The aim of this study is the analysis of so called socially responsible investments (SRI). First, the performance of SRI equity investment funds and equity indices is investigated using Jensen´s alpha as performance measure. The analysis considers market timing strategies of the fund management...

This chapter focuses on institutional investors in the German financial markets. Institutional investors are specialized financial intermediaries who collect and manage funds on behalf of small investors toward specific objectives in terms of risk, return and maturity. The major types of...

This paper first highlights the structural features of shadow banking in the euro area, focussing on investment funds. It then discusses the potential systemic risks that the recent expansion of the investment fund sector presents. While investment funds provide important intermediation services...

In this paper we provide evidence that the post-issue accounting profitability of firms underwritten by bank affiliated underwriters that are also borrowers from the same bank in the IPO (Initial Public Offerings) year is significantly better than average, but that the stock price performance of...

The rapid development of life insurance and its dissemination throughout the world, and the emergence of new types of life insurance products, in order to meet the needs of citizens, raises the question of proper legal arrangement of these issues. This article refers to the life insurance...

Long-term persistence of low interest rates and a decline in attractiveness of investing in low-interest bank deposits generate additional demand for investments in investment funds. In such a situation, it is expected to have widespread use of the investment efficiency measures which take into...

Traditionally, U.S. and E.U. are the major economic forces in the world. Today, in the context of economic globalization, relations between the U.S. and E.U. continue to guide the world. Yet the economic crisis and the rise of third world countries are affecting their global share.

Investment funds are key institutions for understanding the dynamics of a country's financial wealth and for analysing the interaction between wealth owners and the macroeconomic policy management. This text has three fundamental objectives: firstly, it seeks to construct a profit proxy of the...

This paper studies the impact of major ECB monetary policy announcements on the portfolio allocation of euro area fund investors, using daily data between 2012 and mid-2016, a period that includes a variety of unconventional measures. We distinguish between active portfolio reallocation, driven...

We study the impact of a liquidity shock affecting investment funds on the financing conditions of firms. The abrupt liquidity needs of investment funds, triggered by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, prompted a retrenchment from bond purchases of firms and a withdrawal of short term funds...