The Impact of Responsible Investments on Fund Characteristics via Negative Screening: A Study of Four Nordic Countries
2017 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesisAlternative title
Hållbara Investeringars Påverkan På Fonders Karaktärsdrag via Negativ Screening : En Studie På Fyra Nordiska Länder (Swedish)
Abstract [en]
The increasing interest in being socially and environmentally responsible in the financial market, is a development that few has failed to notice. There is however no current consensus in whether doing moral good is justified, and what effects it brings on the financial instruments’ characteristics. Besides addressing how social and environmental responsibility affect returns, little is said in previous research about the effect on other measurements, especially in the Nordic countries. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate, analyze and bring knowledge to how exclusion of sinful markets changes a fund’s characteristics in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. The completion is done by creating four benchmark portfolios for these countries and by applying different socially responsible screens to measure the final effect on the remaining portfolio. These screenings were performed in three different time periods to capture the ongoing change in the markets, as well as establishing robustness in the results. The outcome of this study give a predominant indication that there are effects on the characteristics that investors need to be aware of. These effects seem to be country specific, as size and sign differs between the countries. Most of the changes in the characteristics are relatively small, why socially responsible investment still should be considered.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2017. , p. 84
Keywords [en]
negative screening, ESG integration approach, socially responsible investments, Nordic countries, fund characteristics
Keywords [sv]
negativ screening, socialt hållbara investeringar, Nordiska länder, fonder, karaktärsdrag
National Category
Economics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-147855ISRN: LIU-IEI-FIL-A--17.02644--SEOAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-147855DiVA, id: diva2:1206198
Subject / course
Master Thesis in Business and Economics Programme (Economics)
Supervisors
Examiners
2019-05-102018-05-162019-05-10Bibliographically approved