The Role of the Commercial Bank

Med en stor central hall på över fyra våningar skiljer sig byggnaden från det klassiska konstmuseet. Rummet ger med sina vita betongväggar och massiva skala inte bara plats åt konsten, utan förstärker den också. Det diffusa ljuset från takfönstret ger en sakral stämning och hallen kan hålla allt från en enskild tavla till enorma statyer, men också filmvisningar och teater. Samtidigt finns möjligheter till mer traditionella utställningar i de mindre omgivande hallarna. I övrigt finns möjlighet till föreläsningar och undervisning i anslutning till entrén och shoppen.       Byggnaden är också mer än bara en konsthall för Uppsala och årummet. De sunkiga båtarna tas bort och istället skapas ett stadsrum där parken möts av terrasser och byggnader på andra sidan vattnet. En restaurang med uteservering i söderläge mot parken ramar in och skapar en ny mötesplats i ett idag outnyttjad vattenrum. Konsthallen vänder sig mot parken och försöker vara lagom iögonfallande i skarpa linjer, vit betong och svarta granit, utan att ta för mycket plats på kajen.The building differs from the traditional art museum with a large central hall with a height of over four stories.  The room with its massive white concrete walls does not only provide a place for art, but enhances it.  The faded light from the skylight creates an atmosphere of serenity and the room can give space for everything from the smallest painting to large statues, but also theatre and screenings.  The smaller surrounding rooms can house more traditional exhibitions.  In connection with the entrance and shop there are rooms for lectures and workshops. The structure gives more than just an art gallery to Uppsala and the river with its surroundings. The old boats are removed and the park is instead met with terraces at the opposite side of the water.  A restaurant in conjunction with the terraces frames the water and creates a venue in an otherwise unused water space. The entrance faces the park and attempts to be eye-caching in sharp lines, white concrete and black polished granite, without being too extreme

Signalling Pathways Implicated in Obesity Associated Cancers

Grant support: The Scottish Government's Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division. Declaration of interest: The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Superannuation: Switching and Roulette Wheels

The introduction of choice has resulted in Australia’s superannuation system providing unprecedented flexibility (through increased investment options and the timing choices) for members to optimise their expected benefits. This paper examines the impact of switching between investment options using a normalised ranked return or “roulette wheel” approach developed by Bauer and Dahlquist (2001) for the Australian setting. The paper tests various switching strategies for both single-sector and blended options, for the period 1985–2005, finding that members require forecast accuracy of around 70% to be successful at market timing. Finally, the paper considers the impact of switching strategies on accumulated balances.Superannuation, investment options

Investor Expectations and Systematic Risk

This study refines the estimation of beta risk within the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) framework. Evidence is provided that the link between ex-ante risk and ex-post returns is strengthened by more accurately reflecting the formation of investor expectations. An adaptive expectations approach is employed as an estimation technique consistent with the behavioural patterns of investors. Finally, the study compares the capability of risk estimates from both the standard CAPM and adaptive expectation methods to account for future asset returns in Australia.Asset Pricing; Adaptive Expectations; Australia.

On the Value Premium in Malaysia

Davis, Fama and French (2000) report that the value premium in United States’ stocks is robust. Herein, we present out-of-sample evidence for Malaysia, finding that value stocks outperform growth stocks and document an arbitrage opportunity. We observe that the mean monthly returns are substantially higher for the two mimic portfolios (SMB and HML) when compared with the market portfolio. For the period 1991 through 1999, an investor generated 1.92% (annually) holding the market portfolio in Malaysia, compared with the two mimic portfolios, SMB and HML with returns of 17.70% and 17.69% respectively. We also observe that the standard deviations for the two mimic portfolios are significantly lower than the standard deviation of the market portfolio. Moreover, the findings presented in this study reject the notion of survivorship bias advanced by Kothari, Shanken and Sloan (1995) and the data-snooping hypothesis attributed to Black (1993) and Mackinlay (1995) as an explanation for the value premium.Asset pricing, multifactor models, value premium, arbitrage

Institutional Homogeneity and Choice in Superannuation

In this analysis of institutional investor performance, two questions are addressed. First, what degree of similarity is observed within the market place for retail superannuation funds? Second, what are the implications of homogenous behaviour for member choice policy? The answers from this study are as follows: as an industry, institutional investors destroyed value for superannuation investors for the period 1991 through 2003, under-performing passive portfolio returns by around 60 basis points per annum. Moreover, we find there is a great deal of clustering around this average underperformance. It also appears as though funds have similar risk characteristics which are, on average, defensive. The findings suggest that the products offered by those competing in this market are very similar in nature, hence limiting the potency of choice policy in Australia.Superannuation, underperformance

ASSET PRICING IN THE ASIAN REGION

In this asset pricing study, three questions are addressed. First, does the multifactor model of Fama and French (1993) capture returns in Asian stock markets in a meaningful manner? Second, do small firms and high book-to-market equity firms carry a risk premia? Third, can competing hypotheses (such as survivorship bias, data-snooping and irrationality) explain the multifactor model results? The answers from this study are as follows: The multifactor model of Fama and French (1993) provides a parsimonious description of the cross-section of returns, with the relationship between firm size, book-to-market equity and average stock returns being robust for Asian markets over the 1990s. We find that small firms and high book-to-market equity firms carry a risk premia, providing opportunities for mean-variance efficient investors. Finally, our findings reject the claim that the results of multifactor model can be explained by competing hypotheses for the Asian experience.Multifactor asset pricing models, Asian region, size effect, book-to-market equity effect.