This book tells the story of how the convergence between corporate sustainability and sustainable investing is now becoming a major force driving systemic market changes. The idea and practice of corporate sustainability is no longer a niche movement. Investors are increasingly paying attention to sustainability factors in their analysis and decision-making, thus reinforcing market transformation. In this book, high-level practitioners and academic thought leaders, including contributions from John Ruggie, Fiona Reynolds, Johan Rockstroem, and Paul Polman, explain the forces behind these developments. The contributors highlight (a) that systemic market change is influenced by various contextual factors that impact how sustainable investing is perceived and practiced; (b) that the integration of ESG factors in investment decisions is impacting markets on a large scale and hence changes practices of major market players (e.g. pension funds); and (c) that technology and the increasing datafication of sustainability act as further accelerators of such change. The book goes beyond standard economic theory approaches to sustainable investing and emphasizes that capitalism founded on more real-world (complex) economics and cooperation can strengthen ESG integration. Aimed at both investment professionals and academics, this book gives the reader access to more practitioner-relevant information and it also discusses implementation issues. The reader will gain insights into how "mainstream" financial actors relate to sustainable investing.

A process-driven approach to investment management that lets you achieve the same high gains as the most successful portfolio managers, but at half the cost What do you pay for when you hire a portfolio manager? Is it his or her unique experience and expertise, a set of specialized analytical skills possessed by only a few? The truth, according to industry insider Jacques Lussier, is that, despite their often grandiose claims, most successful investment managers, themselves, can't properly explain their successes. In this book Lussier argues convincingly that most of the gains achieved by professional portfolio managers can be accounted for not by special knowledge or arcane analytical methodologies, but proper portfolio management processes whether they are aware of this or not. More importantly, Lussier lays out a formal process-oriented approach proven to consistently garner most of the excess gains generated by traditional analysis-intensive approaches, but at a fraction of the cost since it could be fully implemented internally. * Profit from more than a half-century's theoretical and empirical literature, as well as the author's own experiences as a top investment strategist * Learn an approach, combining several formal management processes, that simplifies portfolio management and makes its underlying qualities more transparent, while lowering costs significantly * Discover proven methods for exploiting the inefficiencies of traditional benchmarks, as well as the behavioral biases of investors and corporate management, for consistently high returns * Learn to use highly-efficient portfolio management and rebalancing methodologies and an approach to diversification that yields returns far greater than traditional investment programs

This study is an independent scholarly analysis of the economics of the grain futures contracts of the Chicago Board of Trade. The study was made possible by a research grant to the MidAmerica Institute from the Chicago Board of Trade, and we gratefully acknowledge this financial support, as well as the information and vast body of experience made available to us by the Division of Economic Analysis and members of the Exchange. Several other organizations also provided invaluable help from the inception of this study through the full process, either in the form of information, or through discussion: the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Grain and Feed Association, the American Soybean Association, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, the House Committee on Agriculture, the General Accounting Office, and the Center for the Study of Futures and Options Markets at Virginia Polytechnic and State University. We express our thanks. The primary authors wish to extend a special word of apprecia tion to Michael Brennan, Merton Miller, Richard Roll, Hans Stoll and Lester Telser, who served as members of the Resource Panel for the study. While key strengths of the study reflect their input, ultimate responsibility for the analysis rests with the primary authors."

This book provides insights into the hidden role of intuitive expertise in financial decision-making. The authors show and discuss how expertise combined with intuitive judgments positively affect decision-making outcomes. The book builds on the latest academic studies in this emergent field. In combination with the academic perspective, the authors provide a field study that they conducted in the context of mergers and acquisitions (M&As), a common and critical strategic investment for companies. The interviews were carried out with experts and decision-makers in large and successful international companies (i.e., M&A experts, CEOs, CFOs, and board members). The book provides a solid theoretical and empirically based grounding of the topic. In addition, it offers suggestions to practitioners on how they can develop and nurture intuitive expertise in strategic investment decision-making. The report of the field study provides examples and quotes from interviews to visualize findings, thus helping practitioners gain understanding and insights from the text. The authors also discuss the downsides of intuitive expertise, such as biases and flawed decision-making. For scholars, students, and professionals, the book offers a concise and up-to-date summary of an emergent stream of research, exploring how cognition and judgment affect financial decision-making.

There is a foundational crisis in financial theory and professional investment practice: There is little, if any, credible evidence that active investment strategies and traditional institutional quantitative technologies are able to provide superior risk-adjusted, cost-adjusted return over investment relevant horizons. Economic and financial theory has been in error for more than fifty years and is the fundamental cause of the persistent ineffectiveness of professional asset management. Contemporary sociological and economic theory, agent-based modeling, and an appreciation of the social context for preference theory provides a rational and intuitive framework for understanding financial markets and economic behavior. The author narrates his long-term experience in the use and limitations of traditional tools of quantitative asset management as an institutional asset manager in practice and as a quantitative analyst and strategist on Wall Street. Monte Carlo simulation methods, modern statistical tools, and U.S. patented innovations are introduced to redefine portfolio optimality and procedures for enhanced professional asset management. A new social context for expected utility theory leads to a novel understanding of modern equity markets as a financial intermediary for purchasing power constant time-shift investing uniquely appropriate for meeting investor long-term investment objectives. This book addresses the limitations and indicated resolutions for more useful financial theory and more reliable asset management technology. In the process, it traces the major historical developments of theory and institutional asset management practice and their limitations over the course of the 20th century to the present, including Markowitz and the birth of modern finance, CAPM theory and emergence of institutional quantitative asset management, CAPM and VM theory limitations and ineffective iconic tools and strategies, and innovations in statistical methodologies and financial market theory.

Part of a series which focuses on advances in futures and options research, this volume discusses a variety of topics in the field.

The book is divided into three sections plus detailed appendices and glossary and accompanying CD-ROM. It provides a description of the investment management process providing a context for quantitative techniques,addresses different quantitative techniques as applied to investment management, and brings together issues such as currency management, performance measurement and appraisal and performance analysis.

Trading today's markets―including stocks, futures, or Forex―can be a challenging and difficult endeavor. But it is possible to achieve consistent success in this field, if you're prepared to learn a complete trading plan from entry to exit.

In High Probability Trading Strategies, author and well-known trading educator Robert Miner skillfully outlines every aspect of a practical trading plan―from entry to exit―that he has developed over the course of his distinguished twenty-plus-year career. The result is a complete approach to trading that will allow you to trade confidently in a variety of markets and time frames.

With this book as your guide, you'll quickly learn how to recognize high-probability trading opportunities, pinpoint exact entry and stop prices, and manage a trade until it's completely closed out. You'll discover how the four key factors of dual-time-frame-momentum, pattern, price, and time can guide you down the path to trading profits. As you become familiar with the proven strategies and techniques taught in High Probability Trading Strategies, you'll also come to understand the type of market information you can use to make specific trade decisions and how to execute those decisions from start to finish.

Miner teaches in a practical, step-by-step manner until a complete trading plan is developed. While the ideas found here are essential to trading success, the best way to learn is by example. That's why Miner has devoted an entire chapter―called "Real Traders, Real Time"―to trade examples submitted by his past students. In it, you'll see how they apply the strategies taught throughout the book to markets around the world.

A companion website completes this compre-hensive learning package. It's not a word-for-word review of the material in the book, but rather an additional tool to illustrate more examples. With it, you'll learn how to put high-probability trading strategies into practice, day by day and bar by bar, for many different markets and time frames.

Written with the serious trader in mind, High Probability Trading Strategies details a practical approach to analyzing market behavior, identify-ing profitable trade setups, and executing and managing trades―from entry to exit―that will allow you to both preserve and grow your capital. If you're looking to make the most of your time in today's markets, look no further than High Probability Trading Strategies.

The derivatives market has been the fastest growing area of financial activity in the past few years. The pace of product development is fast, with a myriad of new hybrids being developed every year. This best-selling text is ordered in dictionary format, taking each financial instrument, market or related concept and giving an analysis together with diagrams where applicable. It also includes a comprehensive listing of contracts available on the major exchanges. Crucially, tax and accounting guidelines are included, and all appropriate legal documentation, such as the ISDA master agreement on swaps is reproduced in full.

The new edition of the definitive reference to trading systems--expanded and thoroughly updated. Professional and individual traders haverelied on Trading Systems and Methods for over three decades. Acclaimed trading systems expert Perry Kaufman provides complete, authoritative information on proven indicators, programs, systems, and algorithms. Now in its sixth edition, this respected book continues to provide readers with the knowledge required to develop or select the trading programs best suited for their needs. In-depth discussions of basic mathematical and statistical concepts instruct readers on how much data to use, how to create an index, how to determine probabilities, and how best to test your ideas. These technical tools and indicators help readers identify trends, momentum, and patterns, while an analytical framework enables comparisons of systematic methods and techniques. This updated, fully-revised edition offers new examples using stocks, ETFs and futures, and provides expanded coverage of arbitrage, high frequency trading, and sophisticated risk management models. More programs and strategies have been added, such as Artificial Intelligence techniques and Game Theory approaches to trading. Offering a complete array of practical, user-ready tools, this invaluable resource: Offers comprehensive revisions and additional mathematical and statistical tools, trading systems, and examples of current market situations Explains basic mathematical and statistical concepts with accompanying code Includes new Excel spreadsheets with genetic algorithms, TradeStation code, MetaStock code, and more Provides access to a companion website packed with supplemental materials Trading Systems and Methods is an indispensable reference on trading systems, as well as system design and methods for professional and individual active traders, money managers, trading systems developers.

Financial market volatility plays a crucial role in financial decision making, as volatility forecasts are important input parameters in areas such as option pricing, hedging strategies, portfolio allocation and Value-at-Risk calculations. The fact that financial innovations arrive at an ever-increasing rate has motivated both academic researchers and practitioners and advances in this field have been considerable. The use of Stochastic Volatility (SV) models is one of the latest developments in this area. Empirical Studies on Volatility in International Stock Markets describes the existing techniques for the measurement and estimation of volatility in international stock markets with emphasis on the SV model and its empirical application. Eugenie Hol develops various extensions of the SV model, which allow for additional variables in both the mean and the variance equation. In addition, the forecasting performance of SV models is compared not only to that of the well-established GARCH model but also to implied volatility and so-called realised volatility models which are based on intraday volatility measures.
The intended readers are financial professionals who seek to obtain more accurate volatility forecasts and wish to gain insight about state-of-the-art volatility modelling techniques and their empirical value, and academic researchers and students who are interested in financial market volatility and want to obtain an updated overview of the various methods available in this area.

An indispensable resource for every financial service professionals developing an IPS The Investment Policy Statement (IPS) is one of the most critical documents fiduciaries must draft. For years, ERISA and other industry regulations have governed the guidelines all fiduciaries must comply with when drafting one. But the current climate of corporate scandal and the 2008 global banking crisis have led to increased scrutiny by regulators, prompting firms to take a closer look at the quality and integrity of their IPSs and to take steps to have a rigorous formal process in place for drafting them. Endorsed by the Foundation of Fiduciary Studies, this concise guide provides a rigorous framework and the expert insight, information and guidance you need to guarantee that your IPS is in complete compliance with all ERISA-directed requirements. * Provides a step-by-step plan for creating a uniform IPS that every advisor in the office can follow * Defines the duties and responsibilities of all parties involved, while clarifying diversification guidelines and providing methods for keeping costs under control * Packed with ready-to-use templates, sample forms, letters and other documents, diagrams and other valuable tools, including sample Policy Statement downloadable at the companion website * Designed to get you quickly up to speed on what you need to know to confidently serve your clients with the highest standards of care and protection

This volume includes papers on topics related to efficiency issues in U.S. and European equity and options markets, as well as the productive efficiency of various types of depository financial institutions. In the capital market context, the book highlights the provisions of efficient trading services in the capital markets and the role of market size, concentration, quality, governance and automation of trading. In the banking perspectives, the volume presents topics related to market integration, dynamic models of bank production, regulatory closure rules for banking firms, risk based insurance premiums in banking, and the economics of the research and development in private firms.

This book explores current financing options for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), with particular insight into the European market. The authors position SME funding within a risk-averse lending environment with high regulatory costs on business loans, which has arisen from the recent financial crisis and new European bank capital regulations. Chapters in the book demonstrate how and why SMEs may be forced to leave the market and posit that shadow banking and other alternative funding options are viable channels for raising funds. A new and innovative SME credit risk model is also presented. This book will appeal to all who share an interest in sustainable solutions to issues in SME financing.

The definitive source of information on all topics related to investment valuation tools and techniques

Valuation is at the heart of any investment decision, whether that decision is buy, sell or hold. But the pricing of many assets has become a more complex task in modern markets, especially after the recent financial crisis. In order to be successful at this endeavor, you must have a firm understanding of the proper valuation techniques. One valuation book stands out as withstanding the test of time among students of financial markets and investors, Aswath Damodaran's"Investment Valuation."

Now completely revised and updated to reflect changing market conditions, this third edition comprehensively introduces students and investment professionals to the range of valuation models available and how to chose the right model for any given asset valuation scenario. This edition includes valuation techniques for a whole host of real options, start-up firms, unconventional assets, distressed companies and private equity, and real estate. All examples have been updated and new material has been added.An expansion of ancillaries include updated online databases, spreadsheets, and other educational support toolsFully revised to incorporate valuation lessons learned from the last five years, from the market crisis and emerging markets to new types of equity investmentsRevised examples of company valuations such as companies from Eastern Europe and Africa, which stress the global nature of modern valuationAuthor Aswath Damodaran is regarded as one of the best educators and thinkers on the topic of investment valuation"

This indispensable guide is a must read for students wishing to gain a better understanding of investment valuation and its methods. With it, you can take the insights and advice of a recognized authority on the valuation process and immediately put them to work for you.

This book is about strategic asset allocation for institutional investors. It is an edited series of papers, from respected academics worldwide, on the latest developments in portfolio management, including new scientific articles that help to identify new trends. These expert studies can effectively improve the risk and return characteristics of your investment portfolio.

Infrastructure drives economic growth, jobs, quality of life, health and welfare, but public mechanisms for delivering infrastructure services face particular challenges of efficiency and politicized decision making. Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), if well designed and implemented, can provide Governments with more efficient, more effective, better managed, more transparent and more competitive sources of infrastructure services, financed through new sources of funding.

In recent years portfolio optimization and construction methodologies have become an increasingly critical ingredient of asset and fund management, while at the same time portfolio risk assessment has become an essential ingredient in risk management, and this trend will only accelerate in the coming years. Unfortunately there is a large gap between the limited treatment of portfolio construction methods that are presented in most university courses with relatively little hands-on experience and limited computing tools, and the rich and varied aspects of portfolio construction that are used in practice in the finance industry. Current practice demands the use of modern methods of portfolio construction that go well beyond the classical Markowitz mean-variance optimality theory and require the use of powerful scalable numerical optimization methods. This book fills the gap between current university instruction and current industry practice by providing a comprehensive computationally-oriented treatment of modern portfolio optimization and construction methods. The computational aspect of the book is based on extensive use of S-PlusA(R), the S+NuOPTa"[ optimization module, the S-Plus Robust Library and the S]Bayesa"[ Library, along with about 100 S-Plus scripts and some CRSPA(R) sample data sets of stock returns. A special time-limited version of the S-Plus software is available to purchasers of this book.

a oeFor money managers and investment professionals in the field, optimization is truly a can of worms rather left un-opened, until now! Here lies a thorough explanation of almost all possibilities one can think of for portfolio optimization, complete with error estimationtechniques and explanation of when non-normality plays a part. A highly recommended and practical handbook for the consummate professional and student alike!a

Steven P. Greiner, Ph.D., Chief Large Cap Quant & Fundamental Research Manager, Harris Investment Management

a oeThe authors take a huge step in the long struggle to establish applied post-modern portfolio theory. The optimization and statistical techniques generalize the normal linear model to include robustness, non-normality, and semi-conjugate Bayesian analysis via MCMC. The techniques are very clearly demonstrated by the extensive use and tight integration of S-Plus software. Their book should be an enormous help to students and practitioners trying to move beyond traditional modern portfolio theory.a

Peter Knez, CIO, Global Head of Fixed Income, Barclays Global Investors

a oeWith regard to static portfolio optimization, the book gives a good survey on the development from the basic Markowitz approach to state of the art models and is in particular valuable for direct use in practice or for lectures combined with practical exercises.a

Short Book Reviews of the International Statistical Institute, December 2005

The recent evolution of an independent cross market, combined with the technological advancements in computerized trading marked the beginning of a new era in the Foreign Exchange Market. Triangular arbitrage among currencies, once only a theory, is now common practice for those with access to large amounts of money. This book illustrates how converting from one currency to another, then to another, and back to the original currency can be very profitable. This study provides the first direct and precise test of triangular arbitrage based on actual data.

A risk-free profit can be made by taking advantage of price discrepancies of a currency in several different markets. The study begins by reviewing past work on triangular arbitrage and provides a comprehensive review of the Foreign Exchange Market and the procedures of computerized trading. The author then presents the theory of triangular arbitrage, given a group of five major currencies. The last chapters develop methods of testing that are original and based on empiracal information. The author is careful to explain that profits arer dependent on many variables related to market volume, volatility, inefficiency, and unexpected news. The markets that consistently show the largest amounts of inefficiency are the dollar-pound-yen, dollar-mark-yen, and dollar-yen-franc markets. Inefficiencies in triangular arbitrage imply that risk-free profitable opportunities exist. Traders can take advantage of those opportunities by focusing their attention on the markets in which profitable opportunities are available.

This book examines Japanese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the world economy over more than five decades. It provides a unique focus on the internationalisation experience of selected industries, such as forestry, textiles, electronics, motor vehicles, steel and services as well as case studies of individual firms. Roger Farrell considers the theoretical explanations for Japanese FDI and particular motivations which have been an ongoing rationale for FDI, including: * energy and resource security * the theme of retaining market access * the relocation of manufacturing to retain international competitiveness * withdrawal after the bubble economy * the new phase of investment in the 2000s. Japanese Investment in the World Economy is distinctive in that it examines overseas investment by firms in the primary, manufacturing and services sectors over the period in which the Japanese economy became the second largest in the world. The book provides a succinct overview of Japanese FDI of interest to professionals and students of business, economics, international relations, politics and Japanese culture.

From the complexity of today's business world and its daily transactions has come a proliferation of new accounting standards. The Financial Accounting Standards Board has weighed in with its own pronouncements on the issues, but are they truly comprehensible and applicable? Riahi-Belkaoui explores these questions clearly, with numerous illustrations of the accounting techniques embedded in them, and offers interpretations designed to help accounting professionals deal with these problems in their work. Scholars, researchers, and students in the academic community will also find his analyses helpful and compelling.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world. Taking into account also its endowment and potential economic resources, the Islamic banking industry in Indonesia was expected to take on an important role in facilitating more financial resources and to contribute to the internationalization of the Islamic mode of financing particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. However, the reality is far from the expectation. This book aims to clarify the causes and fundamental constraints leading to the extraordinarily low level of Indonesia's Islamic financial deepening. The authors draw on the traditions of Institutional Economics which are concerned with the rules or mechanisms of creating the 'incentive' and 'threat' for economic players because the rules (institutions) would matter as the determinant for economic development and economic efficiency. This book offers a fairly new analytical lens by hypothesizing that Islamic banks must earn additional profit- the authors coined as 'Islamic bank rent' - to maintain their franchise value as prudent Shari'ah-compliant lenders when compared to conventional banks. The authors argued that insufficient provision of the Islamic bank rent opportunity may have caused the Indonesia's Islamic banks the opportunity to learn and improve their skill and capacity for the credit risk management. The book also offers evidence in support of implementing economic and affirmative policy necessary for incubating and developing the Islamic banking industry in Indonesia and making Indonesia an international Islamic financial hub in the Asia-Pacific region. This book will be a useful resource for policy makers and researchers interested in Islamic banking in Indonesia.

The flow of capital to Third World countries in recent years has been less than expected for realizing their growth objectives. As a consequence, efforts have been redoubled to attract capital in the form of direct investment. The World Bank has proposed the establishment of a multilateral guarantee scheme, encompassing as many investing and host countries as possible, to reduce the risks associated with overseas investment.The authors analyze and comment on the necessity and suitability of the World Bank proposal. They examine earlier proposals for setting up multi lateral guarantee schemes and the reasons for their failure, develop an eco nomic frame of reference for analyzing the new proposal, describe and examine the World Bank plan, and present alternatives to it. They pay particular attention to two major assumptions of the plan: that additional foreign investment capital for developing countries could be mobilized on a large scale if the investment risks were reduced, and that existing national insurance schemes display shortcomings that could be avoided in a multilateral system.