Niclas Hagelin

Derivative Usage by Nonfinancial Firms in Sweden with an International Comparison

This paper provides survey evidence on the use of derivatives among Swedish nonfinancial firms. The evidence is compared with the findings by Bodnar et al. (1995, 1996) and Berkman et al. (1997) for the USA and New Zealand, respectively. By comparing firms in Sweden with firms in New Zealand and the USA differences in derivative usage can be related to differences in their underlying economies and history of trading in derivatives. Among other issues, the results showed that (1) 52% of the nonfinancial firms in Sweden used derivatives compared with 53% in New Zealand and 39% in the USA; (2) the usage of derivatives was more common among larger than among smaller firms; (3) the principal use of derivatives was for hedging purposes and those firms that engaged in speculative activity tended to be larger rather than smaller firms; and (4) lack of knowledge about derivatives within the firm was the issue of most concern for financial directors. The latter was in contrast with the USA where lack of knowledge was the issue of least concern.

Family ownership, dual-class shares, and risk management

We investigate whether the use of dual-class shares affects the financial policy of Swedish public corporations. Specifically, we distinguish between firms that are controlled by owners with poor portfolio diversification (families) and those controlled by owners with diversified portfolios (institutions). We find that, on average, family-controlled firms do not rely on less debt, more corporate diversification, or more financial hedging than non-family firms do. For family-controlled firms, however, we find that controlling owners with higher vote-to-capital ratios are associated with firms with less debt and lower probabilities of hedging. This evidence is consistent with the perception that family-controlled firms use shares with different voting rights so as simultaneously to maintain control and reduce the familys portfolio risk.

Index Option Market Activity and Cash Market Volatility under Different Market Conditions: An Empirical Study from Sweden

This study investigates the relationship between option market activity and cash market volatility on the OMX index. Option market activity is defined as trading volume divided by open interest and is assumed to reflect the specific impact of speculation. The study contributes by investigating empirical evidence relating to two periods with different market conditions. The findings show that for the complete sample period there is unidirectional causality from cash market volatility to option market activity for calls and puts jointly, as well as for calls and puts respectively. While unidirectional causality from cash market volatility to call option market activity is documented for both the subperiods, bilateral causality between put option market activity and cash market volatility was found for one of the subperiods. Finally, to further investigate the potential impact of index options on the volatility of the underlying cash market the expected and unexpected components of option market activity, trading volume, and open interest were also investigated.

The impact of warrant introductions on the underlying stocks, with a comparison to stock options

This paper investigates the impact of warrant and stock option introductions on the Swedish market. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to investigate the impact of warrant introductions. The results suggest that warrant introductions have no real effect on the underlying stock. The evidence indicates, on average, that no significant impact occurs on the price, bid-ask spread, volatility, trading volume, or number of actual trading days of the underlying stocks in the year following the warrant introduction. This is in contrast to earlier evidence from stock option introductions and may be explained by the more complex nature of warrants. This indicates that (1) decreased liquidity caused by a diversion of trade from the stock to the warrant is nonexistent and (2) volatility estimates for valuation purposes, before the actual introduction, can be approximated by historical estimates. Furthermore, the introduction of stock options, in contrast to warrants, is found to have a positive effect on the underlying stocks. Volatility and bid-ask spreads are found to decrease, while results regarding changes in trading volumes are more uncertain. Finally, we note that the failure to document any impact from warrant introductions can be a result of infrequent trading in the warrants themselves. Therefore, a similar study performed on a more liquid warrant market would be of interest.

Gains from Adding Funds of Hedge Funds to Portfolios of Traditional Assets: An International Perspective

We investigate the certainty-equivalent wealth gain from adding funds of hedge funds to portfolios of traditional assets for investors in G7 countries. The allows us to incorporate the effect of cu ...