Advised by

Ana Paula Serra

Luís Miguel Correia da Torre was born in 5 th May, 1979, in Porto, Portugal. He completed his "Licenciatura" in economics in 2008, with an average grade of 14. After his graduation, he enrolled on the Master in Finance because he considered that a deeper knowledge on this field would be important to his academic and professional development. He concluded all courses of the Master in February, 2010, with an average grade of 16. Since 2007, he has been assigned the position of Financial Consultant in a Real Estate Development company. I would like to thank Doutora Ana Paula Serra for her availability to help me achieve this objective in such short time. I would like also to thank all Professors that lectured in the Master in Finance of Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto, for their professionalism and motivation to share with their students their knowledge. I owe them my passion for finance. I would like to thank my wife, my mother and my stepdaughters. Only with their support, I was able to dedicate my summer to this project, immediately following the birth of my first biological son. My wife, Sónia Leitão, is my biggest supporter and she knows that I am her biggest supporter too. My mother is the best mother I could have. She has always been by my side, even through the toughest times. My step-daughters may not share my blood but they know that they are real daughters to me. I would like also to thank my friend and uncle José Rodrigues. He was one of the persons that most encouraged me to go back to the University and take my degree in economics. João Vaz Nunes, a childhood friend, despite being very busy, helped me revise the English in some parts of my dissertation. He will always have in me the best of friends. Last but not the least, I want to dedicate this dissertation to my late father, Alfredo Torre. I feel very sad that he is not alive to be by my side in this step of my life. One of the last things he told me was to prepare and finish this dissertation. He will always be alive in my heart and in my memories.