ACTIVE VERSUS PASSIVE INVESTING: An Empirical Study on US and European Mutual Funds and ETFs Desmond Pace,Jana Hili,Simon Grima FX Hedging using Forwards and <U+201c>Premium-Free<U+201d> Options John Mark Caruana Director Trading in Malta: An Analysis of Returns Yanica Caruana EQUITY MUTUAL FUND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: An Emerging Market Perspective Jana Hili,Desmond Pace,Simon Grima Recent Annual Report Weaknesses by a Supreme Audit Institution: An Analysis PeterJ. Baldacchino,Daniel Pule, Norbert Tabone , Justine Agius ANALYSIS OF RISK PARITY APPROACH FOR SOVEREIGN FIXED-INCOME PORTFOLIOS IN EUROZONE COUNTRIES Noel Cassar,Simon Grima The Evolution of the Retail Payment Market - A focus on Malta Sharon Marya Cilia Tortell

Contemporary Issues in Financial Services special edition includes studies by the University of Malta, MSc Banking and Finance graduates and the respective lecturers, on financial services within particular countries or regions and studies of particular themes such as credit risk management, fund management and evaluation, forex hedging using derivatives and sovereign fixed income portfolios.