The beta value is frequently described in theory and is a well known factor to quantify the systematic risk in shares through the CAPM model. Initially, this study describes the advantages and difficulties with the estimating process and the problematic nature of the assumptions and descisons included in published beta values.An alternative method, Bottom-up beta, to estimate the beta value that probably has not been tested under Swedish circumstances is applied. The problems and decisions that have to be made to derive an alternative value are studied in detail through six separate steps. I have chosen nine companies at the Stockholm Stock Exchange where this method is used. The result showed that the systematic risk were higher at five shares and lower at four, compared to the published values.Finally there is a discussion about the practise, usefulness and opinions concerning how to estimate and interpret the beta value to determine the expected return..

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.

Return handling is often regarded as a slow and complex process. Studies have shown that it is not unusual for a return to cost up to nine times as much as a standard outbound delivery. An efficient return handling process is therefore essential to all competitive companies dealing with logistics. This report investigates, analyzes and gives suggestions on development with the purpose to improve the return handling process at LensLogistics AB in Kista, north of Stockholm, Sweden. The study has been conducted from a deliberately practical point of view in order to suggest improvement suggestions possible to implement and thereby change the entire return handling process.

Theability to beat the market is one of the most discussed topics in finance. Thereare very few investors that manage to accomplish this over longer periods oftime. Most of the financial research claims that this is impossible unless theinvestor increase the risk in the portfolio. However numerous of researchershave shown that it exist anomalies on the stock market which either indicatesthat the Capital Asset Pricing Modell (CAPM) or Fama and French three-factormodel fails to explain stock returns or that the market is not fully efficient.One investor that has claimed that the stock market is not fully efficient andthat it is possible to generate abnormal return is Benjamin Graham. Graham isone of the legends on Wall Street and he has shown that by using few variablesbased on public information, one can manage to beat the market over longer timeperiods.There arejust a few studies that have tested Graham?s criteria?s, however all of themindicates that they work but that the standard deviation might be higher forthe portfolios.

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 exact title used in the thesis will be mentioned here.Level: Bachelor thesis in BusinessAuthor: Mattias Lindqvist & Jonas TesfaySupervisor: Peter LindbergDate: 2011 ? JuneAim: In Sweden the representation of women on company boards is discussed extensively. It has also been suggested that regulations such as quotas should be imposed, in hopes of getting the gender balance on the board of directors. Measures such as these have been presented when this problem attacks our democratic values about how a society should look like. The aim is to study and analyze whether there is any connection between the return on assets and the proportion of women on company boards.Method: The paper is made from a quantitative with a deductive approach.

This master thesis presents a Model for Evaluating and Managing Interruption Risks in connection with Business Continuity Planning (BCP), developed for Swedwood International. The model consists of a template with instructions. The model should be easily understood and useful for establishing a plan for BCP. This is achieved by including the contents and procedure of BCP and the main supplychain risks in the model. The purpose of a BCP plan is to describe how an enterprise will return to business as usual after an interruption, e.g.

How capital structure influences corporate performance and value has been in the interest of researchers and scholars for more than half a century, but an answer is yet to be found. The main objective of the present paper is to contribute with data for this cause and hopefully help to clarify this mystery. The method that was used was by analyzing the impact of debt on profitability and market valuation through linear regression. The study examined 17 Swedish property companies listed on Nasdaq OMX Large Mid and Small Cap over a 6 year period (2007-2012). The authors found a slightly negative relationship between debt-to-equity and profitability measured by return on equity (ROE) as well as by return on assets (ROA).

Forecasting is an important part in attempting to predict how companies will perform in the future. The more accurate the prediction, the more valuable are the results obtained from the forecast. This thesis aims to investigate forecasts of return on equity, and whether a disaggregation of the leverage formula into its underlying components affects the forecasting ability positively. This is conducted by comparing a model based on the leverage formula's components with a model solely based on return on equity from previous years. The study includes manufacturing companies on the Swedish Stock Exchange over the period 1998-2011.

How debt affects companies is an issue that has received much attention. The fact that researchers disagree can make it hard for companies to choose a financingpolicy that maximizes the value of the firm and its return on equity. In a world with investors that are seeking to maximize profits the value of the firm can be affected differently by different economic conditions. The intention of this study is to answer these issues with quantitive methods, with focus on year 2010 and 2009, where the value of the firm is defined as P/E and P/B ratio. The outcome showed that liabilities only affected return on equity significant in one of four cases, and liabilites didn?t affect the value of companies significantly in any of these.

 Background: Earlier studies show that 30-92 % of ACL reconstructed return to their pre-injury physical activity. It is not clear why some people do not return.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the return rate to pre-injury sport among ACL reconstructed men. Another purpose was to characterize those patients who return and those who do not.Metod: A Web-based questionnaire with questions about returning to physical activity was sent out during the spring of 2012 to 93 men who had undergone an ACL reconstruction 6-40 months earlier and who, after 6-40 months after surgery, were evaluated with validated strength tests and self-assessment outcome measures.Results: At 12 months after surgery 56 % of the subjects had returned to their pre-injury sport. If the criteria were set higher ?back to the same- or a higher level? 14 % had returned.

Syfte: Studera sju portföljer och notera den bästa typen av portfölj med högst avkastning till lägst risk.Metod: Sekundärdata är grunden för uträkning av samtliga portföljers avkastningar, risker och korrelation. Studien är deduktiv med kvantitativa inslag av kända teorier av nobelpristagare i ekonomisk vetenskap. Slutsats: Studien visar att stora bolag i olika branscher är ett vinnande portföljinnehåll för denna studie. Stora bolags aktier har visat högre avkastning till lägre risk jämfört med små bolag under studiens tid då ekonomiska kriser drabbade marknaden. Den mest presterande portföljen var därför storbolagsportföljen.Vidare forskning: Längre tidsperspektiv och nya teorier som Jensens alfa samt Treynorkvot är av intresse för vidare forskning för att styrka vår slutsats..

Handling product returns has become a critical activity for organizations as the volume of gods flowing back through the supply chain rapidly increases. Few research studies have published specific empirical data concerning the reverse logistics practices of companies. Information technology and information support has long been recognized as a competitive weapon ? capable of enhancing company performance and achieving efficient reverse logistics. Reverse logistics is very unlike the forward, as it is more reactive and also has less visibility.

This paper investigates the possibilities to construct automatized portfolios based on optimizations strategies that could outperform comparable indexes. The study is based on time-series of Swedish stocks dating from 1986 to 2006. In the research four different portfolio optimization techniques were studied. These were: the Classical Markowitz Approach, Mean-Absolute-Deviation, Minimum-Regret and Conditional Value-at-Risk of which the three latter are based on generated scenarios. The behaviour of these models was studied for different choices of parameters such as backward time-horizon and targeted average return.

A comparative thesis to study precious metals impact on a portfolio, during a long period of time, from the fourth quarter of 1986 to the third quarter of 2012. Five different portfolios are compared; three of the portfolios containing one of the following precious metals, gold, silver and platinum, the fourth portfolio contain all precious metals and shares, and the fifth portfolio containing only shares which is represented of OMXS30. This is done to determine the portfolio that generates the most return in relation to the least risk with the help of historical prices. Sharpe ratio is used to measure the profitability of precious metals by measuring the yield relative to the total risk. The study also measures precious metals correlation with shares..