In May 2017, Alan Pickering won the award for the `Greatest Single Contribution to Occupational Pensions (1998-2017)' at the Professional Pensions UK Pension Awards. It was a well-received tribute to the role he had played for more than twenty years. The Pickering Report, commissioned by the Blair government, had been a blunt, brutally honest and pragmatic assessment of what needed to be done if Britain's leadership position in occupational pensions was to be maintained. In this biography, Paddy Briggs, who worked closely with the subject, focuses on the world of pensions and Pickering's leading role in it. But the story is broader and more human than the highly technical world of retirement benefits. Pickering is a baby boomer who grew up in modest circumstances in the City of York. As a child, he was diagnosed with a degenerative eyesight disease, and by his twenties he was totally blind. His disability became more of a spur to ambition and accomplishment than a restraint. This included athletic achievements such as running marathons and being a serious participant in competitive race walking. He has reached the highest levels in the world of financial services and also became a well-known racehorse owner and a vice-president of the Racehorse Owners Association.

Investments set the standardas a graduate (MBA) text intended primarily for courses in investment analysis.The guiding principle has been to present the material in a framework that isorganized by a central core of consistent fundamental principles and will introducestudents to major issues currently of concern to all investors. In an effort to link theory to practice, the authorsmake their approach consistent with that of the CFA Institute. Many features ofthis text make it consistent with and relevant to the CFA curriculum. The common unifying theme is that securitymarkets are nearly efficient, meaning that most securities are priced appropriately given their risk and return attributes. Investments is alsoorganized around several important themes: The central theme is the near informational-efficiency of well-developed security markets and the general awareness that competitive markets do not offer "free lunches" to participants. A second theme is the risk-return trade-off. Also, this text places great emphasis on asset allocation. Finally, this text offers a broad and deep treatment of futures, options, and other derivative security markets.

Due to the emergence of innovative technologies, various professional fields are transforming their traditional business practices. Specifically, the financial and legal markets are experiencing this digital transformation as professionals and researchers are finding ways to improve efficiency, personalization, and security in these economic sectors. Significant research is needed to keep pace with the continuous advancements that are taking place in finance. Fostering Innovation and Competitiveness with FinTech, RegTech, and SupTech provides emerging research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of technologically innovative mechanisms and applications within the financial, economic, and legal markets. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as crowdfunding platforms, crypto-assets, and blockchain technology, this book is ideally designed for researchers, economists, practitioners, policymakers, analysts, managers, executives, educators, and students seeking current research on the strategic role of technology in the future development of financial and economic activity.