFs) are popular investments amongst the Swedish population as they provide diversification to investors and have in many cases historically outperformed the market. In deciding whether to invest in a CEF, the method of valuation differs from classical financial ratios used to value most companies, as the revenue-bringing operations differ significantly. The Net Asset Value (NAV) per share is compared to the market price per share of a CEF, to determine if the share is traded at a discount or premium. The purpose is based upon the rationalization that a share’s market price and the value of the closed-end fund’s underlying assets cannot drift too far apart from each other. In other words, the discount cannot drift too far from its mean over time, as there would be an upward pressure on the share price if the NAV-discount is large, and a downward pressure on the share price if the premium is large. Tests of unit roots and cointegration are applied and analysed in the light of previous findings for discounts in CEFs. Our findings show that the majority of selected CEFs’ prices and NAVs have long-run equilibrium relationships. Additionally, the discount appears to be stationary over time for the majority of CEFs, supporting the notion of mean reversion in the discount. For certain Swedish CEFs, the findings allow for investment decisions to be made upon the deviation from the mean. This study contributes to previous research done on the topic of mean reversion in the financial market as it finds statistical evidence of mean-reverting process for the NAV-discount of Swedish CEFs. The thesis also provides additional value to the plethora of research provided in the financial field as it specifies its findings to the Swedish market of CEFs.

Under de senaste åren har investeringsintresset ökat kraftigt, och i synnerhet intresset för att investera i fonder. Detta medför en problematik då valet att investera i aktivt eller passivt förvaltade fonder inte är självklart. Tidigare studier pekar åt olika håll när det kommer till detta dilemma. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilken förvaltningsstrategi som har gett mest avkastning i förhållande till den tagna risken och avgiften. Då marknaden under de senaste åren har varit volatil ger detta mer relevans till studiens syfte. Studiens valda tidsperiod sträcker sig mellan 2017-04-21 och 2022-04-21. För att vidare undersöka om det lönar sig att investera i aktivt förvaltade fonder med högre avgift, formuleras två hypoteser. Studien undersöker ett urval på totalt 110 aktivt och passivt förvaltade svenska aktiefonder som enbart är exponerade mot svenska bolag.           Studiens resultat av de två förvaltningsstrategiernas genomsnittliga prestations- och riskmått skiljer sig inte avsevärt gentemot varandra. Studiens resultat pekar på att indexfonderna har presterat marginellt bättre än de aktivt förvaltade fonderna och i genomsnitt har dessa gett högst avkastning till lägst tagen risk. Studiens båda hypoteser förkastades då samtliga korrelationskoefficienter påvisade svaga icke-samband samt att de inte var signifikanta på en 5% signifikansnivå. Sammanfattningsvis medför en högre avgift nödvändigtvis inte en högre avkastning eller riskjusterad avkastning. / In the recent years, the interest in investing on the stock market has increased sharply, and in particular the interest to invest in funds. This entails a problem as the choice to invest in actively or passively managed funds is not self-evident. Previous studies point in different directions when it comes to this dilemma. The purpose of this study is to examine which management strategy has given the most return in relation to the risk and the fee. As the market in recent years has been volatile, this gives the purpose of why this study is relevant. This study's investigates the market from 2017-04-21 and 2022-04-21. To further investigate whether it is profitable to invest in actively managed funds with a higher fee compared to index funds, two hypotheses are formulated. The study investigates a sample of 110 actively and passive managed Swedish equity funds that are only exposed to Swedish companies.  The conclusion of the performance and risk measures of the two management strategies do not differ significantly from each other. Marginally the result of this study indicates that the index funds have an average higher return at the lowest risk. Both hypotheses of this study were rejected when all correlation coefficients showed weak non-correlations and that they were not significant at a 5% significance level. In summary, a higher fee does not necessarily lead to a higher return or a higher risk-adjusted return.

The Energy Assistance Fund (EAF) is a voluntary, nonprofit fuel fund that provides grants to income qualified utility customers in an effort to help those customers avoid electricity service disconnection. The administering utility and the energy industry as a whole is undergoing transformative change, resulting in a projected decrease of fundraising capacity for EAF among its most substantial donor pool - utility shareholders and employees. Utility customers represent a small percentage of EAF donors, despite the significant size of the customer base. Through a series of ethnographic interviews and secondary research, this thesis seeks to understand the demographics and motivations of utility customers who donate to EAF in order to help improve EAF’s fundraising strategy and donor solicitations to eventually grow customer donations. The goal of EAF is to maintain or grow donations from 2014 levels so the Fund can continue to serve income qualified customers facing energy poverty. This thesis provides a contextual review of fuel funds; challenges faced by the energy and utility industry; the politics and culture of energy; as well as nonprofit sector fundraising challenges and cultures/motivations of giving. This thesis includes client deliverables such as thick description of donor motivation, motivation themes and a donor motivation map, demographic data which could be used to target solicitations, and lastly a series of recommendations for EAF to improve its fundraising strategy.

Denna uppsats undersöker om aktiv eller passiv fondförvaltning har presterat bättre under coronapandemin på den svenska fondmarknaden. Med hjälp av Refinitiv Eikon och Morningstar har vi hämtat relevant veckodata för 20 aktivt förvaltade fonder och 12 passivt förvaltade fonder mellan 2020-03-06 och 2022-02-11. Efter noggrann beräkning av de olika prestationsmåtten i Microsoft Excel kan vi konstatera att den passiva förvaltningen presterade bättre under coronapandemin men att detta inte är en garanti för framtida val av fonder under kommande kriser eller ekonomiska chocker. / This thesis examines whether active or passive fund management has performed better during the corona pandemic in the Swedish fund market. With the help of Refinitiv Eikon and Morningstar, we have collected relevant weekly data for 20 actively managed funds and 12 passively managed funds between 2020-03-06 and 2022-02-11. After careful calculation of the various performance measures in Microsoft Excel, we can state that the passive management has performed better during the corona pandemic, but this result is not a guarantee for future fund choices during future crises or economic shocks.

Inledning: Hållbarhet blir allt viktigare för svenska fondsparare. Följaktligen har detta lett till en ökning av antalet hållbara fonder som förutspås fortsätta att öka. Tidigare forskning har studerat hur hållbara fonder presterar i jämförelse med icke-hållbara fonder. Studierna visar på skilda resultat. Det finns studier som visar att hållbara fonder överpresterar de icke-hållbara fonderna, men det finns också studier som visar på det motsatta.  Syfte: Studien syftar till att jämföra prestationen hos hållbara och icke-hållbara fonder genom att använda alfa som ett mått på avkastning. Med utgångspunkt i tidigare forskning och teorier syftar studien vidare till att diskutera fondernas prestationer för att identifiera eventuella skillnader och förklaringar till dessa.  Metod: Studien följde en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi och en deduktiv ansats. Studien inkluderade 21 hållbara fonder samt 16 icke-hållbara fonder. Studien tillämpade regressioner med utgångspunkt i CAPM samt Fama och French trefaktormodell för varje fond. För att studera fondernas prestation studerades regressionens intercept alfa, som förklarar tillgångens förväntade avkastningen i förhållande till riskfaktorerna. Slutsats: Studiens resultat tyder på att hållbara fonder underpresterar marknaden, medan icke-hållbara fonder överpresterar marknaden. Det är dock inte möjligt att dra några statistiska slutsatser från studiens resultat. Studiens resultat analyseras och förklaras utifrån modern portföljteori, prissättning av aktier, EHM samt beteendefinans. / Introduction: Sustainability is becoming increasingly important for Swedish fund savers. Consequently, this has led to an increase in the number of sustainable funds that is predicted to continue to increase. Previous research has studied how sustainable funds perform in comparison to non-sustainable funds. The studies show different results. There are studies that show that sustainable funds outperform non-sustainable funds, but there are also studies that show the opposite. Purpose: The study aims to compare the performance of sustainable funds and non-sustainable funds using alpha as a measure of performance. Building upon prior research and theories, the study further seeks to discuss the funds’ performances to identify any differences and explanations for these results. Method: This study followed a quantitative research strategy and a deductive approach. The study included 21 sustainable funds and 16 non-sustainable funds. The study applied regression based on the CAPM and the Fama & French three factor model for each fund. To study the performance of the funds, the intercept alpha of the regression was studied. Alpha explains the asset's expected return in relation to the risk factors.  Conclusion: The study's findings suggest that sustainable funds underperform the market, while non-sustainable funds outperform the market. However, it is not possible to draw any statistical conclusions from this study's result. The results of the study are analyzed and explained based on modern portfolio theory, pricing of shares, EHM and behavioral finance.

Master of Arts / Department of Economics / William F. Blankenau / This paper examines several different issues which could make the various Social Security programs insolvent. I evaluate each cause and how it is related to the problems experienced by each program to determine potential policy changes. I draw the majority of my data and information from peer-reviewed scholarly articles, as well as government agencies such as the Social Security Administration, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Congressional Research Service. Section 1 of the paper explains the history of the Social Security program and the circumstances creating it. Section 2 goes into greater detail explaining different issues which could make the system insolvent. These areas are: earnings inequality, changes in healthcare, increased life expectancy, changes in the dependency ratio, general trust fund issues, disability trust fund issues, political climate, and recessions/reduced earnings. In Section 3, I evaluate two different proposed plans to fix Social Security. The first plan is an academic plan, the Diamond-Orszag Plan; the second is a plan created by a think-tank, The Heritage Plan. Section 4 gives a conclusion of the implications of the paper and explains the benefits and drawbacks of the two evaluated plans. After evaluating all the problems with Social Security and the two proposed plans, I come to the conclusion that neither plan would be ideal by itself. The Diamond-Orszag Plan is the most politically feasible plan, as it doesn’t change the framework of the current program. A combination of the two plans would be most beneficial, as The Heritage Plan has policy specifically targeting the problems with the Medicare system, where the Diamond-Orszag Plan does not. The three different plans for changing the disability system I evaluate in Section 2.5 are specific, targeted plans and could be a nice addition to a plan such as the Diamond-Orszag Plan. In any case, the sooner politicians finally start taking Social Security’s instability seriously, the better. The longer we wait, the more complex and difficult the problem will become.

Historically on a global scale and in South Africa it was common practice for mining operators to abandon a mine once the mineral extraction on site was completed. The operators had no obligation to rehabilitate the land and in most cases the disturbed areas were abandoned with no regard for the residual impacts that the site may present or the continued environmental deterioration. This represents the mining legacy of many countries, particularly in South Africa. The continual underestimations in financial provisioning for premature mine closure, leads to the continual abandonment of mining sites. Abandoned mines and the resultant legacy of environmental pollution are of major concern as literature indicates that there are around 6000 abandoned sites in South Africa. The problem is that no-one is currently taking responsibility for these sites as the Minister for Mineral Resources has stated that the South African government would not take the liability onto them. With this being said the burden still falls on the state as the mining companies responsible for the pollution may no longer exist or have the finances to carry out post-closure rehabilitation to ensure that the site no longer poses a threat to the environment. To address a similar problem, Western Australia has implemented the Mining Rehabilitation Fund Act 33 (2012) which delegates due responsibility for abandoned sites. The act provides for a government administered pooled fund into which all current mining operators pay an annual levy. The funds are used to rehabilitate abandoned mining areas, alleviating the burden of government to solely fund their rehabilitation. The aim of this research is, therefore, to investigate the viability of Western Australia‟s Mining Rehabilitation Fund as a fiscal policy solution for the rehabilitation of South African abandoned mines. To achieve this aim, three lines of inquiry are pursued. Firstly, to “identify the challenges related to abandonment of mine sites in South Africa,” secondly “to compare the legal provisions for abandoned mine sites management in South Africa with that of Western Australia, specifically the rehabilitation fund” and lastly “to investigate how such a policy will be received by stakeholders in the South African mining industry.” The research was approached from a pragmatic philosophical stance. A qualitative dominant mixed methods research approach with an embedded design is used for data analysis. The strategies of inquiry consist of a literature review, comparative analysis and open-ended interview questions which provide qualitative data and structured survey questions which produces quantitative data. Surveys were carried out with selected stakeholders to investigate how such a policy will be received in the South African mining industry. The methods employed for the analyses of data consist of a scoping and literature review, coding and categorising, a comparative analysis, the identification of themes and analytical evaluation of survey data. An article format was chosen for the presentation of results and is presented in chapter 4. The challenges related to the abandonment of mine sites in South Africa are related to skills shortages, poor enforcement of existing legislation and an out of date Guideline document for the evaluation of the quantum of closure related financial provision (DME, 2005). The comparison of the legal provisions for abandoned mine sites management in South Africa with that of Western Australia, highlighted that both frameworks have the intention to protect the environment and promote sustainable mining but as can be seen in South Africa, even if the intentions of the legislation is good, it has limited value without proper implementation and enforcement. The results indicate a general feeling of stakeholders that such a policy is necessary and will be beneficial, but the respondents have doubts in the ability of the South African government to enforce the law. They also felt that it was unfair to hold the current mining operators responsible for the heedless actions of the previous miners and ruling party. / MSc (Geography and Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015