Build a fixed income portfolio that will weather volatility and instability Designing a fixed income portfolio is an essential skill of any investment manager or advisor. This book outlines the critical components to successfully navigate through stable and turbulent markets, using real-life lessons from a seasoned institutional asset manager. The first section includes commentary on the changing fixed income market and overall economy, while the second section outlines the processes to navigate these ever-evolving markets including portfolio construction, the Federal Reserve, credit analysis and trade execution. Ladder Methodology is highlighted and the book discusses its pros and cons, gives examples of both well-constructed and poorly executed laddered bond portfolios and offers alternatives to traditional asset classes. Benefit from lessons learned, providing real life examples of market scenarios and trades Prepare fixed income portfolios that can weather any storm Written by Sean P. Simko, an expert on fixed income investing, who shares his investing experiences from the past 16 years Outlines the key principles of the Ladder strategy From strategy to execution, Strategic Fixed Income Investing offers the road map to help investment managers prepare portfolios that will insulate investments against adverse market conditions.
Academic finance has had a remarkable impact on many financial services. Yet long-term investors have received curiously little guidance from academic financial economists. Mean-variance analysis, developed almost fifty years ago, has provided a basic paradigm for portfolio choice. This approach usefully emphasizes the ability of diversification to reduce risk, but it ignores several critically important factors. Most notably, the analysis is static; it assumes that investors care only about risks to wealth one period ahead. However, many investors—-both individuals and institutions such as charitable foundations or universities—-seek to finance a stream of consumption over a long lifetime. In addition, mean-variance analysis treats financial wealth in isolation from income. Long-term investors typically receive a stream of income and use it, along with financial wealth, to support their consumption. At the theoretical level, it is well understood that the solution to a long-term portfolio choice problem can be very different from the solution to a short-term problem. Long-term investors care about intertemporal shocks to investment opportunities and labor income as well as shocks to wealth itself, and they may use financial assets to hedge their intertemporal risks. This should be important in practice because there is a great deal of empirical evidence that investment opportunities—-both interest rates and risk premia on bonds and stocks—-vary through time. Yet this insight has had little influence on investment practice because it is hard to solve for optimal portfolios in intertemporal models. This book seeks to develop the intertemporal approach into an empirical paradigm that can compete with the standard mean-variance analysis. The book shows that long-term inflation-indexed bonds are the riskless asset for long-term investors, it explains the conditions under which stocks are safer assets for long-term than for short-term investors, and it shows how labor income influences portfolio choice. These results shed new light on the rules of thumb used by financial planners. The book explains recent advances in both analytical and numerical methods, and shows how they can be used to understand the portfolio choice problems of long-term investors.
Matlab is used within nearly all investment banks and is a requirement in most quant job ads. There is no other book written for finance practitioners that covers this Enables readers to implement financial and econometric models in Matlab All central concepts and theories are illustrated by Matlab implementations which are accompanied by detailed descriptions of the programming steps needed All concepts and techniques are introduced from a basic level Chapter 1 introduces Matlab and matrix algebra, it serves to make the reader familiar with the use and basic capabilities if Matlab. The chapter concludes with a walkthrough of a linear regression model, showing how Matlab can be used to solve an example problem analytically and by the use of optimization and simulation techniques Chapter 2 introduces expected return and risk as central concepts in finance theory using fixed income instruments as examples, the chapter illustrates how risk measures such as standard deviation, Modified duration, VaR, and expected shortfall can be calculated empirically and in closed form Chapter 3 introduces the concept of diversification and illustrates how the efficient investment frontier can be derived - a Matlab is developed that can be used to calculate a given number of portfolios that lie on an efficient frontier, the chapter also introduces the CAPM Chapter 4 introduces econometric tools: principle component analysis is presented and used as a prelude to yield-curve factor models. The Nelson-Siegel model is used to introduce the Kalman-Filter as a way to add time-series dynamics to the evolution of yield curves over time, time series models such as Vector Autoregression and regime-switching are also presented Supported by a website with online resources - www.kennyholm.com where all Matlab programs referred to in the text can be downloaded. The site also contains lecture slides and answers to end of chapter exercises
This book offers an overview of the best-working strategies in the field of equity and fixed income mutual fund-based portfolio management. This timely research considers different market conditions, such as global financial crises, across various geographical regions such as the USA and Europe. Combining academic and practical findings, the author presents a practitioner perspective on mutual fund-based portfolio strategies, appealing not only to finance scholars but also professionals within the asset management industry. This book synthesizes a large part of the academic research to date on the mutual fund industry by drawing from the most widely cited academic journals. The author makes a systematic use of numerical examples to facilitate the understanding of Investment themes organized around several important topics: size, diversification, flows, active management, volatility, performance persistence and rating.
This textbook will be designed for fixed-income securities courses taught on MSc Finance and MBA courses. There is currently no suitable text that offers a 'Hull-type' book for the fixed income student market. This book aims to fill this need. The book will contain numerous worked examples, excel spreadsheets, with a building block approach throughout. A key feature of the book will be coverage of both traditional and alternative investment strategies in the fixed-income market, for example, the book will cover the modern strategies used by fixed-income hedge funds. The text will be supported by a set of PowerPoint slides for use by the lecturer First textbook designed for students written on fixed-income securities - a growing market Contains numerous worked examples throughout Includes coverage of important topics often omitted in other books i.e. deriving the zero yield curve, deriving credit spreads, hedging and also covers interest rate and credit derivatives
Includes an examination of traditional asset allocation methods, why they do and do not work, and which elements can be used in overseeing the professional's own portfolio. In addition, the author introduces his own proven method of portfolio management and asset allocation strategies--the ``7-Step System''--using simple statistical techniques to forecast stock, bond, commodity, and money market returns. Free of complex mathematics, charts, graphs, and technical jargon, this is a highly readable guide to getting the most from today's sophisticated investment techniques.
HIGH-YIELD BONDS provides state-of-the-art research, strategies, and toolsÑalongside the expert analysis of respected authorities including Edward Altman of New York UniversityÕs Salomon Center, Lea Carty of MoodyÕs Investor Service, Sam DeRosa-Farag of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Martin Fridson of Merrill Lynch & Company, Stuart Gilson of Harvard University, Robert Kricheff of CS First Boston, and Frank Reilly of the University of Notre DameÑto help you truly understand todayÕs high-yield market. For added value and ease of reference, this high-level one-volume encyclopedia is divided into seven sections detailing virtually every aspect of high-yield bond investment. They include: Market structureÑThe role of investment banks in security innovation and market development, evolution of analytical methodologies, and recent leveraged loan market developments; Security risk analysisÑHistorical bond default rates, real interest rate and default rate relationships, and new simulation methodologies for modeling credit quality; Security valuationÑImpact of seniority and security on bond pricing and return, important trading factors, and a Monte Carlo simulation methodology for valuing bonds and options in the context of correlated interest rate and credit risk; Market valuation modelsÑEconometric studies which detail the importance of monetary influences, risk-free interest rates, default rates, mutual fund flows, and seasonal fluctuations; Portfolio managementÑHistorical perspective and comparison to alternative investments, analysis of indices available to investors, and specific portfolio selection and risk management strategies of professional fund managers; Distressed security investingÑHistorical risk and return information, plus an academic overview of the market and decision criteria for uncovering and investing in securities with higher-than-average risk-adjusted returns; Corporate finance considerationsÑEmerging firmsÕ strategic choice between external debt and equity financing, as well as the choice of issuing public versus private (Rule-144a) securities. HIGH-YIELD BONDS provides extensive coverage of bond valuation and the construction and management of high-yield portfolios. Advanced Monte Carlo simulation models for the valuation of bonds and options on bonds as well as risk assessments on portfolios of bonds under conditions of correlated interest rate and credit risk are demonstrated. In todayÕs explosive environment of multiple new issues and high risk versus return relationships, it is paramount that you get advice from analysts and experts who have been influential in shaping and defining the market. HIGH-YIELD BONDS will provide you with a valuable reference to this fascinating and constantly changing class of securities, helping you assemble a stable, diversified portfolio of fixed income investments that provides the greatest returns and the lowest risks.
In order to effectively employ portfolio strategies that can control interest rate risk and/or enhance returns, you must understand the forces that drive bond markets, as well as the valuation and risk management practices of these complex securities. In Advanced Bond Portfolio Management, Frank Fabozzi, Lionel Martellini, and Philippe Priaulet have brought together more than thirty experienced bond market professionals to help you do just that. Divided into six comprehensive parts, Advanced Bond Portfolio Management will guide you through the state-of-the-art techniques used in the analysis of bonds and bond portfolio management. Topics covered include: General background information on fixed-income markets and bond portfolio strategies The design of a strategy benchmark Various aspects of fixed-income modeling that will provide key ingredients in the implementation of an efficient portfolio and risk management process Interest rate risk and credit risk management Risk factors involved in the management of an international bond portfolio Filled with in-depth insight and expert advice, Advanced Bond Portfolio Management is a valuable resource for anyone involved or interested in this important industry.
The comprehensive guide to private market asset allocation Asset Allocation and Private Markets provides institutional investors, such as pension funds, insurance groups and family offices, with a single-volume authoritative resource on including private markets in strategic asset allocation. Written by four academic and practitioner specialists, this book provides the background knowledge investors need, coupled with practical advice from experts in the field. The discussion focuses on private equity, private debt and private real assets, and their correlation with other asset classes to establish optimized investment portfolios. Armed with the grounded and critical perspectives provided in this book, investors can tailor their portfolio and effectively allocate assets to traditional and private markets in their best interest. In-depth discussion of return, risks, liquidity and other factors of asset allocation takes a more practical turn with guidance on allocation construction and capital deployment, the “endowment model,” and hedging — or lack thereof. Unique in the depth and breadth of information on this increasingly attractive asset class, this book is an invaluable resource for investors seeking new strategies. Discover alternative solutions to traditional asset allocation strategies Consider attractive returns of private markets Delve into private equity, private debt and private real assets Gain expert perspectives on correlation, risk, liquidity, and portfolio construction Private markets represent a substantial proportion of global wealth. Amidst disappointing returns from stocks and bonds, investors are increasingly looking to revitalise traditional asset allocation strategies by weighting private market structures more heavily in their portfolios. Pension fund and other long-term asset managers need deeper information than is typically provided in tangential reference in broader asset allocation literature; Asset Allocation and Private Markets fills the gap, with comprehensive information and practical guidance.
