O objetivo central do presente trabalho é calcular os índices de desempenho dos fundos de ações no mercado brasileiro e determinar qual a probabilidade de que um fundo, que vinha apresentando bom desempenho em relação a seus pares, consiga manter esta posição no período seguinte. Como objetivos específicos buscou-se investigar quais índices de desempenho estão mais associados à expectativa de boa performance, se os gestores de fundos de ações no Brasil apresentam habilidade de se antecipar aos movimentos de alta e baixa na Bolsa de Valores e se estes gestores apresentam habilidades para selecionar as ações. A principal contribuição do trabalho é desenvolver um modelo para análise de fundos de investimento em ações no mercado brasileiro que possa ser utilizado pelos investidores, para selecionar os melhores fundos para aplicação de seus recursos. Buscou-se analisar quais métricas de desempenho são melhores para discriminar os fundos com bom desempenho, através da técnica estatística de regressão logística binária, cuja resposta permita estabelecer a probabilidade de ocorrência de fundos com desempenho superior e a importância das variáveis para essa ocorrência. A abordagem é inovadora. A matriz de classificação do modelo revelou um índice de acertos de 81% e as variáveis com significância estatística que entraram na equação, pela ordem de importância, foram: taxa de administração, índice de Treynor, índice de Sharpe generalizado, índice de Modigliani e taxa de performance. Os resultados da mensuração da habilidade de se antecipar ao mercado indicaram que 67,6% dos gestores apresentaram esta característica. A análise da habilidade dos gestores de fundos de ações brasileiros para selecionar as ações revelou que apenas 15% conseguiram obter seletividade positiva. Este resultado está em linha com os de outras pesquisas internacionais, tais como: Fama (1972), Sharpe (1992), Bollen e Busse (2005) e Fama e French (2009). / The main objective of this work is to calculate the performance measurements of equity funds in the market and determine the probability that a fund, which had shown good performance in relation to their peers, can maintain this position in the next period. The specific objectives sought to investigate what levels of performance are more closely associated with the expectations of good performance, if managers of equity funds in Brazil have timing abilities and if these managers have skills to select stocks. The main contribution of this work is to develop a model for the analysis of investment funds in stocks in the Brazilian market, which can be used by investors to select the best funds to invest their resources. Was analyzed what performance metrics are better to discriminate funds with good performance through the statistical technique of binary logistic regression, whose response would establish the likelihood of funds with superior performance and the importance of the variables for this occurrence. The approach is innovative. The classification matrix of the model revealed a hit rate of 81% and statistically significant variables that entered into the equation, in order of importance were: management fee, Treynor ratio, generalized Sharpe ratio, Modigliani ratio and performance fee. The results of measuring timing abilities indicated that 67.6% of managers had this skill. To analyze whether the Brazilian managers of equity funds had skills to select stocks revealed that only 15% of managers were able to obtain positive selectivity. This result is in line with results from other international studies, such as Fama (1972), Sharpe (1992), Bollen and Busse (2005) and Fama and French (2009).

A research report submitted to the School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities of the University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Studies / “South Africa’s democracy is faced with a clear and immediate threat”. In a nutshell this is the narrative developed and adopted by countless activists and political commentators who believe that to move forward as a nation legislation regulating private funding of political parties must be introduced. The key objective is transparency – without it the fear is that donors will essentially be able to buy influence within the government. The constant insinuations and reports of adverse donor influences have not done anything to allay these fears. This research paper will examine the legitimacy of these claims. Is it indeed imperative that we regulate private funding? If we are to determine whether there is a need to adjust South African law to safeguard the democratic values that the nation has held dear for over 20 years, then we must answer a set of subsidiary questions, such as what alternatives do we have? Is transparency really a goal that should be fought to achieve? To what extent to South Africa’s political parties rely on funding from private sources? To answer these questions this research paper will develop a thorough understanding of the financial and the political climate political parties find themselves in and ultimately determine whether the country’s democracy is faced with a legitimate threat and if so what can be done to avert it.

In theory, as a greater share of capital is invested passively rather than actively managed, stock prices will be freer to diverge from fair value, resulting in marginally less efficient equity markets. The effect should be an amplification of managerial skill, which manifests itself in the tails of α distributions. I find evidence that mutual fund α distributions differ increasingly as a function of the share of assets invested in passive vehicles. However, I find no evidence that the “tailedness” of the distributions increases as a function of the share of assets invested passively. This may be a result of the limited sample size, or it may be that higher levels of passive share are required for this effect to materialize.

<p><strong>Bakgrund:</strong> Fonder är en sparform som har utvecklats och blivit en av de mest populära och framgångsrika placeringsformerna på marknaden. Många företag väljer därför, efter en högkonjunktur följd av möjlighet till reservsparande, att investera på fondmarknaden för att kunna öka sitt kapital under kommande lågkonjunktur. Att välja en stor och trögrörlig eller en liten och snabbfotat fond kan vara av avgörande karaktär när man ska se till utvecklingen.</p><p><strong>Problemformulering:</strong> Har fondstorleken betydelse vid placering i fonder under lågkonjunktur?</p><p><strong>Syfte:</strong> Klargöra huruvida fondstorleken har betydelse för avkastningen vid placering i svenska aktiefonder under lågkonjunktur.</p><p><strong>Metod:</strong> Studien använder sig av metodtriangulering där ett kvantitativt upplägg kombineras med ett kvalitativt inslag i form av en intervju. En deduktiv ansats anammas. Urvalet har valts ut genom ett bekvämlighetsurval och datainsamling har skett i form av sekundärdata från Morningstar, Riksbanken samt Affärsvärlden. Med den informationen har uppsatsens empiri och resultat grundlagts och kunnat kopplas till teorier, tidigare forskning samt allmän uppfattning om fonder i analysen.</p><p><strong>Slutsats:</strong> Undersökningen visar att stora fonder, tätt följt av medelstora fonder, är den bästa investeringen under lågkonjunktur. Små fonder är mer snabbrörliga, har en högre standardavvikelse och risk men det innebär inte generellt att det utmynnar i en högre avkastning.</p> / <p><strong>Background:</strong> Fund saving is nowadays a very popular investment strategy when it comes to putting money aside on the market. After a big economic boom, with the potential of gathering up assets, companies choose  to invest in the fund market with the possibility to increase their wealth when a recession is up and coming. When it comes to how well the fund is developing, one needs to make a critical decision and choose either a big and sluggish one or a small and swift-footed one.</p><p><strong>Problem formulation:</strong> Does fund size matter when investing in funds during recession?</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> Determine whether fund size has an impact on return rate when investing in Swedish mutual funds during recession.</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> Different types of methods will be used throughout the study to ensure good quality and enough quantity. Mainly quantitative layout (data gathering from the Swedish State Bank, Morningstar and Affärsvärlden) featuring a qualitative interview and a deductive approach. With established empirics and elicited results, the study has been able to connect the theories used, the previous research in the field and the common view of funds among society to its analysis.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Theory suggests that large funds, closely followed by mediumsized funds are the best investment during recessions. Small funds are more fastmoving, has a higher standard deviation and risk but it does not, generally, out-flow into a higher return.</p>

Purpose:        The intention of this study is to distinguish if there is a correlation between mutual funds administration fee and their return. The study will also observe if there is a difference regarding the return between active and passive management fees. Method:        The study is founded on a deductive approach because the study is based on existing theories. Quantitative research based on statistical data has been used. A correlation analysis has been applied to determine if there is a correlation between the chosen variables. Conclusion:   The conclusion of the study is that active management of funds mainly do not give a higher return than passive management funds. Neither is the administration fee dependent on the risk a fund has.

Idag föreligger ett stort intresse för att placera i etiska fonder, men det råder delade meningar om vad en etisk fond innebär. Det finns ingen universell applicerbar kod utan det är upp till fondbolagen själva att definiera vad som är etiskt för dem. Det är således svårt att fastställa något entydigt begrepp för vad som kan anses vara etiskt eller inte då begreppet etik är såväl subjektivt och relativt samt varierar över tiden. Allt oftare uppdagas hur företag världen över kopplas till svåra missförhållanden eller är inblandade i oetiska verksamheter. Flera av dessa företag ägs indirekt av oss konsumenter genom våra pensionsmedel och privat sparande i fonder. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vad som menas med etisk fond. Uppsatsen kommer att genomföras utifrån en kvalitativ ansats med intervjuer av utvalda fondbolag på den svenska fondmarknaden.  En ökad transparens är önskvärt för att se hur fondbolagen arbetar. Sammanfattningsvis har konsumenterna ett relativt stort ansvar att undersöka vad som faktiskt gömmer sig bakom respektive fondnamn om de vill ha kontroll över sina sparpengar.

<p>Background:</p><p>Hedge funds have its origin in 1949 when Alfred W Jones constructed a fund that used a new technique where he took long positions and hedged them with short positions. This fund got a large publicity when it was proved that it had outperformed any other fund by 87 percent during a ten year period. Though, it was not until the early 1990’s hedge funds became popular for the general public. The goal for hedge funds in general is to yield an absolute return and there are many different strategies for reaching this goal. This has lead to the following three research questions:</p><p>Have Hedge funds been able to reach its goal for an absolute return in both bullish and bearish times?</p><p>Which strategy has shown the best performance in markets on the rise and in declining markets and is it possible to place the different strategies in order of precedence?</p><p>Is it possible to come up with a guideline for investing in hedge funds on the Swedish market?</p><p>Purpose:</p><p>The purpose with this thesis is to study the returns on a large number of hedge funds in the American fund market based upon their investment strategy, both when the market is gaining and when it is declining.</p><p>Method:</p><p>In this thesis we have investigated twelve different strategies in the American market. By using secondary data from HFRI’s hedge fund database we have conducted a quantitative research by calculating key statistics for the strategies. We have also plotted performance diagrams were the strategies are compared with S&P 500. To be able to answer our research questions we constructed a table containing a summary of the risk and return for the strategies in bullish and bearish market times.</p><p>Results:</p><p>Our research showed that there were two strategies that were capable of delivering an absolute return for the entire period. However, when looking deeper into the yearly returns we found that there were another eight strategies that presented a negative return for just one out of the total eleven years. To conclude the research we have placed the strategies in order of precedence that works as a guideline for investing in the Swedish market in bull and bear markets.</p>

ABSTRACT In this narrative inquiry, I examined parents’ stories to gain insight into their journey toward selecting a French Immersion Catholic stream of education for their Kindergarten-aged children. As a teacher, I first noticed a pronounced shift in the parents who were choosing Catholic French Immersion for their school-aged children and, then, as I formed close relationships with a diverse range of parents, I became cognizant that many families were deeply rooted in a faith other than that of Catholicism. With my curiosity piqued, I engaged in research to explore what these diverse parents believe Catholic French Immersion schools have to offer them. Utilizing both Joseph Schwab’s (1973) notion of curricular commonplaces and Allen’s (2007) web of caring as a framework for my research, I demonstrated how important it is that educators invite parent knowledge (Pushor, 2011, 2013) onto the school landscape as they attend to parents’ intentions in making particular school choices for their children. Using a metaphor of painting, and to paint both individual stories and a triptych of stories to capture parents’ influences, thoughts, hopes and dreams for their children that led them to Catholic French Immersion, I chose narrative inquiry methodology. I utilized field texts gathered from three sets of parents, including stories, journals, field notes, letters, conversations, and family stories, to paint an intimate understanding of the research puzzle. In terms of Catholic education, these families value a faith-based school environment but for different reasons. The Nelson family, rooted in Baptist faith, felt it was important that their child be schooled alongside other faithful children and also believed that Catholic schools inherently value the sanctity of each child. The Padrique family, newcomers to Canada, assumed that Catholic education would teach their child important values and that parents in the Catholic system would share parenting philosophies similar to their own. The Larocque family saw that through learning Catholic doctrine in school their children would be provided an opportunity to be exposed to, and to accept or reject, a system of beliefs not taught to their children at home. In terms of French Immersion, the families understood that their children’s ability to speak French would enhance their employment opportunities in the future. Both the Nelsons and the Padriques further viewed French Immersion as a program choice for the more academically inclined. Similarly, the Larocques, whose children have Treaty Status, understood French Immersion as a more challenging program where children become accustomed to working hard. This research will help deepen educators’ understanding of parent motivations for choosing this stream of education and more fully attend in their practice to parent intentions and parent knowledge.

Background: Hedge funds have its origin in 1949 when Alfred W Jones constructed a fund that used a new technique where he took long positions and hedged them with short positions. This fund got a large publicity when it was proved that it had outperformed any other fund by 87 percent during a ten year period. Though, it was not until the early 1990’s hedge funds became popular for the general public. The goal for hedge funds in general is to yield an absolute return and there are many different strategies for reaching this goal. This has lead to the following three research questions: Have Hedge funds been able to reach its goal for an absolute return in both bullish and bearish times? Which strategy has shown the best performance in markets on the rise and in declining markets and is it possible to place the different strategies in order of precedence? Is it possible to come up with a guideline for investing in hedge funds on the Swedish market? Purpose: The purpose with this thesis is to study the returns on a large number of hedge funds in the American fund market based upon their investment strategy, both when the market is gaining and when it is declining. Method: In this thesis we have investigated twelve different strategies in the American market. By using secondary data from HFRI’s hedge fund database we have conducted a quantitative research by calculating key statistics for the strategies. We have also plotted performance diagrams were the strategies are compared with S&amp;P 500. To be able to answer our research questions we constructed a table containing a summary of the risk and return for the strategies in bullish and bearish market times. Results: Our research showed that there were two strategies that were capable of delivering an absolute return for the entire period. However, when looking deeper into the yearly returns we found that there were another eight strategies that presented a negative return for just one out of the total eleven years. To conclude the research we have placed the strategies in order of precedence that works as a guideline for investing in the Swedish market in bull and bear markets.

Bakgrund: Fonder är en sparform som har utvecklats och blivit en av de mest populära och framgångsrika placeringsformerna på marknaden. Många företag väljer därför, efter en högkonjunktur följd av möjlighet till reservsparande, att investera på fondmarknaden för att kunna öka sitt kapital under kommande lågkonjunktur. Att välja en stor och trögrörlig eller en liten och snabbfotat fond kan vara av avgörande karaktär när man ska se till utvecklingen. Problemformulering: Har fondstorleken betydelse vid placering i fonder under lågkonjunktur? Syfte: Klargöra huruvida fondstorleken har betydelse för avkastningen vid placering i svenska aktiefonder under lågkonjunktur. Metod: Studien använder sig av metodtriangulering där ett kvantitativt upplägg kombineras med ett kvalitativt inslag i form av en intervju. En deduktiv ansats anammas. Urvalet har valts ut genom ett bekvämlighetsurval och datainsamling har skett i form av sekundärdata från Morningstar, Riksbanken samt Affärsvärlden. Med den informationen har uppsatsens empiri och resultat grundlagts och kunnat kopplas till teorier, tidigare forskning samt allmän uppfattning om fonder i analysen. Slutsats: Undersökningen visar att stora fonder, tätt följt av medelstora fonder, är den bästa investeringen under lågkonjunktur. Små fonder är mer snabbrörliga, har en högre standardavvikelse och risk men det innebär inte generellt att det utmynnar i en högre avkastning. / Background: Fund saving is nowadays a very popular investment strategy when it comes to putting money aside on the market. After a big economic boom, with the potential of gathering up assets, companies choose  to invest in the fund market with the possibility to increase their wealth when a recession is up and coming. When it comes to how well the fund is developing, one needs to make a critical decision and choose either a big and sluggish one or a small and swift-footed one. Problem formulation: Does fund size matter when investing in funds during recession? Purpose: Determine whether fund size has an impact on return rate when investing in Swedish mutual funds during recession. Method: Different types of methods will be used throughout the study to ensure good quality and enough quantity. Mainly quantitative layout (data gathering from the Swedish State Bank, Morningstar and Affärsvärlden) featuring a qualitative interview and a deductive approach. With established empirics and elicited results, the study has been able to connect the theories used, the previous research in the field and the common view of funds among society to its analysis. Conclusion: Theory suggests that large funds, closely followed by mediumsized funds are the best investment during recessions. Small funds are more fastmoving, has a higher standard deviation and risk but it does not, generally, out-flow into a higher return.