Time-varying hedging using the state-space model in the Malaysian equity market

Theoretical and practice of financial hedging have expanded over the last 25 years. Research in this area is numerous and one of them is identifying the time-varying optimal hedge ratio. In this study, the time-varying hedge ratio is analysed using the State Space model (Kalman Filter) on daily Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) and Kuala Lumpur Future Index (KLFI) from April 2005 to March 2008. Comparison between the static and time-varying hedge ratio and forecast performance is done to analyse the efficiency of the time-varying estimates. Our results show that for forecasting purposes the State Space model has the ability to forecast better when 30 days of forecast horizon are used. The volatility of the time varying hedge ratio is relatively low, but the static estimate of the hedge ratio overestimates the amount of the KLFI futures contract needed to hedge the KLCI. This may prove to be an unnecessary cost for fund managers in hedging using KLF

STUDIES FOOD AND FEEDING HABITS, FOOD PREFERENCE AND FEEDING MECHANISM IN THE MILLIPEDE JONESPELTIS SPLEDIDUS VERHOEFF IN CAPTIVITY

The adults of J. splentidus Verhoeff when offered leaf litter in different stages of decay, accepted only the litter in its advanced stage of decay. They showed preference to a few species of litter from the ten different species of plants offered, specifically the litters of Artocarpus, Terminalia and Macaranga. The litter of plants tested include Anacardium and Eucalyptus which contains well known secondary plant substances. When sugar and poly phenol content of fresh litter was estimated, it was found that the preferred litter was having comparatively a very low polyphe­nol content and high percentage of sugar. The morphology of mouth parts and the feeding mechanism of the animal were also noted

Impact of governance on profitability, liquidity and gearing of companies

This study investigates the relationship between two governance issues, i.e., ownership and board structure of Malaysian listed firms (between 2010 and 2012) and their performance in terms of profitability, liquidity and gearing. Structural Equation Modeling is applied and the data analysis tool used is Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE). The dependent variables used as proxies for financial performance are; profitability, liquidity and gearing, whilst the independent variables are; ownership retention (OR), board size (BS), percentage of executive directors (ED), percentage of independent directors (ID) and percentage of non-independent non-executive directors (NINED). It is conjectured that there is consistency across all components of ownership and board structure in terms of its relationship with the gearing of companies. With the exception of non-independent non-executive directors, all other components of board structure in this study seem to have an impact on the gearing of companies. In that respect, it can be concluded that a company's ownership structure and board of directors who represent the shareholders have major concerns on the gearing of companies compared to other financial indicators, as the level of gearing of a company has important and long-lasting effects on the profitability and liquidity of companies. This study leads the path for further research on all aspects of a company's gearing

Governance, ownership and performance of government-linked and non-government companies: a comparative study of public listed companies in Malaysia, India and Singapore

This paper aims to examine the extent to which corporate governance and ownership of Government-Linked Corporations (GLCs), and non- Government-Linked Corporations affect the profitability, liquidity and gearing of Malaysian, Indian and Singaporean companies for the period 2010 – 2012. In auxiliary, this research also scrutinizes the degree of similarities and divergences from the above mentioned relationships among the Malaysian, Indian and Singaporean companies. This research used two thousand and forty eight listed companies from Malaysia, two thousand four hundred and sixty listed companies from India and one thousand three hundred and fifty six listed companies in Singapore for the period 2010 to 2012. The results designate differences in the relationship between board structure and ownership structure on the profitability, liquidity and gearing of government-linked and non-government-linked companies in Malaysia, India and Singapore. Malaysia and India share similarities in most relationships but the adverse for Singapore. It is conjectured that governance and its proper execution needs to be seriously considered by policy makers to further improve investor confidence and ensure sustainability

Impact of investors’ protection, transparency level and legal origin on initial public offering (IPO) initial returns

Managers may underprice initial public offerings (IPOs), leading to higher initial returns (IRs). The purpose of this paper is multi-fold: to compensate investors for risk, to reduce litigation risk, as well as to maintain control over the firm. The authors examine country-level contingencies (degree of investor protection, legal origin and degree of transparency) in OECD countries to explain IPO IRs. Cross-sectional data comprising of 4,164 IPOs from 28 OECD countries are used for the period of 2005-2010. Ordinary least square using multiple linear regressions is used to test the hypotheses

A conceptual framework for wealth maximization: literacy and planning embedded model

The aim of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for wealth maximization. The paper defines and presents conclusive issues pertaining to financial literacy, financial planning and wealth maximization and expect to paradigm a conceptual framework for a prospective investigation. The research attempts to ascertain the significance of demography, perception towards money and parental role on financial literacy, financial planning and wealth maximization. Further research is obligatory to validate empirically the framework through systematic investigations and to assess its viability as a wealth maximization model. It is envisioned that the creation of awareness and transfer of financial literacy and planning to individuals will liberate the government to delve on macro level issues for economic prosperity. The theme is original and positions itself as the beginning stream of financial literacy and planning research, ultimately crafting foundational contribution to wealth maximization

Board composition and corporate social responsibility in an emerging market

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of board composition on corporate social responsibility (CSR) for selected Malaysian companies in Bursa Malaysia