The purpose of the thesis has been to explore the use of hedge fund styles when constructing portfolios of hedge funds (i.e. funds of hedge funds). The central question is if the use of hedge fund styles can significantly explain and improve risk adjusted returns (characterized by Sharpe ratios). The study has been done in collaboration with Optimized Portfolio Management AB who desire further knowledge and evaluation of hedge fund styles for their fund of hedge funds.To be able to create successful ex ante portfolios we have explored various prediction models for both risk and return. Our findings indicate that return prediction is problematic using simple models such as regression since the risk exposure of the indices appear to change significantly over time.

This thesis compares different methods for risk assessment of a creosote contaminated site in Vansbro, Dalarna. In a complementary study the importance of using representative data for calibration and validation of stationary groundwater models is discussed. The time dependency between surface water levels and groundwater levels on the site in Vansbro is evaluated by step response analysis. The results show that the groundwater levels reflect only long-term variation in the surface water levels. Hence the use of such long-term means for calibration and validation of the stationary groundwater models is the only theoretically defendable alternative.As a first step in the comparison of risk assessment methods the degree of contamination is evaluated on the basis of generic guideline values for contaminated soils, developed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

The highly toxic man-made substance referred to as dioxin (polychlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs)) causes severe health damages both to humans and other organisms, with lethality as its worst. Because of the toxicity several risk assessments has been performed on dioxins trying to determine at what concentration there are no risk of exposure. Resent years of research has discovered that these substances are not only anthropogenically but also producedin natural processes, like volcanoes and forest fires. To investigate if there is a need to take these naturally formed dioxins into account in the risk assessment processes, interviews with persons at relevant institutions in Sweden has been made. Analyses of existing risk assessment methods and political documents were also made to complete the picture.

Background:The sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has always existed. In the early 1990's, researchers discovered that prone position was associated with a significantly higher risk for SIDS. This resulted in a lowered incidence of SIDS in the world. The campaign showed the value of risk knowledge and risk reducing methods, that's why new information campaigns about other risks regarding SIDS must occur.Aim:The aim was to describe the risk factors and preventive actions for SIDS, and the nurse's role regarding the preventive work. Method: A literature review based on 16 articles based on qualitative and quantitative studies.

Farmers are constantly facing changes, and the exposure to risk requires monitoring these changes. Financial risks, institutional risks, market risks and production risks are the different risk categories that the farmers face. Production risks stems from factors the farmer cannot affect or is beyond his control. The crop?s output is the basis for the primary income of agricultural operations, which is why it is important for farmer to manage their production risk. A tool to reduce the consequences of production risks is crop insurance.

The aim with this thesis is to study the risk management in construction projects at the Swedish Road Administration, SRA. Furthermore, the aim is to find the effects of the risk management. The theorem of this thesis is that the positive effects of the risk management in construction projects create additional value to the project. These additional values are that the project itself becomes resilient and that the project goals are achieved without any significant disturbances.This thesis shows that the risk management in construction projects do not follow the guidelines set out by the SRA. This is due to a lack of education in the method and a difficult method all together.

To reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologieshave been developed. Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) is a CO2 capture technologywith the CCS framework, and at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg,Sweden, a 100 kW chemical looping combustor has been built.This project aimed to investigate to what degree air can replace helium as the uidizinggas for uid dynamical studies in a CLC cold ow model of the above mentioned 100 kWfacility. Experiments were performed using air and helium separately as uidizing gas andpressure data were obtained, which formed the basis for the comparison. The project alsoaimed to investigate uid dynamics in the uidized bed and study when the risk of sluggingoccuring was greatest. The results were presented in the form of figures and tables dividedinto pressure, concentration and standard deviation of the pressure.The results obtained showed that air as uidizing gas did not create the same uid dynamicsas helium over the entire fuel reactor.

ABSTRACTBackground: Most cases of lumbar disc herniation are asymptomatic. When symptomatic, LDH may cause a significant physical and mental distress. Initially, most patients are treated conservative but sometimes operations may be required.Aim: The aim of this study was to provide a review of the scientific basis of physiotherapy, including behavioural therapy, as a treatment to lumbar disc herniation regarding pain, function and the size of disc herniation in people suffering from lumbar disc herniation.Method: Four databases were used in the searches of literature. Assessment of the validity of the studies was done with the PEDro-scale and valuation of evidence rate was made according to guidelines made by the Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment (SBU).Result: Nine RCT-studies were included with a total of 713 participants. The scientific basis is moderate to support a pain reduction and limited regarding improvement of physical function when it comes to physical exercises, including MDT.

The recent financial crisis has entailed in a fierce debate whether CEOs variable remuneration has caused unsound risk exposure in public companies. Hence it is considered as interesting to elucidate if this connection exists empirically. With grounding in principal-agent theory, and its implicit assumption of risk adverse agents, this study aims to find empirical evidence for a positively correlated relationship between CEOs variable remuneration and company risk exposure. Through a regression analysis of multidimensional data from 102 listed Swedish companies during the period of 2000-2009, we show that the relationship between CEOs variable remuneration and company risk, in contrast to our expectations, is significantly negative. The coherent result is interpreted as the inherent risk in companies seems to explain the usage of variable remuneration for CEO, rather than vice versa.

Det här examensarbetet förklarar i olika stor utsträckning några av de vanligaste riskmåtten för marknadsrisker. Störst fokus får Value at Risk och de tre vanligaste metoderna att beräkna detta: Historisk simulation, Varians-Kovariansmetoden och Monte Carlo-simulation. Utvalda riskmått och funktioner har dessutom undersökts och förklarats för tre olika mjukvarupaket designade för att beräkna risk. Skillnader i programmen har lyfts fram, dissikerats och diskuterats..

Bakgrund: Kapital allokeras till produktiva investeringar på basis av uppskattad avkastning hos dessa och därför är det viktigt att kunna göra så rättvisande värderingar som möjligt. I praktiken är detta dock svårt eftersom många investeringar omgärdas av hög osäkerhet. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att ge ett bidrag till diskussionen om hur tillgångar värderas under speciellt osäkra förhållanden. Avgränsningar: Med tillgångar avses anläggningstillgångar. Med speciellt osäkra förhållanden avses situationer då variabler som framtida kassaflöden och tillgångens livslängd inte är kända.

Background: Fall injuries are a costly problem for society, with costs ranging up to 14 billion a year. In addition to economic loss accidental falls also creates human value losses and reduced quality of life for its victims. In order to prevent the occurrence of injury related to accidental falls healthcare providers utilize various scientifically developed risk assessment tools, one of them being Downton Fall Risk Index. Method: Empirical, quantitative cross-sectional study. Objective: The purpose of the extended essay was to describe the categories in Downton Fall Risk Index that have a bearing on patients' risk of falling while in hospital and in municipal care, and to illustrate how nurses can use the fall risk assessment tool.

Since 1996 the Swedish households have ten folded their volume of loans for own homes that is attached to a floating interest rate. Also in 1996 the Swedish electric market was deregulated. These two facts have increased the volatility in the household expenses for these two commodities. This thesis studies the risk for homeowners attached to the exposure against the electric and the credit market. The risk model used is Cost-at-Risk which is usually used by public authorities for analysing the risk involved with national debt.

This thesis studies the relationship between risk and the first day returns of Initial Public Offerings (IPO) by assessing the risk of each issuing company with a risk model that combine financial key ratios of importance. The study is based on 92 IPO?s that were made on the Stockholm OMX stock exchange during the period of 1997-2009. The point of departure was to investigate if the uncertainty created by the asymmetric information between investors and the issuing firm could be captured by predicting the possibility of failure in the future. This has been studied by applying Skogsvik?s probability of failure model on the 92 issuing firms.

Title: Inflation and Investments, with Focus on Inflation-linked Bonds.Investors face many types of risks when allocating assets in a portfolio, e.g. volatility and inflation risk. Inflation risk will mainly affect investments in the long perspective. This thesis will examine those risks that an investor is commonly exposed to when allocating assets in a portfolio and in particular inflation-linked risk and how to eliminate it. We examine the correlation between different assets and inflation to determine the assets? ability to hedge inflation risk.