The study sheds light on pupils individual plans of development and portfolios from the perspective of children. It has an ethnographic standpoint. It was carried out on children and pupils in pre-school, pre-school class and third grade. By further investigating how children and pupils use their individual development plans and portfolios, in which settings and to whom they communicate them, this study is able to grasp the discourse that is created around the instrument itself. This study is also interested in and aims to find the theoretical frame, in essence, which envelops both the construction of childhood and children?s own activities within the limitations and opportunities that this structure offers.

This paper analyses how Swedish fine-art oil paintings sold at auctions has performed as a monetary investment during the period autumn 1985 until spring 2006. An average price technique as well as a hedonic regression technique, applied to a sample of 19 213 auction sales, is used to construct price indices. The indices show somewhat different results, which is explained by the inability of the average price model to adjust for relative differences in quality between periods. The hedonic regression model on the other hand captures this effect, why the hedonic index is applied in a financial return model. By adjusting for transaction cost, the financial return of an average investment in paintings is calculated.

This paper attempts to investigate the correlation of 12 month abnormal returns and the fundamental value of stocks in theSwedish stock market between the year 2000-2011. Also, the paper tries to apply and evaluate the concept of the margin ofsafety. In estimating the fundamental value we use the residual income valuation model and three different estimationapproaches of the beta coefficient in order to correct for financial and operational biases. We find that our different portfoliosearn abnormal returns. However, this could be explained by the size effect and P/B effect.

AbstractMarie Widerberg (2010). Portfolio i förskolan med perspektiv på specialpedagogik. (Portfolio in primary school with perspective on special education.) Sektionen för lärarutbildningen, specialpedagog utbildningen 90 hp.Examensarbetets syfte är att med perspektiv på specialpedagogik, undersöka hur portfolion används på förskolor i en mindre kommun samt belysa specialpedagogens roll. Undersökningen utgår från följande frågeställningar: På vilket sätt påverkar och utvecklar portfolion enligt pedagogerna, det enskilda barnet och förskolans verksamhet? På vilka sätt används portfolio som ett underlag till pedagogernas egen reflektion kring sin verksamhet och sitt förhållningssätt? Vilka möjligheter och hinder menar pedagogerna att det finns i arbetet med portfolio? samt Vilken roll kan specialpedagogen ha i arbetet med portfolio och hur kan portfolion användas som ett specialpedagogiskt redskap? Arbetet ger en översikt av tidigare forskning om portfolio, specialpedagogik samt specialpedagogens roll i förskolan.

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.

The aim of the study is to show how a selected part of the European Language Portfolio, ELP, can support the assessment process for teachers. All the checklists at level A1 and My Language Goals from the Language Biography, a part of the ELP, are implemented and communicated in teaching in a 4th grade class of students. Two teachers are interviewed and both of their classes are compared in the study. One group worked for two weeks with the selected part of the Language Portfolio and the second group followed the regular curriculum for the same period of time. The teachers are interviewed before and after the ELP through support of mind maps.Results show that by using checklists at level A1 and My Language Goals students become aware of their own learning process.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine and analyze the characteristics of the management control system private equity firms use to manage their portfolio companies. The thesis takes a share holder value perspective, and it is assumed that the goal of the management control system is to increase the shareholder value in the portfolio company. In a qualitative study two private equity firms and two portfolio companies, one for each private equity firm, were studied in detail. In total, nine in debt interviews were completed. The results from this study suggest that the characteristics of the control system are dependent on the surrounding context; the focus on shareholder value and the specific characteristics of the private equity industry shape the characteristics of the management control system.

Background: The global capital markets have enlarged investment opportunities and thus also the sources of funds for companies which increasingly face global markets for their services and products. Huge capital movements show that investors are constantly searching ways to minimise risk and maximise returns. In the light of the substantial growth of assets in institutional funds, an important question for international finance is the degree to which institutional investors have diversified their portfolios internationally. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the international diversification of portfolio investments of institutional investors in Japan, the US and the UK and deepen into international diversification in portfolios of Japanese institutional investors. Demarcations: Institutional investors can use their power directly in companies or indirectly through capital markets.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to clarify and evaluate the concept of scenario planning.Methodology: Our research methodology has a qualitative approach and uses deductive reasoning. The theoretical field of strategy formulation has been reviewed and in specific the concept scenario planning was unravelled and mapped. Thereafter, our model was tested in a case study where the empirical data was collected through personal interviews. Theoretical field: Literature and articles from the strategic management field have been reviewed with a focus on strategy formulation, scenario planning and Williamson?s theory for the creation of a portfolio for strategic options.Empirical base: Personal interviews and secondary sources such as financial reports, articles mainly from industry media and articles found in the databases ELIN and Affärsdata.Analysis: The analysis work constitutes the testing of our model for scenario planning, integrated into Williamson?s portfolio of strategic options for the future.Result: The work has resulted in a clarified model of scenario planning with links to strategic management schools.

Background: The design industry is relatively immature in Sweden but large on the international market, where companies have used services from industrial design firms for a long time. Companies incresignly realise that design is an efficient mean to gain competitive advantages on the market. Several design companies fancy growth and to receive a wider market share to expand on the international market. One of them is Design Communicaton who has made a couple of acquisitions, to receive wider comptences and to cover different segments. That has lead to an increased brand portfolio with different subbrands, which can be complicated to handle efficiently in the internal and external communication.

This study is about the potential advantages as an investment option in a portfolio. The study shows that the incorporation of bitcoins in a portfolio, even to a small degree, gives significant increases of both risk and return. The different studied portfolios sharpe ratio rises, which in turn shows that the risk reducing return increases when bitcoins is used as an investment option.This study is based on Virtual Currency, Tangible Return: Portfolio Diversification with Bitcoins by Brière, Oosterlinck and Szafarz. The authors of this study have compared their own results with the study mentioned and seen its similarities and differences. The study investigated a total of eleven different assets percentage return over 192 weeks ranging from July 2010 to March 2014.

Investors? use borrowing as a way to profit from leverage advantages in their portfolios.When investors borrow with their securities as safety for the loan and the value of thesecurities decrease the investor can get a portfolio with more credit than what is covered bythe value of the securities and risk huge losses. To what extent an investor is allowed toborrow with his portfolio as safety depends on the bank or broker and varies between theproviders. By studying available material and in addition to that making an empirical study Iattempt to find out the reason for the varying degrees of leverage possibilities between thebrokers and how the degree of maximum borrowing on the securities are decided. Thefindings show that decision of leverage degree on a security is made after first making aquantitative analysis of the stocks volatility and liquidity and thereafter make a qualitativeanalysis of the company.

Konsultverksamheter har idag en stor mängd system och leverantörer att välja mellan vid val av att bli återförsäljare till ett nytt system. Denna mängd av system kan vid vissa tillfällen ställa till osäkerhet i form av vilket system som passar bäst in i verksamhetens portfolio. Genom en effektiv utvärdering kan dock detta avhjälpas och det system som passar bäst för verksamhet väljas. Uppsatsen bygger på en kvalitativ litteraturstudie där också en intervju utförts. Vidare har de teoretiska utgångspunkterna hämtats utifrån modeller såsom Standardsystem i Verksamheter och Välja och Förvalta Standardsystem. Dessa modeller ligger sedermera till grund för den modell som presenteras i uppsatsen och förenklar konsultverksamheternas problematik med att fatta ett genomarbetat val av system till sin portfolio..

Risk management har historiskt sett associerats med riskminimering och undvikande. Men framför allt inom project portfolio management har ett skifte inletts mot ett proaktivt tillvägagångssätt för att hantera risk, snarare än reaktivt. På så sätt uppnås en holistisk analys av risk som tar hänsyn till både positiva och negativa avvikelser på mål. Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka hur användbara optimeringsmodeller är i läkemedelsindustrin ur ett risk management-perspektiv. Modellerna som undersöks är capital budgeting problem, goal programming och contingent portfolio programming.

Detta examensarbete syftar till att skildra hur några textilslöjdslärare arbetar med portfoliometoden i textilslöjden och hur de ser på sitt arbetssätt. Syftet är även att ta reda på vilka för- och nackdelar lärarnas ser med portfoliometoden, då den används i textilslöjden. Det finns väldigt lite litteratur om portfoliometoden i textilslöjden. Litteraturdelen består därför av en beskrivning av portfoliometoden utifrån basämnena. Examensarbetets undersökning baseras på intervjuer med fyra textilslöjdslärare.