An accessible and practical guide to personal finance that busts myths, clarifies jargons and clarifies the best options for building your wealth More and more people are reassessing their lives as a result of the pandemic. Many have left their jobs or reduced their hours. Others have resolved to work only as long as they must, retiring early to focus on families and friends, hobbies or travel. Meanwhile, employers all over the world are experimenting with a four-day week. Making the most of these choices requires having and growing enough money to enjoy your future life, without needing to worry about it running out. But when it comes to investing in a pension, there is a dizzying number of complex options available. This book is designed to provide clear, objective guidance that cuts through the jargon, giving you control over your financial future. The authors strip away the marketing-speak, and through simple graphs, charts and diagrams, provide an evidence-based money manual that you can use again and again. They also alert you to myths and get-rich-quick schemes everyone should avoid. It's a highly practical and refreshingly honest book, written by two independent experts who have seen how the investment industry works from the inside, and how it profits from complexity, ignorance and fear. They show, in practical language, how UK savers and investors can beat this system and, crucially, make more money for themselves than they do for financial services firms.

"Fundraising Analytics: Using Data to Guide Strategy Fundraising Analytics" shows you how to turn your nonprofit's organizational data?with an appropriate focus on donors?into actionable knowledge. The result? A vibrant, donor-centered nonprofit organization that makes maximum use of data to reveal the unique diversity of its donors. It provides step-by-step instructions for understanding your constituents, developing metrics to gauge and guide your success, and much more.

This work provides a comprehensive look at the latest developments in lease financing. Rather than offering an exposition of leasing theory, Nunnally, Plath, and Johns present the application of this theory to actual business situations. The various types of leases are clearly delineated, including their advantages, disadvantages, and appropriate use. In emphasizing decision-making techniques, the authors incorporate into the volume the tax implications of leasing, the lease versus buy material, and the major contributions of academic research in leasing, with an explanation of how the research both increases the use value of leasing and applies to actual financing problems.

The volume is written in a clear, readable style and is divided into five subject areas: leasing concepts, analytical foundations of leasing, reporting for leases, evaluating lease transactions, and the role of leasing in modern financial management. The authors begin the book with a description of the types of leases and their tax, cash flow, and profit implications. A full chapter focuses on the fundamental techniques of time value of money and capital budgeting, which underlie lease analysis; these techniques are subsequently used to illustrate basic principles of lease valuation. Simple numerical examples introduce different lease valuation methods, and explain how to calculate rate of return and identify the appropriate rate of discount. Several contract provisions that complicate lease valuation problems are discussed, including variable rate lease payments, leveraged lease arrangements, and sale-and-leaseback transactions. The work concludes with a survey of contemporary leasing practices and costs. This study will be an important asset for all types of financial managers, as well as for students in finance and accounting courses and for both public and academic libraries.

A practical introduction to understanding the Financial Management of companies in today's rapidly changing business world.

This book is particularly well-suited to introductory courses in financial management, for a professional qualification and as a reference for practitioners.

"Risk is an inescapable feature of investing, and risk, more than anything else, is what this fine book is all about."
–Peter L. Bernstein

Praise for this Second Edition

"For those looking for a serious introduction to the concepts and tools of quantitative financial analysis, this is a great book. The focus is economics and statistics as applied to financial markets. Though the topics are technical, the author’s wit and good sense of humor are evident throughout."
–Bob Litterman, head of the Quantitative Resources Group, Goldman Sachs Asset Management

"This book is an essential resource for the thoughtful practitioner and serious student of finance. Kritzman straightforwardly introduces the reader to tools and concepts of huge significance in finance and investment management today. Neither brain candy nor mental steroids, this book is solid intellectual protein. Buy it. Study it. Bulk up."
–Robert F. Bruner, Distinguished Professor of Business Administration and Executive Director of the Batten Institute, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia

"This is a wonderful collection of wide-ranging essays on financial analysis written by a preeminent practitioner in a remarkably lucid style . . . don’t leave home without it!"
–Andrew W. Lo, Harris & Harris Group Professor, MIT Sloan School

Praise for the First Edition

"In one book, Mark Kritzman covers the key tools of modern investment practice. Clear, concise, and always to the point, the treatment is succinct but never superficial. This valuable volume should be included in the library of every serious investor."
–Dr. William F. Sharpe, Professor of Finance, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University and Nobel Prize Laureate, 1990, Economic Sciences

"Mark Kritzman makes the recondite transparent, the technical accessible, and the horrendously complex elegantly simple. Keep this book close at hand and you won’t have to figure out these difficult issues again (and again and again)."
–Jack R. Meyer, President and CEO, Harvard Management Company, Inc.

Make a fast, effective impact on the financial success of your business. Setting the optimum price for your products and services that's right for your customers and market, is vital to success. But how do you know what you're charging is doing the best job possible? In this smart, savvy Authority Guide, pricing expert Shaz Nawaz takes you step by step through everything you need to know to build a solid, reliable pricing strategy for your business. Thrive, flourish and open the door to instant increased turnover, the best customers and accelerated growth with the key to profitable pricing.

"Save yourself ten years of hard work. Read Brian's powerful book and let him show you the shortcut to success. He'll show you the fastest way for you to get rich."
--Robert Allen bestselling author, Multiple Streams of Income

"Millions of people start with nothing and become wealthy as the result of doing certain things in a certain way, over and over again. This book by Brian Tracy shows you how you can achieve all your financial goals, starting from wherever you are today."
--Jack Canfield coauthor, Chicken Soup for the Soul(R) series and The Success Principles

"This is the only book you need to read to become wealthy! It is loaded with practical ideas and strategies to propel you onwards and upwards."
--Nido Qubein Chairman, Great Harvest Bread Company, and founder, National Speakers Association Foundation

"Another great book from Brian Tracy. Tangible, practical ideas that will make you money and make you rich!"
--Bill Bachrach President, Bachrach & Associates, Inc.

"Brian Tracy has put together a masterpiece of common sense for getting rich. If you wish a different life, commit now to different actions--read this book!"
--H. J. (Jim) Graham President and CEO, Cyber Broadcast One, Inc.

"Brian Tracy shows you how unlimited wealth starts in the mind, and how anyone can focus their time and energy to earn millions. It's the readable, riveting primer for countless new American fortunes."
--Peter Montoya CEO, Peter Montoya Inc.

The UN has suffered from its earliest days as a result of persistent financial problems, which left it on the edge of apparent bankruptcy. This book looks at the history of the regular and peace keeping budgets. It focuses on the role of the US, simultaneously the UN's biggest contributor of funds and its largest debtor. It examines possible solutions against the background today of the UN attempting to reform itself to meet the challenges posed by globalization and an increasing number of civil wars.

How-to guidance for measuring lost profits due to business interruption damages

"A Quantitative Approach to Commercial Damages" explains the complicated process of measuring business interruption damages, whether they are losses are from natural or man-made disasters, or whether the performance of one company adversely affects the performance of another. Using a methodology built around case studies integrated with solution tools, this book is presented step by step from the analysis damages perspective to aid in preparing a damage claim. Over 250 screen shots are included and key cell formulas that show how to construct a formula and lay it out on the spreadsheet.Includes Excel spreadsheet applications and key cell formulas for those who wish to construct their own spreadsheetsOffers a step-by-step approach to computing damages using case studies and over 250 screen shots

Often in the course of business, a firm will be damaged by the actions of another individual or company, such as a fire that shuts down a restaurant for two months. Often, this results in the filing of a business interruption claim. Discover how to measure business losses with the proven guidance found in "A Quantitative Approach to Commercial Damages."

In today's hypercompetitive global marketplace, accurate cost estimating is crucial to bottom-line results. Nowhere is this more evident than in the design and development of new products and services. Among managing engineers responsible for developing realistic cost estimates for new product designs, the number-one source of information and guidance has been the Cost Estimator's Reference Manual.

Comprehensive, authoritative, and practical, the Manual instructs readers in the full range of cost estimating techniques and procedures currently used in the fields of development, testing, manufacturing, production, construction, software, general services, government contracting, engineering services, scientific projects, and proposal preparation. The authors clearly explain how to go about gathering the data essential to preparing a realistic estimate of costs and guide the reader step by step through each procedure.

This new Second Edition incorporates a decade of progress in the methods, procedures, and strategies of cost estimating. All the material has been updated and five new chapters have been added to reflect the most recent information on such increasingly important topics as activity-based costing, software estimating, design-to-cost techniques, and cost implications of new concurrent engineering and systems engineering approaches to projects.

Indispensable to virtually anyone whose work requires accurate cost estimates, the Cost Estimator's Reference Manual will be especially valuable to engineers, estimators, accountants, and contractors of products, projects, processes, and services to both government and industry.

The essential ready-reference for the techniques, methods, and procedures of cost estimating

COST ESTIMATOR'S REFERENCE MANUAL Second Edition

Indispensable for anyone who depends on accurate cost estimates for engineering projects, the Cost Estimator's Reference Manual guides the user through both the basic and more sophisticated aspects of the estimating process. Authoritative and comprehensive, the Manual seamlessly integrates the many functions—accounting, financial, statistical, and management—of modern cost estimating practice. Its broad coverage includes estimating procedures applied to such areas as:

• Production
• Software
• Development
• General services
• Testing
• Government contracting
• Manufacturing
• Engineering
• Proposal preparation
• Scientific projects
• Construction

This updated and expanded Second Edition incorporates all the most important recent developments in cost estimating, such as activity-based costing, software estimating, design-to-cost techniques, computer-aided estimating tools, concurrent engineering, and life cycle costing.

For engineers, estimators, accountants, planners, and others who are involved in the cost aspects of projects, the Cost Estimator's Reference Manual is an invaluable information source that will pay for itself many times over.

The integration of technology into entrepreneurial initiatives has led to the use of online communities to raise funds for projects and ventures. Through the use of social media platforms and the social web, crowdfunding has provided an innovative, large-scale fundraising solution for both personal and professional initiatives. Strategic Approaches to Successful Crowdfunding brings together a collection of research-based chapters relating to the use of the social web to raise funds and provide financial support for start-up companies, individual pursuits, and philanthropic endeavors. Focusing on a diverse set of topics relating to e-commerce, capital investment, peer-to-peer lending, digital philanthropy, and virtual communities, this timely publication is an essential reference source for academicians, researchers, professionals, and graduate students interested in understanding the dynamics, best practices, and managerial solutions for drawing funds and financial support from online communities.

This book introduces to basic and advanced methods for credit risk management. It covers classical debt instruments and modern financial markets products. The author describes not only standard rating and scoring methods like Classification Trees or Logistic Regression, but also less known models that are subject of ongoing research, like e.g. Support Vector Machines, Neural Networks, or Fuzzy Inference Systems. The book also illustrates financial and commodity markets and analyzes the principles of advanced credit risk modeling techniques and credit derivatives pricing methods. Particular attention is given to the challenges of counterparty risk management, Credit Valuation Adjustment (CVA) and the related regulatory Basel III requirements. As a conclusion, the book provides the reader with all the essential aspects of classical and modern credit risk management and modeling.

An essential guide to valuation techniques and financial analysis

With the collapse of the economy and financial systems, many institutions are reevaluating what they are willing to spend money on. Project valuation is key to both cost effectiveness measures and shareholder value.

The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive examination of critical capital budgeting topics. Coverage extends from discussing basic concepts, principles, and techniques to their application to increasingly complex, real-world situations. Throughout, the book emphasizes how financially sound capital budgeting facilitates the process of value creation and discusses why various theories make sense and how firms can use them to solve problems and create wealth.Offers a strategic focus on the application of various techniques and approaches related to a firm's overall strategyProvides coverage of international topics based on the premise that managers should view business from a global perspectiveEmphasizes the importance of using real options

Comprised of contributed chapters from both experienced professionals and academics, "Capital Budgeting Valuation" offers a variety of perspectives and a rich interplay of ideas related to this important financial discipline.

OpRisk Awards 2020 Book of the Year Winner! The Authoritative Guide to the Best Practices in Operational Risk Management Operational Risk Management offers a comprehensive guide that contains a review of the most up-to-date and effective operational risk management practices in the financial services industry. The book provides an essential overview of the current methods and best practices applied in financial companies and also contains advanced tools and techniques developed by the most mature firms in the field. The author explores the range of operational risks such as information security, fraud or reputation damage and details how to put in place an effective program based on the four main risk management activities: risk identification, risk assessment, risk mitigation and risk monitoring. The book also examines some specific types of operational risks that rank high on many firms' risk registers. Drawing on the author's extensive experience working with and advising financial companies, Operational Risk Management is written both for those new to the discipline and for experienced operational risk managers who want to strengthen and consolidate their knowledge.

Planned Giving Simplified

A down-to-earth introduction to planned giving by a leading pioneer in the field.

In this groundbreaking book, charitable gift planning expert Robert F. Sharpe, Sr., demystifies the complex world of planned giving for not-for-profit managers. He provides a detailed blueprint for starting and building a successful planned giving program, and develops a rational framework for managing the subtle interplay of legal, administrative, and interpersonal factors involved in the planned giving process.

Central to Sharpe's proven approach is his controversial definition of the effective charitable gift planner as being not so much a fund raiser as an expert at helping potential benefactors satisfy a deeply felt emotional need. Rather than soliciting or closing on planned gifts, the planner's primary focus should be on forming relationships with donors and providing them with the means and opportunity to fulfill their desire to do good.

Using compelling case studies, Sharpe demonstrates his approach in action. He identifies the various types of planned gifts and takes you inside the hearts and minds of the planned givers themselves, revealing their primary motivations and overarching concerns. He then guides you, step-by-step, through the entire planned giving process, and concludes with a clear delineation of the organizational structures required to sustain a planned giving program.

Praise for Planned Giving Simplified

"This book is a must for all who are serious about establishing or maintaining a successful gift planning program for their institution." —Nancy L. Perazelli, CFRE Gift Planning Officer, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.

"In his own inimitable style, Bob Sharpe has done an admirable job of describing the planned giving process in an easy-to-understand manner. Woven throughout is the emphasis on the important human relationship between the donor and the charitable gift planner." —Walter T. Weaver, III Director, Finance Support Division, Boy Scouts of America.

"Robert F. Sharpe, Sr., has provided a comprehensive road map of the world of planned giving. He guides [readers] to the desired destination without unnecessary detours along the way. His book will be a valuable addition to the libraries of not only not-for-profit professionals, but also 'givers' who seek a better understanding of the many routes available to them in their gift planning." —Joseph H. Powell President Emeritus and Senior Consultant, Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation.

"The name Bob Sharpe is synonymous with planned giving. I don't know of anybody who knows more about it and who can better convey its importance." —Reverend Dr. Arthur Caliandro Pastor, Marble Collegiate Church, New York City.

"I really like [this book]. It is . . . elegantly simple, direct, and forthright. . . . very enjoyable." —Thomas W. Cullinan, JD Executive Director of Gift Planning, University of Maryland.

Shavit's book is an implementation analysis of the impact of federal aid on the organization and administration of state library agencies. He examines five state libraries in detail, supplemented by data from eight other states that have reported using federal funds for their libraries. Through the use of qualitative evaluation methods and unstructured interviews with the people involved, Shavit attempts to answer many of the questions surrounding his topic including implementation, the stimulus for institutional change, the extent of accomplishment with regard to legislatively mandated activities, how the agencies have been strengthened and improved, and the realistic expectations of the response to federal aid. Finally, he proposes recommendations for future policy regarding federal aid to public libraries and the role of state library agencies in relation to such aid.

Why do companies exert high effort to reduce the costs of products that are production? Because they can! Because unnecessary product costs were not removed during product development. C-O-S-T, short for Cost Optimization System and Technique, details how a company's product development teams, their supporting functions, and company leaders can optimize product costs before production starts and thereby maximize lifecycle profits. Since product development teams determine product costs imparted to new products, much of the book details how these teams optimize product costs. The book also includes ways company leaders can create and sustain company-wide engagement in optimizing product costs and keeping the resulting increased profit margins. The reader is entertained while observing a three-day workshop where executives of a fictitious company, Defender Products, Inc. are being taught the C-O-S-T system by its developers. The story flows like a business workshop with slides, dialog, and break-out sessions. The content will benefit all companies that design, develop and manufacture products.

Formal systems of comprehensive planning and performance-based management have a long if disappointing history in American government. This is illustrated most dramatically by the failure of program budgeting (PPB) in the 1960s and resurrection of that management technique in a handful of agencies over the past decade. Beyond its present application, the significance of PPB lies in its relationship to the goals and assumptions of popular reforms associated with the performance movement.

"Program Budgeting and the Performance Movement" examines PPB from its inception in the Department of Defense under Robert McNamara to its limited resurgence in recent years. It includes an in-depth case study of the adoption and effects of PPB at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The fact that program budgeting is subject to the same limitations today that led to its demise four decades ago speaks to the viability of requirements, such as those imposed by the Government Performance and Results Act, that are designed to make government more businesslike in its operations.

Buying this book could be the smartest investment you make this season. If that sounds like a bold claim, just take a look at the list of contributors. In it you'll find the names of twenty-nine of the world's foremost experts in asset allocation. Over the course of twenty chapters, these accomplished institutional investors, academics, analysts, and traders school you in all of the hottest new portfolio management techniques now in use around the globe.
Not another abstruse discourse on the theoretical pros and cons of asset allocation, Global Asset Allocation is a working, nuts-and-bolts guide for institutional investors. It outfits you with a set of versatile new tools and techniques designed to solve real-world problems and guide your portfolio management decision-making.
While broad theoretical considerations are given their due, the lion's share of this book's coverage is commanded by cutting-edge technical issues such as mean variance optimization, allocating between styles of equity management, optimal fixed income portfolios, asset/liability forecasting, the critical time horizon, target asset allocation, and chaos theory.
In addition to all of the traditional classes of asset allocations, Global Asset Allocation explores a number of new and emerging investment horizons. Foremost among these is "the ultimate investment frontier," international markets, to which a sizeable portion of the book (all of Part Two) is devoted. You'll find in-depth discussions of the qualitative and quantitative aspects of global asset allocation, in which various experts describe the latest global asset allocation models, optimization methods, forecasting techniques, global bond and currency management strategies, risk and return analysis in country-to-country allocation strategies, active and passive management portfolio strategies, and much more.
Offering world-class strategies for managing global portfolios, Global Asset Allocation is an essential resource for corporate finance professionals, pension plan sponsors, analysts, and portfolio managers looking to expand their repertoire of financial management skills.
From asset liability forecasting and target asset allocation, to critical time horizon and implementing overlay strategies, this groundbreaking new guide educates institutional investors in state-of-the-art portfolio management strategies guaranteed to minimize risk while maximizing returns. Bringing you the combined insights and expertise of twenty-nine prominent investment experts from around the world, Global Asset Allocation is a working handbook, designed to guide your portfolio management decision-making and help you to solve real-world problems.
* The latest asset allocation models, optimization methods, and forecasting techniques, including passive and active portfolio strategies
* Includes six major chapters on global asset allocation, including currency management and emerging market investing

Traders, portfolio managers...investment professionals of every ilk: read this book, and use the versatile new strategies, tools, and techniques it describes to give your investment skills a razor-sharp, winning edge.

Public-Private Partnerships for Infrastructure - Principles of Policy and Finance, Second Edition explains how public private partnerships are prepared, procured, financed, and managed from both the public- and private-sector perspectives. As the use of public private partnerships continues to develop world-wide, both in the area of public policy and private financing and contracting, the Second Edition of this leading textbook: Captures and explains the latest approaches, providing a comprehensive all-round guide for those on both the public- and private-sector sides of the table Emphasises a step-by-step approach within a comprehensive, cross-referenced format Includes clear explanations of PPP evaluation, structuring and financing concepts for the benefit of those new to the topic: no prior knowledge is assumed or required Provides detailed reference points for more experienced practitioners Draws from the authors' experience and practice in PPP markets worldwide to provide a perspective on practical application of the key underlying principles Includes an extensive glossary of technical and financial terms used in the PPP sector

Measure, manage and get the most out of your marketing. Key Marketing Metrics is the definitive guide to today's most valuable marketing metrics. In this thoroughly updated and significantly expanded book, you will understand the pros, the cons and the nuances of more than 50 of the most important metrics, and know exactly how to choose the right one for every challenge. With leading experts, discover how to build your reputation by: Using marketing dashboards to view market dynamics from multiple perspectives, maximize accuracy, and "triangulate" to optimal solutions Applying high-value metrics for virtually every facet of marketing to maximise the return on your investment and identify the best new opportunities for profit Building models to assist with planning to give you the best tools for decision-making In its third edition, this award-winning book now includes the latest web, online, social, and email metrics, plus new insights into measuring marketing ROI and brand equity.

This Handbook charts the development of venture capital research in light of the global financial crisis, starting with an analysis of the current venture capital market and the changing nature of the business angel market. Looking at governance structures, the performance of venture capitalists in terms of investments, economic impact and human capital, and the geographical organization of business angels and venture capital global 'hotspots', this book also analyzes the current state of venture capital research and offers a roadmap for the future. Contributors: A. Avdeitchikova, G. Avnimelech, D. Cumming, D. De Clercq, D. Dimov, S. Harel, S.A. Johan, H. Landstrom, D. Lingelbach, H. Lu, C. Mason, A. Parhankangas, J. Sohl, R. Sorheim, Y. Tan