Hedge funds are perhaps the hottest topic in finance today, but little material of substance to date has been written on the topic. Most books focus on how to set up a hedge fund and the basic strategies, while few to none focus on what matters most: generating and understanding investment performance. This book takes an exclusive look at the latter, including an analysis of the areas that are most likely to generate strong investment returns OCo namely, the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The book will be invaluable to not only financial professionals, but anyone interested in learning about hedge funds and their future.
Hedge funds are perhaps the hottest topic in finance today, but little material of substance to date has been written on the topic. Most books focus on how to set up a hedge fund and the basic strategies, while few to none focus on what matters most: generating and understanding investment performance. This book takes an exclusive look at the latter, including an analysis of the areas that are most likely to generate strong investment returns — namely, the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The book will be invaluable to not only financial professionals, but anyone interested in learning about hedge funds and their future.
The Encyclopedia of Finance comprehensively covers the broad spectrum of terms and topics relating finance from asset pricing models to option pricing models to risk management and beyond. This third edition is comprised of over 1,300 individual definitions, chapters, appendices and is the most comprehensive and up-to-date resource in the field, integrating the most current terminology, research, theory, and practical applications. It includes 200 new terms and essays; 25 new chapters and four new appendices. Showcasing contributions from an international array of experts, the revised edition of this major reference work is unparalleled in the breadth and depth of its coverage.
Institutional investors spend the majority of their time in search of the Holy Grail of investment alpha, or risk-adjusted market outperformance. The problem is far too many organizations and funds fail to first understand whether or not they have what it takes to earn alpha or whether it even makes sense to try. Organizational alpha, on the other hand, is something every institutional investor and nonprofit can achieve, assuming they focus on what they can control and what matters. This book will show institutional investors, board members, trustees, consultants and beneficiaries how the concept of organizational alpha can help them: Recognize the importance of goals-based investing. Think in terms of process over outcomes. Understand the fiduciary duty and what constitutes a breach of that duty. Know the difference between a governing and managing fiduciary. Define their overarching investment philosophy. Make sense of the group dynamic at play when making decisions-by-committee. Ensure more continuity in their investment program. Improve their due diligence and decision-making processes. Choose the right consultant or advisor to help oversee their assets. Find additional sources of alpha. Understand the alternative investment landscape. Appreciate the differences between foundations, endowments and pensions. Document their investment process to cut down on unnecessary mistakes. Make decisions that revolve around the goals and mission of the organization. Set realistic expectations with the understanding that the future is always uncertain. Written by an institutional investor who has spent his entire career working with a wide range of institutional investors from endowments to foundations to pension plans to family offices and other nonprofits, Organizational Alpha is a manual that provides institutional investors with the tools they need to find success in the markets and as organizations.
The hedge fund industry has grown dramatically over the last two decades, with more than eight thousand funds now controlling close to two trillion dollars. Originally intended for the wealthy, these private investments have now attracted a much broader following that includes pension funds and retail investors. Because hedge funds are largely unregulated and shrouded in secrecy, they have developed a mystique and allure that can beguile even the most experienced investor. In Hedge Funds, Andrew Lo--one of the world's most respected financial economists--addresses the pressing need for a systematic framework for managing hedge fund investments. Arguing that hedge funds have very different risk and return characteristics than traditional investments, Lo constructs new tools for analyzing their dynamics, including measures of illiquidity exposure and performance smoothing, linear and nonlinear risk models that capture alternative betas, econometric models of hedge fund failure rates, and integrated investment processes for alternative investments. In a new chapter, he looks at how the strategies for and regulation of hedge funds have changed in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Written by an industry pioneer who has hands-on experience in the brave new world of peer-to-peer lending and equity crowdfunding, this book serves as a resource for investors and entrepreneurs alike and investigates how these alternative mechanisms will increase the financial and operational capacity of borrowers, lenders, buyers, and sellers in the private markets. More than 60 governments across the globe have established financial inclusion as a policy priority and are vying for access to and use of financial services by households and firms to boost economic growth. A thought leader on securities-based crowdfunding, author Kim Wales explores how women and the millennial generation, the world's largest groups of people, can influence "crowd" direct investment, economic freedom, and economic growth. The book provides building blocks to instruct investors and entrepreneurs about how to leverage social networks and supplies tools to help retail investors—"the crowd"—to understand the language, risks, and rewards of this type of investment. Providing an indispensable resource for investors and entrepreneurs, Peer-to-Peer Lending and Equity Crowdfunding summarizes past theory as well as current schools of thought related to capital formation and economic growth, explains why creating a secondary market for private placement offerings is essential to stimulating market liquidity, and documents how public-private partnerships using digital finance will enhance financial inclusion and positively impact investing. The book not only describes how crowdfunding works but also explains investment approaches, secondary markets, governance and compliance, transparency, and risk models that are necessary for investors to make informed decisions.
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
In the ten years since its coming into force, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), with almost EUR 7 trillion assets under management in its remit, has become an important piece of European regulation complementing the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) and the Markets in Financial Instruments (MiFI) frameworks. This third edition of the most comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the AIFMD and its related European investment fund legislation (including the European Venture Capital Fund Regulation, the European Social Entrepreneurship Fund Regulation, the European Long-Term Investment Fund Regulation and the European Money Market Fund Regulation among others) brings together fund industry experts, fund supervisors, consultants, lawyers and academics to discuss the content and system of the directive from every angle, including its relation not only to the UCITS and MiFI frameworks but also to pension funds, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, the Securitization Regulation and the Cross Border Funds Distribution Directive and Regulation, as well as related pieces of tax regulation at the European level. Further, the third edition emphasizes the function of such factors in the financial services value chain as the following: the AIFMD’s approach to robo-advisors; digital asset funds; infrastructure investments in the context of real estate and sustainable investments; risk management; transparency; and impact on alternative investment strategies. Five country reports, focusing on the European Union’s five most important financial centres for alternative investment funds, deal with the potential interactions among the AIFMD and the relevant laws and regulations of France, Germany, Luxembourg, Ireland and The Netherlands. This thoroughly updated edition elaborates on potential difficulties encountered when applying the directive and provides potential solutions to the problems it raises. The book is sure to be warmly welcomed by fund lawyers and consultants, investors and their counsels, fund managers, depositaries, asset managers and administrators, as well as regulators and academics in the field.
Forecast geopolitics and markets with this clear and insightful resource Geopolitical Alpha – An Investment Framework for Predicting the Future provides readers with an original and compelling approach to forecasting the future and beating the markets while doing so. Persuasively written by author, investment strategist, and geopolitical analyst Marko Papic, the book applies a novel framework for making sense of the cacophony of geopolitical risks with the eye towards generating investment-relevant insights. Geopolitical Alpha posits that investors should ignore the media-hyped narratives, insights from "smoke-filled rooms," and most of their political consultants and, instead, focus exclusively on the measurable, material constraints facing policymakers. In the tug-of-war between policymaker preferences and their constraints, the latter always win out in the end. Papic uses a wealth of examples from the past decade to illustrate how one can use his constraint-framework to generate Geopolitical Alpha. In the process, the book discusses: What paradigm shifts will drive investment returns over the next decade Why investment and corporate professionals can no longer treat geopolitics as an exogenous risk How to ignore the media and focus on what drives market narratives that generate returns Perfect for investors, C-suite executives, and investment professionals, Geopolitical Alpha belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in the intersection of geopolitics, economics, and finance.
One of the fastest growing investment sectors ever seen, hedge funds are considered by many to be exotic and inaccessible. This book provides an intensive learning experience, defining hedge funds, explaining hedge fund strategies while offering both qualitative and quantitative tools that investors need to access these types of funds. Topics not usually covered in discussions of hedge funds are included, such as a theoretical discussion of each hedge fund strategy followed by trading examples provided by successful hedge fund managers.
