Insurance is a concept, a technique, and an economic institution. It is a major tool of risk management, and plays an important role in the economic, social, and political life of all countries. Economic growth throughout the world has even expanded the role of insurance. Theory and Practice of Insurance aims to describe the significance of insurance institutions, the reasons they exist and how they function. The author emphasizes fundamental principles in risk and insurance, using an international frame of reference. This volume begins with an introduction to the concept of risk, then proceeds to cover insurance and its relationship to the economy; the principles of risk management and insurance; and the characteristics and performance of insurance companies.

Hardie investigates the link between the financialization - defined as the ability to trade risk - and the capacity of emerging market governments to borrow from private markets. He considers the government bond markets in Brazil, Lebanon and Turkey and includes interviews with 126 financial market actors.

Although the financial futures and options markets have only existed since 1972, many current participants have little understanding of their genesis. This unique work offers a much needed historical perspective that provides important insights into the basic functioning of the markets. Petzel explains how these relatively new investment products originated, how they are used, and how the markets in which they are traded work.

Petzel begins with an overview of the first fifteen years of financial futures, examining both successes and failures and developing a basic hypothesis of what components are necessary for success. The next two chapters present the fundamentals of futures and options for those who need a thorough grounding in basic concepts such as the standard elements of futures contracts, margins, types of trading, and the structure of the exchanges. Subsequent chapters address equities market strategies, interest rate strategies, and foreign currency futures and options. In the final chapter, Petzel discusses accounting, tax, and regulatory issues that affect the development and trading of financial futures and options. Written for professionals in corporate finance and in the financial services industry who have had little exposure to financial futures and options, the guide includes general examples as well as detailed explanatory tables and figures. The author focuses throughout on the use and construction of contracts, rather than providing particular trading advice or touting any one system of trading.

TIRED OF YOUR IRA EARNING LOUSY RETURNS IN TRADITIONAL INVESTMENTS? Want to know the secret to increasing returns in your IRA that your investment advisor may not even be aware of? Many people have found great success in investing in real estate over the past few decades but few are aware that you can hold real estate investments within your IRA. Not only can you hold these investments, you can use the power of leverage through nonrecourse loans to substantially increase your returns. Within this book you will learn: How self-directed IRAs function. What a non-recourse loan is and how it works. Why your CPA and investment advisor may not be aware of these options. What the IRS has to say about real estate in an IRA. The step-by-step actions to get started earning great returns. You don't have to take the investments offered by your bank or financial institution - you can choose Rather than watching your retirement funds inch slowly forward, put that money to work and live the retirement of your dreams

In this book Dimitris N. Chorafas has uncovered the hidden risks behind alternative investments through extensive research in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Scandinavia, and Switzerland. He also provides solutions to the problems identified. This book is particularly important in light of recent scandals such as Enron and WorldCom.

This book opens up the secret world of tax havens and offshore finance centres (OFCs), a vast offshore business valued at over one trillion US dollars. It is a timely and original analysis of the role of OFCs in the emerging global economy. The book discusses who uses OFCs, how OFCs work and what drives their development. Extensive use of case study material from Jersey illustrates the growth of a successful OFC and its impact upon a small island.

'How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts? I rest my case.' - Robert G. Allen, investment advisor and author of Multiple Streams of Income In many people's thinking, the financial markets are reserved only for the wealthy or people with financial or economic backgrounds. They discard the idea of becoming involved in trading because they perceive it to be too difficult. But Ross Larter, author of How to Make Money on the Stock Exchange, believes that the markets provide opportunities for everyone to generate income. Learning the skills of trading on the stock market can provide you with the opportunity to generate an income well into your retirement years. To those who have walked the journey for a while, the stock market becomes like an all-you-can-eat buffet, providing opportunity on a daily basis for individuals to make money for themselves and their families. How to Make Money on the Stock Exchange is written for ordinary people, in everyday language, to help them understand how the stock market works, and how to use this knowledge to acquire the necessary skills to generate a secondary (and potentially a primary) income by investing and/or trading on the markets. You don't need to be a financial whizz-kid to make money on the stock market. All you have to do is be willing, and take the time, to learn about it. This book will show you how.

This fifth volume in the series covers a variety of topics in the field of advances in investment and portfolio management.

Since the first edition of Foreign Exchange Options in 1993, trading in foreign exchange options has undergone rapid expansion and now accounts for a daily turnover of some $100 billion world-wide. This revised and expanded second edition takes into account recent changes in both market practice and regulatory requirements and contains many new explanatory diagrams and practical examples.
As with the first edition, the emphasis is on practicality, taking the reader through the basics, clarifying jargon when and where appropriate. This book will be invaluable for accountants, auditors, experienced practitioners and those entering the world of currency options for the first time.
The benefits of using options to hedge foreign exchange riskDetailed examination of both the OTC market and the main exchange listingSpecific coverage of pricing, trading risk and market practice

A large literature has been generated about sustainability, and many organizations, governments, communities and citizens have focused on it. Yet, given how quickly the limits of the current models of the global economy are being approached, we must accelerate the rate at which we learn to operate differently. This first volume of the Emerald series Organizing for Sustainable Effectiveness learns from some of the pioneers articulating these challenges and organizing to address them. There is an urgent need to grow the knowledge bases to guide the transition. Each chapter in this volume, crafted to bring together the knowledge of practice and theory, is based on rich empirical data about particular cases in which organizations are, individually or collectively, working to build a more sustainable future. Contributors bring theoretical knowledge to bear on these case examples and test the applicability of the formal knowledge base about management and organizations, while refining, modifying, and extending it to increase its usefulness in addressing the challenges of organizing for sustainable effectiveness.

In the past quarter of a century, the pace of structural change in the equity markets has accelerated dramatically and, as it has, regulation has come to play an increasingly central role in the development of market structure. The purpose of Regulation of U.S. Equity Markets is to consider regulation's contribution to the efficiency of the U.S. equity markets. Sharply different opinions are expressed on the matter, as the discussion ranges from Congressional oversight, to SEC involvement in market structure issues, to the self-regulatory responsibilities of the market centers, most notably, the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Paul J.J. Welfens and Holger C. Wolf While the economies of Asia and, more recently, South as well as North America have enjoyed sustained high growth, the growth performance of western Europe and in particular continental Europe has been rather modest. Coupled with sizable improvements in labor productivity and - at best - steady capital productivity, growth proved insufficient to sustain employment levels, much less to replicate the US job creation success. Relative inflation performance has been much better: in the run-up to European Monetary Union inflation rates have dramatically converged towards the lower end of the distribution while risk premia on formerly high inflation economies have fallen. Yet, looking forward, the undoubted success in achieving price stability is mitigated by the lackluster growth -and in particular employment -performance. Indeed, the relative little attention paid to initiatives directed at raising economic growth is startling, not only in the light of the US policy record but also in light of the remarkable rebound of those European economies which have aggressively tackled the structural problems, most prominently the UK and Ireland.

Real estate is typically classified as an alternative to more traditional investments such as stocks and bonds. Real estate investing involves the purchase, ownership, management, rental, or sale of real estate for profit. Real estate investments can be both income producing and non-income producing. Although real estate can produce income like a bond and appreciate like a stock, this tangible asset has several unique characteristics as well as advantages and disadvantages relative to other investment alternatives. Benefits of including real estate in a portfolio include diversification, yield enhancement, risk reduction, tax management, and inflation hedging. Unlike traditional investments, investors in real estate have the ability to influence performance. Real estate has drawbacks in that it requires management, is costly and difficult to buy, sell, and operate, and sometimes has lower liquidity. Additionally, measuring the relative performance of real estate can be challenging.
The purpose of this 14-chapter book is to provide an overview and synthesis of public real estate markets and investments in a global context. The book discusses the major types and the latest trends within public real estate markets and presents the results of research studies in a straightforward manner. It has three sections: (1) foundations of public real estate, (2) public debt markets and investments, and (3) public equity markets and investments. The book should be interest to various groups including academics, practitioners, investors, and students. Readers should gain a greater appreciation of what is needed for success when investing in public real estate markets. For more information about private real estate, read Private Real Estate Markets and Investments.

The reforms initiated in 1991 have transformed India's economy and capital market. The book offers a comprehensive evaluation of developments in both sectors from an investor's viewpoint. The potential growth of India's stockmarket is examined as the country progresses with its economic liberalisation. The insights offered into investing in India can be profitably applied by seasoned investors as well as by non-professionals. This exclusive analysis of the Indian market will be of interest to students and policy makers as much as to anyone interested in investing in one of the major markets to have emerged from its seclusion and opened itself up to global investors.

This work concerns management's ability to anticipate how investors will respond to the investing, financing, and operating decisions they make as they manage their business. Claiming that investor behavior is rational and predictable, as supported by extensive research in financial economics, Richard Altman presents a new kind of reference book: the first to bring reasoned theory and the results of exhaustive worldwide academic research to the interpretation of company stock price movements.

Following an introductory chapter that provides an overview of the issue, Altman devotes two chapters to examining the investing decisions of management that affect asset, unit, and corporate structures. Investor response to financing decisions and financial policy are covered in the next two chapters, and are followed by a review of the response to operating decisions embodied in management's reported earnings and earnings forecasts. This chapter also looks at investor response to investment research and securities analysis. The market for corporate control and management's defense of that market are analyzed in two subsequent sections, while the link between the managerial labor market and managerial performance, pay, and tenure is also thoroughly explored. Finally, the book concludes with a discussion of management response to investor decisions. This work will be a unique and valuable tool for management professionals and others in the finance, investment, and banking fields. It will also be a useful resource for business students and for public and academic libraries.

This book argues that the development of equity market is a crucial in the construction of a viable financial system for many developing countries. Drawing upon the Emerging Markets Database of the International Finance Corporation (World Bank) and analyzing a wide range of previously unavailable data, Sudweeks identifies the factors conducive to equity market development, and why these markets may be of interest to international portfolio managers. The book is written in non-technical language and brings together for the first time a variety of different views and experience in equity market development from the private, public, and academic sectors.

Following a general introduction, Sudweeks addresses the theory behind the development of equity markets. Separate chapters discuss the benefits and costs of equity markets in developing countries, the general conditions for equity market development, measures to develop the supply and demand of shares, and portfolio implications of investing in developing countries. Three case studies examine equity market development in Brazil, India, and Korea to determine which factors have had an impact on market development. Sudweeks concludes that equity market development must be part of an overall financial development program, that equity market development is a complex, but somewhat predictable activity, and that successful equity market development requires a long-term commitment on the part of governments and key players.

This book is devoted to modern methodologies of financial risk management of pension plans, mostly defined benefit plans. The reader is expected to know basic probability theory and mathematical analysis, while all required concepts in financial and actuarial mathematics are developed in the text. The book outlines basic actuarial valuation concepts and then presents actuarial funding and valuation methods for defined benefit plans, and discusses their relationship to other types of pension plans. Optimal funding methodologies are developed in simple deterministic and in stochastic cases. The question of measurement of rate of return of a fund is analyzed in detail, pointing out how the choice of a market index affects it. The problem of stability of the value of liabilities is analyzed as well. Modern investment theory, including equilibrium and arbitrage models, is used to discuss ways to value both marketable and non-marketable assets, as well as liabilities. All commonly used methodologies of valuation of assets are listed and analyzed. Finally, financial risk management for pension plans is presented in detail, with emphasis on applicable asset-liability management methodologies. This portion of the book starts with the basics: duration, convexity, immunization, and develops alternative immunization methodologies, as well as other risk management tools, such as value-at-risk, risk-based-capital, and shortfall constraint approach. A new optimal methodology, an alternative to classical immunization, is developed, and shown to be strikingly similar to conservative management approaches used by practitioners. Throughout the book, all concepts and methodologies are illustrated with examples and exercises, including past problems from the Society of Actuaries and Casualty Actuarial Society professional examinations (used with permission).

Within a few years of their liberation from Spanish rule in the 1820s, several of the new Spanish American republics floated loans in London's financial market. All the debtor nations, from Mexico to Chile, had defaulted within five years, a situation which resulted in their exclusion from European capital markets for much of the 19th century. Most studies of such debt approach the subject from the debtor's viewpoint, some arguing that the British government was an economic imperialist. Concentrating on Mexico, this book provides an important corrective, focusing on the creditors, the individual investors who risked their money to buy bonds. These investors ranged from country clergy to politicians of the rank of Benjamin Disraeli.

Thousands of investors lost their money due to Mexico's persistent defaults and failure to pay the promised dividends. They were represented by the Committee of Mexican Bondholders, a London based organization established in 1830 to negotiate a settlement of the debt with the Mexican government. Almost sixty years of futile discussions followed, with the debt rescheduled on several occasions until the final settlement in the 1880s. Costeloe analyzes the negotiations, the bond issues, the identity of the bondholders, the activities of the Committee, and the attitude of the British government. By concentrating on the creditor, he brings a new perspective to the whole issue of Third World or foreign debt in the 19th century.