Hedge funds have the past few years become an increasingly popular investment alternative and in the last decade hedge fund assets managed have quadrupled to USD 2000 billion, a growth rate of around 25-30% per year. One explanation for this substantial increase is that hedge funds' minimum limits on capital invested has declined, which have made ??them available to retail investors. The recent turmoil in financial markets has also contributed to investors finding their way to hedge funds, whose goal is to generate stable returns regardless of how the market develops.Using Sharpe?s, Treynor?s and Jensen's performance measures, I have investigated whether hedge funds manage to generate higher risk-adjusted returns than traditional managed funds.

This thesis is a survey and also an investigation of the different factors that affects the cracking that occurs in the inserts at AB Sandvik Coromants production in Gimo. The work that has been done has focused on two main factors, namely, powder characteristics and pressing parameters.AB Sandvik Coromant produces tools and tooling systems for metal cutting. They have some problems in their production of inserts. The problem is that cracks sometimes occur in the body of the insert, after it´s pressed. In order to investigate this, a preliminary study was made in which production principles were studied.

The object of this essay is to discuss the relationship between the definition of the concept of gender equality and attitudes towards gender equality and their consequences for gender equality measures. The point of departure is feminist political theory and interviews about attitudes towards gender equality at a department at the University of Linköping. The conclusions of this study is that there are a wide range of definitions and attitudes, and these conceptions are not necessarily the same as those being pointed out in the official gender equality policy at the University of Linköping. In this study the opinions of measures for gender equality among the interviewed are widely spread. Some finding Swedish men and women already being equal and therefore there is no need for measures, since this would result in discrimination of men since women would gain advantages from being women.

This essay aims to investigate how Swedish Public Libraries market their activities in video games for youths. It also highlights how the library, on the basis of the unique opportunities of the video game medium, can develop this marketing to build a relationship with youths. The empiric evidence is based on a survey of answers given by 30 librarians responsible for video game collections, and qualitative telephone interviews with three of them. The essay?s theoretical framework is based on Philip Kotler and his co-authors? marketing theory which consists of five stages: Marketing research, segmentation, marketing mix, implementation and development.

AbstractMy purpose of this essay was to discover three- and four-year-olds comprehension of their internal body and then compare the result between their ages. I have used the same methods in both essays, semi-qualitative interviews. It is structured interviews with space for following questions. My formulations of the questions were: Do the children have a comprehension of their internal structure of the body? Do the children have a comprehension of organs and organ systems? Is there any difference between the ages?Their comprehensions I have categorized in four categories and I have seen age related differences in their comprehensions.

The aim of this paper is to examine how confidence in co-operative behaviour of partner is reached in a relationship between an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist. A case study has been conducted on a Swedish football club that has involved venture capital in order to develop the organization. The paper presents a theoretical approach which draws on a control model of interorganizational relationships developed by Dekker (2004) and a model developed by Shepherd & Zacharakis (2001) illustrating how control, trust and confidence is reached in a venture capitalist-entrepreneur relationship. The relationship between the football club and the venture capitalist can simultaneously be seen as an interorganizational relationship and a relationship between an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist. Because of the complexity of the relationship, different control problems prevail.

Background: Each year approximately 30 000 people suffer from stroke in Sweden, often with substantial mental and physical consequences. Those who suffered from stroke handled the situation by mourning what they had lost and by accepting their changed body and life situation. For those who provide care for people who has suffered a stroke help and support was required. The caring science perspective was based upon caring and suffering. Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe family caregivers? experiences of caring for persons who had suffered a stroke.

This essay concerns graffiti, and in particular graffiti removal regarded as iconoclasm.Graffiti is described as a visual symbol laden with both negative and positive values, and sometimes as a meaningful expression in the urban public space. One problem with graffiti as a field of study is the diversity of both the meaning of the term as well as the diversity of the phenomenon itself. Therefore I have defined the term graffiti as follows: words and images painted on public walls by a person usually in an unauthorised manner. Specific examples of graffiti and related phenomena are presented. Within the Swedish anti-graffiti discourse the pejorative term klotter (scribbling) is used to describe what I above define as graffiti.

A study around some fourteen and fifteen year old boys, who are interested in reading. It is about their reading and library habits, what has created their interest and where they acquire access to literature. A certain amount deals with the habits of the boys? school-friends in this subject. The result compares with earlier made reports.

This study focusses on how people in Sweden commemorate their dogs and handle their demise. By examining memorial texts for dogs that are presented by their owners on internet forums, memorial texts that are used on gravestones on an animal cemetery as well as an interview with an animal nurse, the study examines how dogs are humanized and treated in human-like ways. With theories about new animism, social acceptance (nomos) and ontology as the theoretical framework, the study provides an analysis of strategies by which people tend to humanize dogs in ways that are often similar to the handling and mourning of human deceased.                                               The empirical data illustrate how dog owners in Swedish society who have lost their beloved pet express themselves in terms of religious terminology. According to memorial texts, the dogs go to heaven, where they may be reunited with their owners, become free from their diseases, and in some cases they are buried in separate graves in animal cemeteries. The study also illustrates how dogs in Sweden today have almost equal opportunities and access to medical care as human beings.

 This study examines the way Swedish students in Upper Secondary School respond to two excerpts from a classic Swedish novel. The paper?s aim is both to give an overview over some of the theoretical concepts concerning the field of reader-response criticism, and to describe and analyse what the students experience in their first meeting with an older text. The background to my interest is the many studies showing that young readers regard reading of fiction in school as boring. By using the method of written reading responses I want to contribute to a deeper understanding of how an older text can be received, understood and engage its readers.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if the stock market reacts differently to accounting information, depending on the stock market climate. The study focuses solely on stocks listed on the OMX Stockholm 30 during each year from 2005 to 2009. By applying the concept of Earnings Response Coefficient we can estimate how the market reacts to accounting information. The dependent variable in the equation is the market reaction on unexpected earnings, in the study described as the abnormal return on stock. For quality purposes we measure this on a ±1,5,10 and 20 days basis.

Denna uppsats syftar till att, utifrån en granskning av tre olikt gestaltade gator i Stockholm, belysa faktorer och förhållanden vilka gynnar eller missgynnar vistelse och därigenom påverkar möjlighet för möten och interaktion mellan människor. Vi ämnar visa hur Stockholms stad arbetar med sociala aspekter knutna till gator inom planering och gestaltning samt om det finns verktyg för utvärdering av sociala kvaliteter.Genom fallstudier av Sergelgatan, Götgatan och Hammarby allé erhölls resultat om respektive gatas förutsättningar för vistelse. Utifrån litteraturstudier av Jan Gehls och Jane Jacobs mest erkända böcker samt av Stockholms stads styrdokument vid planering och gestaltning av staden, analyserades observationerna av gatorna.Resultaten i studien bekräftar för det mesta Gehls och Jacobs teorier om hur offentliga rum bör gestaltas, med undantag från vissa upptäckter. Ett annat erhållet resultat är att Stockholms stads arbetsdokument inte är tillräckliga för att genomföra en detaljutformning av stadens gaturum. Dokumenten behandlar oftast en mer översiktlig planering och beskriver snarare ett synsätt än fungerar som konkreta hjälpmedel för planerare och arkitekter vid utformning av staden.En mångfald måste finnas i staden för att många kontakter, både ytliga och mer intensiva, ska uppstå och ge staden ett socialt liv.

The purpose of this investigation is to reveal those hidden factors, which influence how leadership is practised, as well as the roles male and female play in their professions. Furthermore this investigation aims to elude the expectations and demands that leaders experience and their origin.The investigation is based on six interviews of senior managers, two male and four female. A qualitative approach has been utilized to penetrate the subject and understanding of the identified phenomenon. The theories employed to analyse the finding are Lincoln, Gerth & Mills and Merton. To further highlight certain specific results parts of Ahrne, Beck & Beck-Gernsheim theories have also been empoyeed.

This paper examines job coaching on the Swedish labour market. The study uses trygghetsråden, which are organizations established by an agreement from the labour and employer side, as a starting point for the study. In addition, the study examines the phenomenon from the perspective of the job coaches themselves and the coaches clients. The study concludes that job coaching is defined by the coach and the client's common goal of finding a suitable match for the client on the labour market. The job coach helps the client reach the goal of an appropriate job by making him or her aware of his or her competences and preferences.