The Wiley Finance Series

On the trading floor, all action is based on news, therefore rumors in financial markets are an everyday phenomenon. Rumors are the oldest mass medium in the world and their nature is still difficult to grasp. Scientifically, not much is known about rumors, especially in the financial markets, where their consequences can have real money consequences. Rumors in Financial Markets provides a fresh insight to the topic, combining the theory of Behavioral Finance with that of Experimental Finance--a new and innovative scientific method which observes real decision makers in a controlled, clearly structured environment. Using the results from surveys and experiments, the author argues that rumors in the context of financial markets are built on three cornerstones: Finance, Psychology and Sociology. The book provides insights into how rumors evolve, spread and are traded on and provides explanations as to why volatility rockets, strong price movements, herding behavior for example, occur for apparently no good reason.

Structured Finance: The Object Orientated Approach is aimed at both the finance and IT professionals involved in the structured finance business with the intention of sharing common concepts and language within the industry. The financial community (structurers, pricers and risk managers) view structured products as collections of objects under the so-called replicating portfolio paradigm. The IT community use object oriented programming (OOP) techniques to improve the software updating and maintenance process. For them structured products are collections of objects as well. Despite use of the same object concept, it looks like communication between these different professional functions has been problematic. Recently, construction of standard data structures known as FpML has begun to lay out a common definition of objects, at least for plain vanilla derivatives, both between IT and financial people and across different market players. Along this line, this book builds upon the concept of object to provide frontier treatment of structured finance issues relevant to both communities engaged in building, pricing and hedging products and people engaged in designing and up-dating the corresponding software.  Structured Finance: The Object Orientated Approach will enable you to:  decompose a structured product in elementary constituent financial objects and risk factors (replicating portfolio) understand the basics of object oriented programming (OOP) applied to the design of structured cash flows objects build your own objects and to understand FpML data structures available for standard products gauge risk exposures of the objects in structured products to: risk factors, their volatilities and the correlation among them (which factor are you long/short? Are you long/short volatility? Are you long/short correlation?) update your risk management system to accommodate structured products with non linear exposures and to design objects to represent, price and hedge, counterparty risk 

While mainstream financial theories and applications assume that asset returns are normally distributed and individual preferences are quadratic, the overwhelming empirical evidence shows otherwise. Indeed, most of the asset returns exhibit “fat-tails” distributions and investors exhibit asymmetric preferences. These empirical findings lead to the development of a new area of research dedicated to the introduction of higher order moments in portfolio theory and asset pricing models. Multi-moment asset pricing is a revolutionary new way of modeling time series in finance which allows various degrees of long-term memory to be generated. It allows risk and prices of risk to vary through time enabling the accurate valuation of long-lived assets. This book presents the state-of-the art in multi-moment asset allocation and pricing models and provides many new developments in a single volume, collecting in a unified framework theoretical results and applications previously scattered throughout the financial literature. The topics covered in this comprehensive volume include: four-moment individual risk preferences, mathematics of the multi-moment efficient frontier, coherent asymmetric risks measures, hedge funds asset allocation under higher moments, time-varying specifications of (co)moments and multi-moment asset pricing models with homogeneous and heterogeneous agents. Written by leading academics, Multi-moment Asset Allocation and Pricing Models offers a unique opportunity to explore the latest findings in this new field of research.

Equity Valuation: Models from the Leading Investment Banks is a clear and reader-friendly guide to how today’s leading investment banks analyze firms.  Editors Jan Viebig and Thorsten Poddig bring together expertise from UBS, Morgan Stanley, DWS Investment GmbH and Credit Suisse, providing a unique analysis of leading equity valuation models, from the very individuals who use them.  Filled with real world insights, practical examples and theoretical approaches, the book will examine the strengths and weaknesses of some of the leading valuation approaches, helping readers understand how analysts: ·    estimate cash flows ·    calculate discount rates ·    adjust for accounting distortions ·    take uncertainty into consideration Written for investment professionals, corporate managers and anyone interested in developing their understanding of this key area, Equity Valuation: Models from the Leading Investment Banks will arm readers with the latest thinking and depth of knowledge necessary to make the right decisions in their valuation methodologies.

The pricing of derivative instruments has always been a highly complex and time-consuming activity. Advances in technology, however, have enabled much quicker and more accurate pricing through mathematical rather than analytical models. In this book, the author bridges the divide between finance and mathematics by applying this proven mathematical technique to the financial markets. Utilising practical examples, the author systematically describes the processes involved in a manner accessible to those without a deep understanding of mathematics. * Explains little understood techniques that will assist in the accurate more speedy pricing of options * Centres on the practical application of these useful techniques * Offers a detailed and comprehensive account of the methods involved and is the first to explore the application of these particular techniques to the financial markets

Commodities represent today the fastest growing markets worldwide. Historically misunderstood, generally under- studied and under- valued, certainly under- represented in the literature, commodities are suddenly receiving the attention they deserve. Bringing together some of the best authors in the field, this book focuses on the risk management issues associated with both soft and hard commodities: energy, weather, agriculturals, metals and shipping.  Taking the reader through every part of the commodities markets, the authors discuss the intricacies of modelling spot and forward prices, as well as the design of new Futures markets. The book also looks at the use of options and other derivative contract forms for hedging purposes, as well as supply management in commodity markets.  It looks at the implications for climate policy and climate research and analyzes the various freight derivatives markets and products used to manage shipping and freight risk in a global commodity world. It is required reading for energy and mining companies, utilities’ practitioners, commodity and cash derivatives traders in investment banks, CTA’s and hedge funds

In today's increasingly competitive financial world, successful risk management, portfolio management, and financial structuring demand more than up-to-date financial know-how. They also call for quantitative expertise, including the ability to effectively apply mathematical modeling tools and techniques, in this case credit. Credit Risk Modeling using Excel and VBA with DVD provides practitioners with a hands on introduction to credit risk modeling.  Instead of just presenting analytical methods it shows how to implement them using Excel and VBA, in addition to a detailed description in the text a DVD guides readers step by step through the implementation.  The authors begin by showing how to use option theoretic and statistical models to estimate a borrowers default risk.  The second half of the book is devoted to credit portfolio risk.  The authors guide readers through the implementation of a credit risk model, show how portfolio models can be validated or used to access structured credit products like CDO’s.  The final chapters address modeling issues associated with the new Basel Accord.

The recent financial crisis brought to light many of the misunderstandings and misuses of exotic derivatives. With market participants on both the buy and sell-side having been found guilty of not understanding the products they were dealing with, never before has there been a greater need for clarification and explanation. Exotic Options and Hybrids is a practical guide to structuring, pricing and hedging complex exotic options and hybrid derivatives that will serve readers through the recent crisis, the road to recovery, the next bull market and beyond. Written by experienced practitioners, it focuses on the three main parts of a derivative’s life: the structuring of a product, its pricing and its hedging. Divided into four parts, the book covers a multitude of structures, encompassing many of the most up-to-date and promising products from exotic equity derivatives and structured notes to hybrid derivatives and dynamic strategies. Based on a realistic setting from the heart of the business, inside a derivatives operation, the practical and intuitive discussions of these aspects make these exotic concepts truly accessible. Adoptions of real trades are examined in detail, and all of the numerous examples are carefully selected so as to highlight interesting and significant aspects of the business. The introduction of payoff structures is accompanied by scenario analysis, diagrams and lifelike sample term sheets. Readers learn how to spot where the risks lie to pave the way for sound valuation and hedging of such products. There are also questions and accompanying discussions dispersed in the text, each exploited to illustrate one or more concepts from the context in which they are set. The applications, the strengths and the limitations of various models are highlighted, in relevance to the products and their risks, rather than the model implementations. Models are de-mystified in separately dedicated sections, but their implications are alluded to throughout the book in an intuitive and non-mathematical manner. By discussing exotic options and hybrids in a practical, non-mathematical and highly intuitive setting, this book will blast through the misunderstanding of exotic derivatives, enabling practitioners to fully understand and correctly structure, price and hedge theses products effectively, and stand strong as the only book in its class to make these “exotic” concepts truly accessible.

In Understanding Islamic Finance Muhammad Ayub introduces all the essential elements of this growing market by providing an in-depth background to the subject and clear descriptions of all the major products and processes associated with Islamic finance. Key features include: Discussion of the principles of Islamic finance; Introduction to the key products and procedures that International Financial Institutions are using or may adopt to fund a variety of clients ensuring Sharī´ah compliance; Discussion of the role Islamic finance can play in the development of the financial system and of economies; Practical and operational examples that cover deposit and fund management by banks involving financing of various sectors of the economy, risk management, accounting treatment, and working of Islamic financial markets and instruments. This book is not only an important text for all banks and financial institutions entering this particular market with a commitment to building Islamic financial solutions, but is also essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Islamic finance.

This book offers a practical answer for the non-mathematician to all the questions any businessman always wanted to ask about risk quantification, and never dare to ask. Enterprise-wide risk management (ERM) is a key issue for board of directors worldwide. Its proper implementation ensures transparent governance with all stakeholders’ interests integrated into the strategic equation. Furthermore, Risk quantification is the cornerstone of effective risk management,at the strategic and tactical level, covering finance as well as ethics considerations. Both downside and upside risks (threats & opportunities) must be assessed to select the most efficient risk control measures and to set up efficient risk financing mechanisms. Only thus will an optimum return on capital and a reliable protection against bankruptcy be ensured, i.e. long term sustainable development. Within the ERM framework, each individual operational entity is called upon to control its own risks, within the guidelines set up by the board of directors, whereas the risk financing strategy is developed and implemented at the corporate level to optimise the balance between threats and opportunities, systematic and non systematic risks. This book is designed to equip each board member, each executives and each field manager, with the tool box enabling them to quantify the risks within his/her jurisdiction to all the extend possible and thus make sound, rational and justifiable decisions, while recognising the limits of the exercise. Beyond traditional probability analysis, used since the 18th Century by the insurance community, it offers insight into new developments like Bayesian expert networks, Monte-Carlo simulation, etc. with practical illustrations on how to implement them within the three steps of risk management, diagnostic, treatment and audit. With a foreword by Catherine Veret and an introduction by Kevin Knight.

The world of banking is changing dramatically as a result of regulation, technology and society. New developments in the past three years include advances in regulatory change, the impact of China and India; from the latest technologies to impact bank services, to the latest experiments with a cashless society. The Future of Banking in a Globalised World provides an entertaining yet informative look at the world of banking and chronicles the radical changes that have occurred in the industry over the past three years.  Renowned analyst and international speaker, Chris Skinner assesses the trends that have occurred during the past three years and looks at predictions for the future of banking. Issues discussed include: • The impact of emerging markets such as China and India • Regulatory changes including Europe’s Financial Services Action Plan, MiFID, SEPA, as well as the impact of Basel II and Sarbanes-Oxley • The latest technologies to impact Bank services from algorithmic trading through Web 2.0 • The displacement of Cash and Cards through Contactless, Mobile and Biometric Payments

The LIBOR Market Model (LMM) is the first model of interest rates dynamics consistent with the market practice of pricing interest rate derivatives and therefore it is widely used by financial institution for valuation of interest rate derivatives. This book provides a full practitioner's approach to the LIBOR Market Model. It adopts the specific language of a quantitative analyst to the largest possible level and is one of first books on the subject written entirely by quants. The book is divided into three parts - theory, calibration and simulation. New and important issues are covered, such as various drift approximations, various parametric and nonparametric calibrations, and the uncertain volatility approach to smile modelling; a version of the HJM model based on market observables and the duality between BGM and HJM models. Co-authored by Dariusz Gatarek, the 'G' in the BGM model who is internationally known for his work on LIBOR market models, this book offers an essential perspective on the global benchmark for short-term interest rates.

The Handbook of News Analytics in Finance is a landmark publication bringing together the latest models and applications of News Analytics for asset pricing, portfolio construction, trading and risk control.  The content of the Hand Book is organised to provide a rapid yet comprehensive understanding of this topic. Chapter 1 sets out an overview of News Analytics (NA) with an explanation of the technology and applications. The rest of the chapters are presented in four parts. Part 1 contains an explanation of methods and models which are used to measure and quantify news sentiment. In Part 2 the relationship between news events and discovery of abnormal returns (the elusive alpha) is discussed in detail by the leading researchers and industry experts. The material in this part also covers potential application of NA to trading and fund management. Part 3 covers the use of quantified news for the purpose of monitoring, early diagnostics and risk control. Part 4 is entirely industry focused; it contains insights of experts from leading technology (content) vendors. It also contains a discussion of technologies and finally a compact directory of content vendor and financial analytics companies in the marketplace of NA.  The book draws equally upon the expertise of academics and practitioners who have developed these models and is supported by two major content vendors - RavenPack and Thomson Reuters - leading providers of news analytics software and machine readable news.   The book will appeal to decision makers in the banking, finance and insurance services industry.  In particular: asset managers; quantitative fund managers; hedge fund managers; algorithmic traders; proprietary (program) trading desks; sell-side firms; brokerage houses; risk managers and research departments will benefit from the unique insights into this new and pertinent area of financial modelling.

The book is a step-by-step guide to derivative products. By distilling the complex mathematics and theory that underlie the subject, Chisholm explains derivative products in straightforward terms, focusing on applications and intuitive explanations wherever possible. Case studies and examples of how the products are used to solve real-world problems, as well as an extensive glossary and material on the latest derivative products make this book a must have for anyone working with derivative products.

Financial Applications using Excel Add-in Development in C/C++ is a must-buy book for any serious Excel developer.Excel is the industry standard for financial modelling, providing a number of ways for users to extend the functionality of their own add-ins, including VBA and C/C++. This is the only complete how-to guide and reference book for the creation of high performance add-ins for Excel in C and C++ for users in the finance industry. Steve Dalton explains how to apply Excel add-ins to financial applications with many examples given throughout the book. It also covers the relative strengths and weaknesses of developing add-ins for Excel in VBA versus C/C++, and provides comprehensive code, workbooks and example projects on the accompanying CD-ROM. The impact of Excel 2007’s multi-threaded workbook calculations and large grids on add-in development are fully explored. Financial Applications using Excel Add-in Development in C/C++ features:  Extensive example codes in VBA, C and C++, explaining all the ways in which a developer can achieve their objectives. Example projects that demonstrate, from start to finish, the potential of Excel when powerful add-ins can be easily developed. Develops the readers understanding of the relative strengths and weaknesses of developing add-ins for Excel in VBA versus C/C++. A CD-ROM with several thousand lines of example code, numerous workbooks, and a number of complete example projects.

This book offers an in-depth and up-to-date review of different statistical tools that can be used to analyze and forecast the dynamics of two crucial for every energy company processes—electricity prices and loads. It provides coverage of seasonal decomposition, mean reversion, heavy-tailed distributions, exponential smoothing, spike preprocessing, autoregressive time series including models with exogenous variables and heteroskedastic (GARCH) components, regime-switching models, interval forecasts, jump-diffusion models, derivatives pricing and the market price of risk. Modeling and Forecasting Electricity Loads and Prices is packaged with a CD containing both the data and detailed examples of implementation of different techniques in Matlab, with additional examples in SAS. A reader can retrace all the intermediate steps of a practical implementation of a model and test his understanding of the method and correctness of the computer code using the same input data. The book will be of particular interest to the quants employed by the utilities, independent power generators and marketers, energy trading desks of the hedge funds and financial institutions, and the executives attending courses designed to help them to brush up on their technical skills. The text will be also of use to graduate students in electrical engineering, econometrics and finance wanting to get a grip on advanced statistical tools applied in this hot area. In fact, there are sixteen Case Studies in the book making it a self-contained tutorial to electricity load and price modeling and forecasting.

This new and unique book demonstrates that Excel and VBA can play an important role in the explanation and implementation of numerical methods across finance. Advanced Modelling in Finance provides a comprehensive look at equities, options on equities and options on bonds from the early 1950s to the late 1990s. The book adopts a step-by-step approach to understanding the more sophisticated aspects of Excel macros and VBA programming, showing how these programming techniques can be used to model and manipulate financial data, as applied to equities, bonds and options. The book is essential for financial practitioners who need to develop their financial modelling skill sets as there is an increase in the need to analyse and develop ever more complex 'what if' scenarios. Specifically applies Excel and VBA to the financial markets Packaged with a CD containing the software from the examples throughout the book Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

An Arbitrage Guide to Financial Markets is the first book to explicitly show the linkages of markets for equities, currencies, fixed income and commodities. Using a unique structural approach, it dissects all markets the same way: into spot, forward and contingent dimensions, bringing out the simplicity and the commonalities of all markets. The book shuns stochastic calculus in favor of cash flow details of arbitrage trades. All math is simple, but there is lots of it. The book reflects the relative value mentality of an institutional trader seeking profit from misalignments of various market segments. The book is aimed at entrants into investment banking and dealing businesses, existing personnel in non-trading jobs, and people outside of the financial services industry trying to gain a view into what drives dealers in today’s highly integrated marketplace. A committed reader is guaranteed to leave with a deep understanding of all current issues. "This is an excellent introduction to the financial markets by an author with a strong academic approach and practical insights from trading experience. At a time when the proliferation of financial instruments and the increased use of sophisticated mathematics in their analysis, makes an introduction to financial markets intimidating to most, this book is very useful. It provides an insight into the core concepts across markets and uses mathematics at an accessible level. It equips readers to understand the fundamentals of markets, valuation and trading. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to understand the essentials of successfully trading, structuring or using the entire range of financial instruments available today." —Varun Gosain, Principal, Constellation Capital Management, New York "Robert Dubil, drawing from his extensive prior trading experience, has made a significant contribution by writing an easy to understand book about the complex world of today’s financial markets, using basic mathematical concepts.  The book is filled with insights and real life examples about how traders approach the market and is required reading for anyone with an interest in understanding markets or a career in trading." —George Handjinicolaou, Partner, Etolian Capital, New York "This book provides an excellent guide to the current state of the financial markets. It combines academic rigour with the author’s practical experience of the financial sector, giving both students and practitioners an insight into the arbitrage pricing mechanism." —Zenji Nakamura, Managing Director, Europe Fixed Income Division, Nomura International plc, London

Macrofinancial risk analysis Dale Gray and Samuel Malone Macrofinancial Risk Analysis provides a new and powerful framework with which policymakers and investors can analyze risk and vulnerability in economies, both emerging market and industrial. Using modern risk management and financial engineering techniques applied to the macroeconomy, an economic value can be placed on the risks posed by inter-linkages between sectors, the risk of default of different sectors on their outstanding debt obligations quantified, and the value ex-ante of guarantees to private sector entities by the government calculated. This book guides the reader through the basic macroeconomic and financial models necessary to understand the framework, the core analytical tools, and more advanced contributions that will be of interest to researchers. This unique synthesis of ideas from finance and macroeconomics offers several original contributions to the theory of financial crises, as well as a range of new policy options for governments interested in achieving a better tradeoff between economic growth and macro risk.

Claims reserving is central to the insurance industry. Insurance liabilities depend on a number of different risk factors which need to be predicted accurately. This prediction of risk factors and outstanding loss liabilities is the core for pricing insurance products, determining the profitability of an insurance company and for considering the financial strength (solvency) of the company. Following several high-profile company insolvencies, regulatory requirements have moved towards a risk-adjusted basis which has lead to the Solvency II developments. The key focus in the new regime is that financial companies need to analyze adverse developments in their portfolios. Reserving actuaries now have to not only estimate reserves for the outstanding loss liabilities but also to quantify possible shortfalls in these reserves that may lead to potential losses. Such an analysis requires stochastic modeling of loss liability cash flows and it can only be done within a stochastic framework. Therefore stochastic loss liability modeling and quantifying prediction uncertainties has become standard under the new legal framework for the financial industry. This book covers all the mathematical theory and practical guidance needed in order to adhere to these stochastic techniques. Starting with the basic mathematical methods, working right through to the latest developments relevant for practical applications; readers will find out how to estimate total claims reserves while at the same time predicting errors and uncertainty are quantified. Accompanying datasets demonstrate all the techniques, which are easily implemented in a spreadsheet. A practical and essential guide, this book is a must-read in the light of the new solvency requirements for the whole insurance industry.

Property derivatives have the potential to revolutionize real estate - the last major asset class without a liquid derivatives market. The new instruments offer ease and flexibility in the management of property risk and return. Property funds, insurance companies, pension and life funds, speculators, hedge funds or any asset manager with a view on the real estate market can apply the new derivatives to hedge property risk, to invest synthetically in real estate, or for portfolio optimization. Moreover, developers, builders, home suppliers, occupiers, banks, mortgage lenders and governmental agencies can better cope with their real estate exposure using property derivatives. This book is a practical introduction to property derivatives and their numerous applications. Providing a comprehensive overview of the property derivatives market and indices, there is also in-depth coverage of pricing, hedging and risk management, which will deepen the readers understanding of the market's mechanisms. Covering both the theoretical and practical aspects of the property derivatives markets; this book is the definitive reference guide to a new and fast-growing market.

Diderich describes tools and techniques, which can be used to develop quantitative models for actively managing investment products, and focuses on how theoretical models can and should be used in practice. He describes the interaction between different elements of an investment process's value chain in a single and consistent framework. A key focus is placed on illustrating the theory with real world examples. At the end of the book the reader will be capable of designing or enhancing an investment process for an investment or portfolio managers products from start to finish. * Increased pressure to add value through investments makes this a hot topic in the investment world * Combined theoretical and practical approach makes this book appealing to a wide audience of quants and investors * The only book to show how to design and implement quantitative models for gaining positive alpha

Plumbers and Visionaries: Securities Settlement and Europe’s Financial Market is a path-breaking account of the history and future of the securities settlement industry in Europe. Written by experienced journalist and author, Peter Norman, this book takes a look at the less visible, but nevertheless critical segment of the global capital markets, following the development of securities settlement across Europe’s frontiers. It encompasses the free-wheeling days of the Eurobond market in the 1960s, through the growing integration of the European Union, to the highly regulated and efficient multi-trillion euro business securities settlement it is today. This book is the story of a financial sector that has grown hugely in importance in the 40 years since Euroclear, now the world’s premier settlement system for domestic and international securities transactions, was created to deal with a settlement crisis that threatened to smother the international capital market in its infancy. Beginning with the settlement crisis in the Eurobond market, this book describes how Euroclear and later Cedel, its arch-rival, were founded to deal with the problem. It follows the challenges posed by cross-border settlement for a growing range of securities when most financial infrastructures operated only within national frontiers. The book demonstrates how securities settlement became an issue for public policy after the stock market crash of 1987 and how the problems of cross-border settlement moved rapidly up the European policy agenda after the euro’s launch. More than a mere history, this book engages with the people who created the modern European securities settlement industry and taps into the often entertaining memories of its founding fathers. This book also focuses on the difficulties and challenges of cross-border transactions which have been identified as hampering Europe’s economic growth. It looks at the present state of the industry seeking a way forward so that the securities settlement infrastructure will better serve a single European capital market.

The first decade of the 21st Century has been disastrous for financial institutions, derivatives and risk management. Counterparty credit risk has become the key element of financial risk management, highlighted by the bankruptcy of the investment bank Lehman Brothers and failure of other high profile institutions such as Bear Sterns, AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The sudden realisation of extensive counterparty risks has severely compromised the health of global financial markets. Counterparty risk is now a key problem for all financial institutions. This book explains the emergence of counterparty risk during the recent credit crisis. The quantification of firm-wide credit exposure for trading desks and businesses is discussed alongside risk mitigation methods such as netting and collateral management (margining). Banks and other financial institutions have been recently developing their capabilities for pricing counterparty risk and these elements are considered in detail via a characterisation of credit value adjustment (CVA). The implications of an institution valuing their own default via debt value adjustment (DVA) are also considered at length. Hedging aspects, together with the associated instruments such as credit defaults swaps (CDSs) and contingent CDS (CCDS) are described in full. A key feature of the credit crisis has been the realisation of wrong-way risks illustrated by the failure of monoline insurance companies. Wrong-way counterparty risks are addressed in detail in relation to interest rate, foreign exchange, commodity and, in particular, credit derivative products. Portfolio counterparty risk is covered, together with the regulatory aspects as defined by the Basel II capital requirements. The management of counterparty risk within an institution is also discussed in detail. Finally, the design and benefits of central clearing, a recent development to attempt to control the rapid growth of counterparty risk, is considered. This book is unique in being practically focused but also covering the more technical aspects. It is an invaluable complete reference guide for any market practitioner with any responsibility or interest within the area of counterparty credit risk.

The credit derivatives industry has come under close scrutiny over the past few years, with the recent financial crisis highlighting the instability of a number of credit structures and throwing the industry into turmoil. What has been made clear by recent events is the necessity for a thorough understanding of credit derivatives by all parties involved in a transaction, especially traders, structurers, quants and investors. Fully revised and updated to take in to account the new products, markets and risk requirements post financial crisis, Credit Derivatives: Trading, Investing and Risk Management, Second Edition, covers the subject from a real world perspective, tackling issues such as liquidity, poor data, and credit spreads, to the latest innovations in portfolio products, hedging and risk management techniques. The book concentrates on practical issues and develops an understanding of the products through applications and detailed analysis of the risks and alternative means of trading. It provides: a description of the key products, applications, and an analysis of typical trades including basis trading, hedging, and credit structuring; analysis of the industry standard 'default and recovery' and Copula models including many examples, and a description of the models' shortcomings; tools and techniques for the management of a portfolio or book of credit risks including appropriate and inappropriate methods of correlation risk management; a thorough analysis of counterparty risk; an intuitive understanding of credit correlation in reality and in the Copula model. The book is thoroughly updated to reflect the changes the industry has seen over the past 5 years, notably with an analysis of the lead up and causes of the credit crisis. It contains 50% new material, which includes copula valuation and hedging, portfolio optimisation, portfolio products and correlation risk management, pricing in illiquid environments, chapters on the evolution of credit management systems, the credit meltdown and new chapters on the implementation and testing of credit derivative models and systems. The book is accompanied by a website which contains tools for credit derivatives valuation and risk management, illustrating the models used in the book and also providing a valuation toolkit.

The lifecycle of a trade is the fundamental activity of investment banks, hedge funds, pension funds and many other financial companies. There is no better way to understand the working s of a financial institution than to follow the progress of a trade through all of its various stages and all the activities performed upon it. The Trade Lifecycle: Behind the Scenes of the Trading Process is a guide to the trade lifecycle and it inherent risks and weaknesses. The book dissects a trade into its component parts, tracking it from pre-conception to maturity, and examines how the trade affects each business function of a financial institution. As well as illustrating each part of the trade process it highlights the legal, operational, liquidity, credit and market risks to which the trade is exposed. Readers will benefit from a full understanding of all parts of the trade process, including derivative and credit derivative trades and will also see, with examples where appropriate, how the mismanagement of these risks led to the recent financial crisis. The book is divided in to 4 parts. Part 1 covers products and the background to trading including: trading risk; asset classes; derivatives, structures and hybrids; credit derivatives; liquidity, price and leverage. Part 2 covers the trade lifecycle including: the anatomy of a trade; the lifecycle of a trade; cashflows and asset holdings; risk management; market risk control; counterparty risk control; accounting and P&L attribution. Part 3 covers systems and procedures including;: the people; developing processes for new products; new products; systems; testing; data; reports; calculation; mathematical model and systems validation; regulatory, legal and compliance issues and business continuity planning. Finally Part 4 covers what can go wrong, discussing credit derivatives and the financial crisis. In the aftermath of the financial crisis emphasis had moved to transparency and due diligence involving closer scrutiny of all forms of risk. In this new world order, there is a much greater analysis of every trade and all market participants will need to have a better understanding of the impact of their work on the whole trade cycle – this book provides a one stop comprehensive guide to the lifecycle of a trade.

This book provides a cutting edge introduction to market risk management for Hedge Funds, Hedge Funds of Funds, and the numerous new indices and clones launching coming to market on a near daily basis.  It will present the fundamentals of quantitative risk measures by analysing the  range of Value-at-Risk (VaR) models used today, addressing the robustness of each model, and looking at new risk measures available to more effectively manage risk in a hedge fund portfolio. The book begins by analysing the current state of the hedge fund industry - at the ongoing institutionalisation of the market, and at its latest developments.  It then moves on to examine the range of risks, risk controls, and risk management strategies currently employed by practitioners, and focuses on particular risks embedded in the more classic investment strategies such as Long/Short, Convertible Arbitrage, Fixed Income Arbitrage, Short selling and risk arbitrage.  Addressed along side these are other risks common to hedge funds, including liquidity risk, leverage risk and counterparty risk. The book then moves on to examine more closely two models which provide the underpinning for market risk management in investment today - Style Value-at-Risk and Implicit Value-at-Risk.  As well as full quantitative analysis and backtesting of each methodology, the authors go on to propose a new style model for style and implicit Var, complete with analysis, real life examples and backtesting.  The authors then go on to discuss annualisation issues and risk return before moving on to propose a new model based on the authors own Best Choice Implicit VaR approach, incorporating quantitative analysis, market results and backtesting and also its potential for new hedge fund clone products. This book is the only guide to VaR for Hedge Funds and will prove to be an invaluable resource as we embark into an era of increasing volatility and uncertainty.  

This is a complete guide to the pricing and risk management of convertible bond portfolios. Convertible bonds can be complex because they have both equity and debt like features and new market entrants will usually find that they have either a knowledge of fixed income mathematics or of equity derivatives and therefore have no idea how to incorporate credit and equity together into their existing pricing tools. Part I of the book covers the impact that the 2008 credit crunch has had on the markets, it then shows how to build up a convertible bond and introduces the reader to the traditional convertible vocabulary of yield to put, premium, conversion ratio, delta, gamma, vega and parity. The market of stock borrowing and lending will also be covered in detail. Using an intuitive approach based on the Jensen inequality, the authors will also show the advantages of using a hybrid to add value - pre 2008, many investors labelled convertible bonds as 'investing with no downside', there are of course plenty of 2008 examples to prove that they were wrong. The authors then go onto give a complete explanation of the different features that can be embedded in convertible bond. Part II shows readers how to price convertibles. It covers the different parameters used in valuation models: credit spreads, volatility, interest rates and borrow fees and Maturity. Part III covers investment strategies for equity, fixed income and hedge fund investors and includes dynamic hedging and convertible arbitrage. Part IV explains the all important risk management part of the process in detail. This is a highly practical book, all products priced are real world examples and numerical examples are not limited to hypothetical convertibles. It is a must read for anyone wanting to safely get into this highly liquid, high return market.

Updated edition of the book that gives investors, advisors, and managers the tools they need to launch and maintain a hedge fund in today's economy The hedge fund industry has gone through dramatic changes in recent years. Investors of all types continue to want to place their assets into these investment vehicles even in the wake of the credit crisis, massive frauds, and insider trading scandals. Once the forbidden fruit of Wall Street, hedge funds are now considered "must have" investments in any diversified portfolio. Now in its second edition, The Fundamentals of Hedge Fund Management is revised and updated to address how the credit crisis, legislation, fraud, technology, investor demand, global markets, and the economic landscape have affected the industry. Providing readers with a detailed and in-depth analysis of the world of hedge funds, the people working in it, and a look at where it's headed, the book is a timely and indispensable reference and research tool for helping professional money managers, traders, and others to launch and grow successful hedge fund businesses. Addresses how the credit crisis and its fallout has affected the hedge fund industry and what this means for the future Provides the essential information needed to launch and maintain a successful hedge fund in the new global economy Walks the reader through running a hedge fund, helping you to gain success over years, not just months An essential resource for anyone looking to invest in these much-discussed investment products, The Fundamentals of Hedge Fund Management, Second Edition is now fully revised and updated.

In recent years, Fourier transform methods have emerged as one of the major methodologies for the evaluation of derivative contracts, largely due to the need to strike a balance between the extension of existing pricing models beyond the traditional Black-Scholes setting and a need to evaluate prices consistently with the market quotes. Fourier Transform Methods in Finance is a practical and accessible guide to pricing financial instruments using Fourier transform. Written by an experienced team of practitioners and academics, it covers Fourier pricing methods; the dynamics of asset prices; non stationary market dynamics; arbitrage free pricing; generalized functions and the Fourier transform method. Readers will learn how to: compute the Hilbert transform of the pricing kernel under a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) technique characterise the price dynamics on a market in terms of the characteristic function, allowing for both diffusive processes and jumps apply the concept of characteristic function to non-stationary processes, in particular in the presence of stochastic volatility and more generally time change techniques perform a change of measure on the characteristic function in order to make the price process a martingale recover a general representation of the pricing kernel of the economy in terms of Hilbert transform using the theory of generalised functions apply the pricing formula to the most famous pricing models, with stochastic volatility and jumps. Junior and senior practitioners alike will benefit from this quick reference guide to state of the art models and market calibration techniques. Not only will it enable them to write an algorithm for option pricing using the most advanced models, calibrate a pricing model on options data, and extract the implied probability distribution in market data, they will also understand the most advanced models and techniques and discover how these techniques have been adjusted for applications in finance. ISBN 978-0-470-99400-9