A deeper look into value investing's future prospects

Since value investing’s golden era, many things have changed: from the way individuals invest their savings, to the diversity of financial products available on the market, from the hierarchical and financial structure of the majority of the firms to the way how business is done, from the regulations that rule firms and the market, to the world economy in general, and finally, of course: the very philosophy behind value investing has also progressively changed. Only one thing does not seem to have changed: the performance criteria used to evaluate this investment theory. In recent years, when applied these criteria, the academia noticed value investing releveled relatively poor performance compared to what investors and the market were used to. But can these results be blindly trusted? When everything does seem to have changed, does it make sense to expect valid results applying the same criteria to completely different realities? That is what we propose ourselves to find out. In the present work we will provide an alternative framework to the one used by the academia over the years. We will expose some of the reasons that may motivate this (apparent) underperformance, and alternatives to overcome these difficulties. Our intention is clear: to evaluate if value investing has really lost its hedge, or if on the other hand, academics have just been measuring performance with outdated and unfitted criteria to the current reality.Desde a era de ouro da teoria do investimento em valor, muitas coisas mudaram: desde a forma como os indivíduos investem as suas poupanças, até à diversidade de produtos financeiros disponíveis no mercado, desde a estrutura hierárquica e financeira da maioria das empresas até à forma como se fazem negócios, desde a regulamentação que rege as empresas e o mercado, até à economia mundial em geral e, finalmente, como não poderia deixar de ser: a própria filosofia do investimento em valor também tem vindo a sofrer alterações. Apenas uma coisa parece não ter mudado: os critérios de desempenho usados para avaliar esta teoria de investimento. Nos últimos anos, quando aplicados esses critérios de performance, a academia reparou que o investimento em valor apresentava um desempenho medíocre comparativamente àquilo a que tinha habituado o mercado e os investidores. Mas será que estes resultados podem ser cegamente aceites? Quando tudo parece ter mudado, fará sentido esperar resultados válidos, aplicando o mesmo critério a realidades completamente diferentes? É isso o que nos propomos descobrir. No presente trabalho forneceremos uma framework alternativa àquela que tem vindo a ser utilizada pela academia ao longo dos anos. Iremos expor alguns dos motivos que podem motivar esse (aparente) baixo desempenho, e alternativas para superar essas dificuldades. A nossa intenção é clara: avaliar se o investimento em valor realmente perdeu seu hedge, ou se, por outro lado, os académicos medem o desempenho desta teoria de investimento com critérios desatualizados e desajustados à realidade atual

Active Labour Market Policies and Youth Employment in European Peripheries

This thematic issue discusses the design, implementation, and impact of youth-oriented active labour market policies in Europe, with a particular emphasis on its peripheries. The need to address territorialised, youth-oriented active labour market policies is pressing for several reasons. For one, the whole socioeconomic paradigm is undergoing fundamental changes due to the dual transition (digital and green) that is expected to have an impact on the rural/urban divide. Moreover, at the subnational level, youth unemployment in certain regions is a more pressing problem than suggested by existing studies, which have mostly focused on the national level. This implies that closer inspection of the subnational level, in general, and the peripheral regions, in particular, will reveal more marked cross-national differences. This thematic issue offers a point of departure for the suggested territorialised approach to the study of how active labour market policies for young people are formulated and implemented, and which effects they have on their target groups

Assessment of Using Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage for Current Harmonic Compensation

This thesis was developed in the frame of the increasing need for power quality control due to the presence of non-linear loads connected to the grid that inject undesired harmonics. The absence of research regarding the simulation of Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage technology in this type of application made it an interesting approach to study and develop, with the additional benefit of creating an open-source project to catalyze further research. This harmonic correction was achieved by using an active filter composed of a voltage source converter, a capacitor, and a Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage unit. Using Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage technology allows the use of this type of system in renewable generation, more specifically wind farms, reducing production variation and ensuring an increased power quality of the electrical grid. This work exhibits a positive result of using Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage technology on harmonic correction and catalyzes further simulation research and possibly a practical application derived from this work’s developments and provided tools.Esta tese foi desenvolvida no contexto do aumento de cargas não lineares conectadas à rede que injetam harmónicas indesejadas e a consequente necessidade de controlo de qualidade da energia fornecida. A ausência de material de estudo relativo à simulação da tecnologia de armazenamento de energia em bobinas supercondutoras neste tipo de aplicação foi interessante para o estudo e desenvolvimento, com o benefício adicional de criar um projeto para catalisar novos desenvolvimentos. Esta correção de harmónicas foi obtida por meio de um filtro ativo composto por um conversor baseado numa fonte de tensão, um condensador e uma unidade de bobinas supercondutoras. O uso de tecnologia de armazenamento de energia em bobinas supercondutoras permite a utilização deste tipo de sistemas em fontes de energia renovável, mais especificamente em parques eólicos, atenuando as variações na produção e garantindo a qualidade de energia da rede elétrica. Deste trabalho resulta um resultado positivo do uso da tecnologia de armazenamento de energia em bobinas supercondutoras na correção de harmónicas e catalisa novas pesquisas de simulação e, possivelmente, uma aplicação prática que tenha como base os desenvolvimentos deste trabalho e das ferramentas fornecidas

Game Wizard

Currently there is a growing demand for educational games and a consequent investment in this area. These games are mainly used to spread knowledge in an appealing and motivating way, in an attempt to reach different types of public. This demand, coupled with the need to adapt and customize the final product regarding the users’ ideas is limited, since the creation of new solutions that meet these needs is a complex process due to the specific knowledge required for its achievement. The present study emerged from these facts. As a main objective of this research work and in order to overcome the previously presented problems, a solution will be proposed to simplify the process of creating these games. For this purpose, content loading and manipulation mechanisms were used, making it a solution available to all, regardless of the level of specific technical knowledge, usually necessary for its use. As a possible solution, a game creation platform and an Android application will be developed. The game creation platform will consist of a web application for uploading content (images, sounds, questions and answers) to the server and database, the content will later be imported and used in the Android application. The Android application will consist of a mechanism that includes a set of modules that will be filled with the imported content, thus creating custom games and making them available to the player. In the end, this solution will allow the creation of a simple and intuitive product, easy to use by anyone and that can generate games by filling in the necessary components such as images, sounds and question

Project virtual teams: A state of the art

Virtual teams have been developing projects for decades, combining different expertise without the costs of relocation for organisations. Nowadays, due to the pandemic virtual teams are increasingly more common. These teams not only bring together different talent at reduced cost, but also promote sustainable practices. The goal of this research is to provide an up-to-date systematic literature review of virtual teams’ research, focusing on papers published from 2015 to 2020. It was possible to identify nine topics that embrace all research: Team dynamics, Technology, Leadership, Communication, Trust, Performance, Knowledge, Project Management and Engagement. This work allowed to find solutions for issues raised in the past and achieve consensus in other aspects regarding best practices for virtual teams. Finally, areas still to be developed were identified, such as team mobility and its influence on workplace’s perceptions, and sustainability and environmental benefits.As equipas virtuais têm desenvolvido projetos durante décadas, combinando diferentes áreas de especialização sem custos de relocalização para as organizações. Hoje em dia, devido à pandemia as equipas virtuais são cada vez mais comuns. Essas equipas não só reúnem diferentes talentos a custos reduzidos, mas também promovem práticas sustentáveis. O objetivo desta tese é fornecer uma revisão sistemática da literatura e investigação relativa às equipas virtuais, com foco em artigos publicados de 2015 a 2020. Foi possível identificar nove tópicos que abrangem toda a Investigação, nomeadamente: Dinâmicas de equipa, Tecnologia, Liderança, Comunicação, Confiança, Desempenho, Conhecimento, Gestão de Projetos e Compromisso. Este trabalho permitiu encontrar soluções para questões levantadas no passado e alcançar consenso em outros aspetos relativos às melhores práticas para as equipas virtuais. Por fim, foram identificadas áreas ainda a serem desenvolvidas, como a mobilidade da equipa e sua influência, nas percepções do local de trabalho, sustentabilidade e benefícios ambientais

Public Employment Services and Vulnerable Youth in the EU: The Case of Rural NEETs

The Covid-19 pandemic created unprecedented pressure to accelerate public employment services (PES) digitalisation across Europe. In fact, there is now a considerable amount of funding dedicated to that goal in broadband policy packages, such as the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. This pressure for digitalizing PES presumes that its benefits outweigh the existing risks, regardless of citizens’ singularities, such as vulnerable young people going through the school-to-work transition. Bearing that in mind, and following a bioecological model framework, our article addresses two main goals. Firstly, based on a targeted literature review, we detail the challenges and possibilities posed by PES digitalisation for vulnerable young people in EU countries, which have been widely overlooked in the literature. We specifically argue that despite several practical advantages (e.g., releasing staff from time-consuming administrative tasks), PES digitalisation will only be beneficial for vulnerable young people if three interrelated challenges are taken into account: nurturing trust in institutions and digital tools, supporting digital transformation of PES institutional organization, and adopting a co-design lens for PES digitalisation. Secondly, using a knowledge integration approach, we describe a model for assessing PES capacity to digitally support rural young people not in employment, education, or training to enter the labour market. We conclude that the overemphasis on the expected advances of overall PES digitalisation must be followed by thoughtful consideration of PES digitalisation processes to ensure EU social inclusion targets for the younger generations

Cavin 1 and cavin 2 roles on adipocyte cell function

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Genética Molecular e BiomedicinaCaveolae are a specialized type of lipid rafts found in numerous cell types. These structures have been implicated as playing a role in a variety of metabolic regulation processes and are typically characterized by their association with the caveolin and cavin protein families. Caveolae are particularly enriched in adipocytes and here we analyze the effects of cavin 1 and cavin 2 knockdown in adipocyte functioning. We obtained several multiclonal mouse 3T3-L1 cell lines with reduced expression of cavin 1 or cavin 2 by small interfering RNA approach using lentiviral vectors. We observed that cavin 1, but not cavin 2, depletion affects adipocyte differentiation and that both knockdown cells showed a reduced number of caveolae. We also verified that cavin 1 and cavin 2 expressions levels are dependent on each other and that both knockdowns caused a specific decrease in glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) protein levels. Besides the lower protein levels of GLUT4, both knockdown cells also fail to translocate the transporter to the plasma membrane in response to insulin, although the insulin signaling pathway was not affected. As a consequence, knockdown cells show reduced insulin-stimulated glucose transport. Our results underscore the importance of cavin 1 and cavin 2 in glucose uptake and adipocyte metabolism

Equity research - Intel Corporation

Mestrado em FinançasEsta análise representa a valorização da empresa Intel Corporation de acordo com as normas do mestrado de Finanças do ISEG, em particular, das normas para apresentação de projeto para Trabalho Final de Mestrado. O relatório de avaliação aqui presente segue as estruturas recomendadas pelo Instituto CFA. A Intel foi a empresa escolhida pelo autor pelo seu interesse pessoal no setor tecnológico, em particular, pela indústria dos semicondutores. Embora esta análise tenha em consideração informação histórica e decisões anteriores da empresa, a avaliação da Intel foi preferencialmente assente em tendências futuras e projecções para a indústria semicondutora. A metodologia de avaliação escolhida foi uma média ponderada entre os Fluxos de Caixa Descontados (DCF), Múltiplos e Dividendos Descontados (DDM). O resultado da avaliação originou um preço-alvo de $55.53 com um potencial de valorização de 6.61$52.09 e um risco associado de grau elevado, a recomendação final para a ação da empresa Intel Corporation é de "Reduzir". Os pressupostos assumidos relativamente à indústria semicondutora foram baseados em informação de fontes fidedignas, tais como os websites Business Insider e TechCrunch, entre outros. Informação financeira foi extraída de websites tais como Yahoo Finance e Bloomberg, entre outros.This analysis represents the valuation of Intel Corporation structured according to ISEG´s Finance Master´s Final Work Project. This Equity Research Report is aligned with the CFA Institute research report recommended guidelines. Intel Corporation was chosen due to the special interest of the author in the technological sector, in particular, in the semiconductor industry. Although supported by historical data and past decisions of the company, this valuation was fundamentally structured according to industry trends and projections for the foreseeable future. The valuation methodology chosen was an average of Discounted Cash Flow Approach (DCF) at WACC method, Multiples and Dividend Discount Model (DDM). The valuation yielded a price target of $55.53 with an upside potential of 6.61$52.09 and a high risk associated the final recommendation for Intel's common stock is "Reduce". Assumptions regarding the semiconductor market products were made through reliable sources of information such as Business Insider and TechCrunch websites, amongst others. Financial information was supported through websites such as Yahoo Finance and Bloomberg.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Atualização Bayesiana da distribuição de trincas em tubos de gerador de vapor

The structural failure of steam generator tubes is a common problem that can a ect the availability and safety of nuclear power plants. To minimize the probability of occurrence of failure, it is needed to implement maintenance strategies such as periodic nondestructive inspections of tubes. Thus, a tube is repaired or plugged whenever it has detected a crack which a threshold size is overtaken. In general, uncertainties and errors in crack sizes are associated with the nondestructive inspections. These uncertainties and errors should be appropriately characterized to estimate the actual crack distribution. This work proposes a Bayesian approach for updating crack distributions, which in turn allows computing the failure probability of steam generator tubes at current and future times. The failure criterion is based on plastic collapse phenomenon, and the failure probability is computed by using the Monte-Carlo simulation. The failure probability at current and future times is in good agreement with the ones presented in the literature.A ruptura de um dos tubos do gerador de vapor é um problema que pode afetar a disponibilidade e segurança das usinas nucleares. Para reduzir ao mínimo a probabilidade da ocorrência desse problema, deve-se implementar uma estratégia de manutenção com inspeções periódicas dos tubos do gerador de vapor, por meio de técnicas não-destrutivas. Com isso, um tubo é reparado ou tamponado sempre quando o tamanho da trinca detectada ultrapassa um valor crítico. Em geral, incertezas na detecção e erros de medição estão associados às técnicas não-destrutivas. Essas incertezas e erros devem ser caracterizados propriamente para se estimar acuradamente a distribuição dos tamanhos de trincas. Neste trabalho, propõe-se aplicar uma abordagem probabilística Bayesiana para atualizar a distribuição dos tamanhos de trinca, e a partir da distribuição obter a probabilidade de falha dos tubos do gerador de vapor em momentos presente e futuro. O critério de falha é baseado no fenômeno do colapso plástico, e a probabilidade de falha é computada através da simulação de Monte-Carlo. Os resultados de probabilidade de falha em momentos presente e futuro estão em boa concordância com valores encontrados na literatura