Sweden is facing a shift in generation where the people born in the 1940s are starting to retire which results in consequences. Before the year of 2013 more than 180 000 companies will have to change owner. A study indicates that the majority of all Swedes in the age of 18-70 can consider becoming company owners.Only ten percent of the companies for sale will reach the company broker and another 15 percent will be mediated by legal experts and accountants. This means that 75 percent of the companies for sale will not be available for the public market. As a potential buyer this is a problem.

Bakgrund: Finanskrisen 2008 påverkade kreditmarknaden och konsekvensen blev att företag fick det allt svårare att få lån beviljade samtidigt som lånevillkoren försämrades. Detta borde påverka företagens finansiering då de inte har samma möjlighet att välja sin kapitalstruktur och på så sätt utnyttja de fördelar som lånefinansiering medför. Vidare är det fortfarande oklart vad som påverkar företags val av kapitalstruktur. Det finns få kvalitativa studier gjorda inom ämnet varför det är av intresse att studera kapitalstrukturen och dess påverkande faktorer ur ett djupare perspektiv.Syfte: Syftet med studien är att studera vilka faktorer som påverkar företags val av kapitalstruktur och hur arbetet kring kapitalstrukturen ser ut samt studera om det förändrats till följd av finanskrisen 2008.Metod: Studiens metod är av kvalitativ karaktär och åtta företag har deltagit. För att uppnå studiens syfte har en representant från respektive företag intervjuats vilket tillsammans med tidigare forskning och teorier har legat till grund för diskussionen i analysen och de slutsatser som författarna har konstaterat.Slutsats: En mängd olika faktorer påverkar valet av kapitalstruktur men den främsta faktorn är verksamheten som bedrivs, vilka strategier och förutsättningar bolaget har.

Unit testing is a type of testing technique which is becoming quite fashionable to the developers and companies that are in the business of creating and managing software. Alas there are seldom any concrete data to support the positive claims of the authors in unit testing methodology books. These claims are instead based on empirical studies and the experience of the authors. The problem that arises from this situation is that it becomes problematic for managers and also the developers themselves to convince both customers and their own management to use this type of testing as there is no exact return of investment model. This essay examines this problem from two points, the first point is from the literature itself and interviews conducted with a number of developers at a software company located in Umea, Sweden.

Forecasting stock market returns is an interesting topic since more and more Swedes enter and invest in this market. Theory implies, however, that such exercises should be impossible. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the possibility to forecast future stock returns by looking at macroeconomic variables? history. The study is limited to the Swedish market as it is based on the OMXS30-index which represents the 30 most exchanged stocks on Stockholms¬börsen, the Swedish stock exchange.

Purpose: The main purpose of the thesis is to examine the profitability of Momentum Strategies on the Nordic stock markets. This will provide insight and contribute to the debate on efficient markets. Finding profitable Momentum Strategies will provide strong evidence of inefficiency in the market. A secondary purpose is to examine factors which might cause or impact the profitability of the Momentum Strategy. We will look closely at the relationship between the profitability and factors such as risk (CAPM-beta), market capitalization, trading volume and seasonality.

Bakgrund: Börsen ger en möjlighet för företag att erhålla kapital och för placerare atttillgodogöra sig avkastning. Personer med insyn i det egna företaget, så kalladeinsiders, kan dock i egenskap av sin position inneha kurspåverkande information somövriga aktörer på marknaden inte har möjlighet att ta del av. Tidigare forskning harpåvisat att insiders utnyttjar denna informationsasymmetri för att på så sätt tillgodogörasig överavkastning.Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka om insiders kan tillgodogöra sigöveravkastning genom handel med aktier på Nasdaq OMX. Vidare ämnar studienutröna eventuella skillnader i överavkastning beroende på företagsstorlek,transaktionsstorlek samt tidsperiod.Metod: I denna studie har en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi i form av en eventstudietillämpats. Studien har en deduktiv ansats och undersöker insidertransaktioner från 90företag på stockholmsbörsen under tidsperioden 2006-01-01 till 2011-12-31.

High brand equity is a great asset for companies that operate their business in a free and competitive market. Brand equity can arise from both product-related and non-product related attributes and may be viewed from many different perspectives. This study examines which different attributes that contribute to enhance brand equity from customers point of view at the Swedish market for agricultural machinery. The study have been developed using a comprehensive literature search in order to investigate the field regarding brand equity and brand image. The literature review results in one product specific and one non-product specific approach in order to examine factors that contribute to enhanced brand equity. This takes the form as one survey-based approach regarding the non-product related attributes which is examined by interpreting the extra value added by different attributes.

Biofuels are getting more important as EU plans to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. Because of that Sveaskog has chosen to invest in developing the handling process of logging residue. The company has a joined organisation for handling both round wood and logging residue. They are also working at integrating the forwarding of the logging residue with the rest of the harvesting team. Sveaskog is currently extracting 44 % of the available amount of logging residue.

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.

Vilken finansieringsstrategi fo?retag bo?r anva?nda sig av fo?r att uppna? sa? ho?g lo?nsamhet som mo?jligt, har varit a?mne fo?r intensiv forskning alltsedan Modigliani & Millers identifierade samband mellan skuldsa?ttningsgrad och lo?nsamhet 1958. Da? europeiska banker a?r a?lagda med regleringar sta?r de info?r en problematisk situation da?r de beho?ver skapa ho?gre avkastning fo?r investerare, och samtidigt leva upp till de riskbegra?nsningar regelverken fo?reskriver. De ledande teorierna inom omra?det sta?r i konflikt med varandra da?r ba?de finansiering genom skulder respektive eget kapital fo?respra?kas fo?r att uppna? optimal kapitalstruktur.

Suspensory ligament injuries are a common cause of lameness among sport horses. These injuries are expensive due to slow healing, extensive convalescence and high risk of recurrence. The prognosis has been reported to be everything from good to guarded depending on the size of the lesion and the location within the suspensory ligament. The purpose of this study was to determine how different factors such as age, use, and location of the lesion are associated with the final outcome after a suspensory ligament injury. Material: Hospital records of 27 horses treated for suspensory ligament injuries at SLU equine hospital in Skara, Sweden, between January 2002 and July 2003 were examined retrospectively.

An increasing number of heat pump producers have developed heat pumps that can be connected to solar panels. In this thesis we have examined the possibilities of connecting solar panels to existing ground source- and geothermal heat pumps that has not been adapted to solar panels. During the work process, a prototype plant has been built to compare our theory with the practical results and with our designed sizing tool. The work has rendered in knowledge that will be used to build a sun module that can be easily connect to the existing heat pump system. The existing heat pump, our test plant, has been supplemented by an advanced storage tank used to allow different operating modes.

The Swedish healthcare system is characterized by lack of resources and extensive hospital queues. In order to counter these difficulties the Lund University Hospital have introduced Lean Healthcare to the hospital organization. The purpose of this scientific paper is to study the relationship between the implementation of Lean Healthcare and the experienced motivation among the staff. This essay thereby intends to impart knowledge, which could be used on future implementations of Lean Healthcare at other hospitals. In order to fulfil the purpose of this essay a case study have been conducted at two wards at the Lund University Hospital in which qualitative research interviews have been the method chosen in order to gather data.

AbstractTitle: Level/Degree/Grade:Authors:Supervisor:Research question:Purpose:How the bank may improve its financial counselling ? A qualitative case study.Bachelor Thesis; Business administration; Corporate finance.Andreas A?strand, Anton Persson, Kristoffer Wedebrand.Hans Mo?rner.How may the bank improve its financial counselling to private investors using portfolio theory?Our purpose is to examine the advice, with basis in portfolio theory, the bank?s financial advisors provide to their clients, the investors, and how they can improve. If we can identify and point out areas of improvement in the financial counselling, we hope to raise the question and contribute with an improved financial counselling. Another positive effect we are hoping for is to improve the situation for the investors whereas all parties benefit from an improved portfolio selection.This study is conducted through a qualitative case study, where we used a deductive approach and collected our data through personal interviews.The conclusion that emerges is that the financial counselling could potentially be improved if financial advisors improve their knowledge in portfolio theory.The originality shapes through the opportunity to investigate a specific bank and because of that an opportunity to examine a specific case more thoroughly was created. Our thesis contributes with opening La?nsfo?rsa?kringar?s and other banks? eyes to how their financial counselling could be improved through new knowledge in portfolio theory.

In the future the Swedish pension system will face major problems. With an increasing aging population combined with a decreasing share of working population the financing of the pension system is becoming a bigger problem than previously predicted. This means the individual himself will have a bigger responsibility to invest money for their future retirement. It has been shown that a large proportion of the people who invests for their future pension have neither the interest nor the time to actively invest their pension capital. To make it easier for those who invest for their retirement, some Swedish banks have created so-called generation funds.