To invest money in Funds is increasing rapidly in popularity and one of the biggest reasons is that banks are offering a greater range of Funds. Information about Funds is always easy to find and it is easy to invest money in a fund because the bank takes care of all the management of the fund.The essay examines two Funds from two different countries with an aim to choose the one with best potential yield. The first fund is entirely invested in North America and the second fund invests in Asia, with most of its possessions in companies from China. Both these Funds invest in wellknown companies in respective region. The essay is limited to compare these Funds with data from 2005 to 2009.Information was collected from Morningstar and Avanza Bank for the quantitative examination.

ABSTRACTTITLE The investors guide to hedge fund strategies ? A comparing study of hedge fund strategies on the Swedish market.COURSE Bachelor Thesis in Finance KEYWORDS Hedge Funds, Hedge fund strategies, Swedish hedge fund market, Investors, Average return, Riskadjusted returnThe ThesisInvestor?s general knowledge about hedge Funds and hedge fund strategies, is compared to other investment alternatives low. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to clarify to investors how examined hedge fund strategies separate concerning risk and return in hedge Funds. This, in order to facilitate for investors understanding which hedge fund strategy will be more suitable for them. To achieve this, the thesis is mainly focusing on quantitative data, which is complemented with qualitative findings in terms of a questionnaire.

In this paper Swedish hedge Funds and strategies are discussed and analysed. These new financial forms seem to draw recently a huge attention both in media, press and the academic world. The fact is that hedge Funds have existed already for a long time but it is still known too little about them. After the introduction of hedge Funds, different asset pricing models are discussed including the most basic of all ? CAPM and further Fama and French three factor model as well as the expanding model with conditioning approach.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze past development of mutual Funds in large and small mutual fund companies and see if there are any differences between these two segments. Limitations on the number of Funds have been made by choosing Nordic mutual fund companies that invest in emerging markets over an 11-year period. The study is made on 66 mutual Funds managed by 13 mutual fund companies in which the segment of small fund companies includes seven fund companies with assets under management less than 100 billion SEK and the segment of large mutual fund companies includes six fund companies with assets under management more than 400 billion SEK. In the comparison of the segments the Sharpe ratio has been used to calculate the risk-adjusted return. The study shows small differences of the risk-adjusted return between the segments.

According to Swedish tax legislation, investment Funds are taxed differently depending on if the are Swedish or foreign. The difference between the investment Funds lies within the taxation of received dividends and the opportunity to shift the liability of tax of received dividends on to the Funds shareholders. This measure is only available to Swedish Funds. The question in this thesis is whether this difference is discriminatory against foreign investors and therefore constitutes a forbidden restriction against the free movement of capital stated in article 63 EUF Treaty.The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has given several preliminary rulings on this type of legislation and its compatibility with the principle of free movement of capital. It is not compatible with the free movement according to the court.

This paper investigates the relationship between dividends and institutional and foreign ownership in Swedish firms. We use a dataset which covers the Swedish stock market over the period 1999-2009. The institutional ownership is defined as mutual Funds, pension Funds and insurance companies and these are analysed separately. The study confirms the expected positive relationship between the level of institutional investors in a firm and the size of dividends. We also confirm? the expected negative relationship between foreign investors and the size of dividends paid by Swedish firms.

This paper examines what affects the demand for five Swedish ethical Funds between the years 1997-2007. The purpose of this study is to examine if there is a relation between fund value and other values than just financial. This study examines if the number of conflicts in the world and the media?s coverage of the climate change debate could have an impact on the demand for ethical fund. A multiple linear regression shows that we don?t have a significant result from the examined variables except for household wealth.

A reforming trend is captured showing that countries are shifting from defined benefit pension systems towards defined contribution systems. The reforms have been justified through predictions that the defined benefit systems will not manage to provide good enough pensions to members in the future. The newer defined contribution pension plans often include individual financial accounts where individuals have the possibility to choose how a part of their pension savings should be invested. Sweden was early to introduce such a system, which at the moment provides more than 800 Funds to choose from. The aim of this thesis is to capture the market risk associated with these individual investments and does so by using Monte Carlo simulations for six selected pension Funds.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze past development of mutual Funds in large and small mutual fund companies and see if there are any differences between these two segments. Limitations on the number of Funds have been made by choosing Nordic mutual fund companies that invest in emerging markets over an 11-year period. The study is made on 66 mutual Funds managed by 13 mutual fund companies in which the segment of small fund companies includes seven fund companies with assets under management less than 100 billion SEK and the segment of large mutual fund companies includes six fund companies with assets under management more than 400 billion SEK. In the comparison of the segments the Sharpe ratio has been used to calculate the risk-adjusted return. The study shows small differences of the risk-adjusted return between the segments.

According to Swedish tax legislation, investment Funds are taxed differently depending on if the are Swedish or foreign. The difference between the investment Funds lies within the taxation of received dividends and the opportunity to shift the liability of tax of received dividends on to the Funds shareholders. This measure is only available to Swedish Funds. The question in this thesis is whether this difference is discriminatory against foreign investors and therefore constitutes a forbidden restriction against the free movement of capital stated in article 63 EUF Treaty.The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has given several preliminary rulings on this type of legislation and its compatibility with the principle of free movement of capital. It is not compatible with the free movement according to the court.

Introduction: Increased savings in Funds has enforced the importance of the institutions. During the last 25 years they have augmented their ownership from 20 to 85 % of the Swedish stock exchange. Thereby the ownership becomes more and more financial, meaning that the return is the most crucial. In an article in Dagens Nyheter the president of the Swedish Shareholders Association and the president of Metall object to the institutional passivity which they consider being an important problem. Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to put the institutional passivity in perspective.

Investment in hedge Funds is a relatively new phenomenon for investors compared with other forms of savings. In recent years, the interest has increased among investors in investing their money in hedge Funds, given the protection against declines in the market they are aiming for. Their main purpose is to generate a high return at a low risk regardless of market trends. This they can achieve by having fewer restrictions that offer more flexible investment strategies and freer investment opportunities.The purpose of this paper is to identify how the selected hedge fund strategies have performed during the recent economic downturn. We also want to clarify the claim that hedge Funds exhibit a positive absolute return regardless of what the market is performing.In order to answer the purpose of the essay and its problems, we have used a quantitative method with a deductive approach in the processing of data.

Title: Shall I, shall I not? ? A study of how the intention to engage in entrepreneurial behaviour in Norrbotten is influenced by the financial support from the Structural Funds and the establishment of Ikea in the city of Haparanda. Author: Erica Carlson Tutor: Professor Carin Holmquist/ Docent Monica Lindgren Purpose:The purpose of this thesis is to study what aspects that cause the intention to start a company. Therefore this thesis will look at two different situations, the Structural Funds and the establishment of Ikea in Norrbotten, to try to find out if and how these two situations affect the intention among potential entrepreneurs to engage in entrepreneurial behaviour. Method: A qualitative method is used, since this thesis aims at getting an understanding of a specific phenomena; the intention to entrepreneurial behaviour.

Background: Investors have several options to choose from when the goal is to achieve the highest yield at the lowest cost and risk. Stocks are a common investment options, but is also associated with risks. Portfolios are usually constructed with several different assets to reduce the unsystematic risk of investment. Funds are similar to composite stock portfolios, the big difference is that they dealt with in their entirety and investors may not affect the fund's content. The problem remains that whether you choose stocks or mutual Funds there is still uncertainty as to how the future will unfold.

Background: Investors have several options to choose from when the goal is to achieve the highest yield at the lowest cost and risk. Stocks are a common investment options, but is also associated with risks. Portfolios are usually constructed with several different assets to reduce the unsystematic risk of investment. Funds are similar to composite stock portfolios, the big difference is that they dealt with in their entirety and investors may not affect the fund's content. The problem remains that whether you choose stocks or mutual Funds there is still uncertainty as to how the future will unfold.