Exposition to Factors of the Investment Funds Market in Brazil

ABSTRACT The growth of the investment funds industry in Brazil and its international representativeness indicate the relevance of analyzing this sector. Literature has shown the effects that market factors can have on the performance of investment funds. One way of evaluating the relation between funds' returns and market factors' variations is the return-based style analysis. In this context, this research aimed to investigate, through the style analysis, the exposition to various market factors in two modalities of investment funds. With this analysis, we may infer differences between the allocations and the composition of portfolios, constructing a panorama of sensitivity of funds' returns to the market factors addressed in the study. The database consisted of daily returns of 508 funds, out of which 385 are fixed income funds and 123 are Neutral Long & Short multimarket funds, within the period from January 3, 2005, to July 11, 2014. Through the style analysis, with 6 market factors, we found a difference between the composition of portfolios of multimarket funds and portfolios of fixed income funds. Regarding the evolution of the composition of portfolios in these funds, we observed that the investment style of funds does not seem to be constant over time, something which may be a positive evidence concerning the changes that managers promote in their portfolios, seeking to achieve better profitability indicators

Synthesis and Physical Properties of Arc Melted NiMnSb

Several polycrystalline samples of the half-Heusler alloy NiMnSb were grown by arc melting of stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric amounts of high-purity constituent elements. The structure and the phase-purity of the prepared samples were examined systematically by powder x-ray diffraction. The transport properties of the best sample, with saturation magnetization M-s(5 K)=4 mu(B)/formula unit, were studied by measuring electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and thermopower. Features in both magnetic and transport data are consistent with NiMnSb being in a half-metallic state at low temperatures, i.e., the conduction electrons are fully spin polarized. However, point-contact Andreev reflection measurements on the same sample at 4.2 K demonstrate only similar to45% spin polarization.</p

Synthesis and Physical Properties of Arc Melted NiMnSb

Several polycrystalline samples of the half-Heusler alloy NiMnSb were grown by arc melting of stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric amounts of high-purity constituent elements. The structure and the phase-purity of the prepared samples were examined systematically by powder x-ray diffraction. The transport properties of the best sample, with saturation magnetization M-s(5 K)=4 mu(B)/formula unit, were studied by measuring electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and thermopower. Features in both magnetic and transport data are consistent with NiMnSb being in a half-metallic state at low temperatures, i.e., the conduction electrons are fully spin polarized. However, point-contact Andreev reflection measurements on the same sample at 4.2 K demonstrate only similar to45% spin polarization.</p