Herzfeld's Guide to Closed-end Funds


Book Description

Closed-end funds continue to gain prominence as one of today's most popular vehicles for buying stocks and bonds. This text aims to provide individual investors and professionals with access to information on these funds.










Mutual Fund Industry Handbook


Book Description

"The Mutual Fund Industry Handbook is a remarkably important work . . . I am profoundly impressed by the broad and comprehensive sweep of information and knowledge that this book makes available to industry participants, college and business school students, and anyone else with a serious interest in this industry." -- From the Foreword by John C. Bogle President, Bogle Financial Markets Research Center Founder and former chief executive, The Vanguard Group A Foreword by John C. Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group and one of the most respected leaders in the mutual fund industry, sets the stage for this authoritative book that explains the complexities of the phenomenal industry in simple terms. Investors like the fact that mutual funds offer professional management, easy diversification, liquidity, convenience, a wide range of investment choices, and regulatory protection. Mutual Fund Industry Handbook touches on all of those features and focuses on the diverse functions performed in the day-to-day operations of the mutual fund industry. You'll learn about: Front-office functions-analysis, buying, and selling. Back-office functions, including settlement, custody, accounting, and reporting. Commission structures-front-end loads, back-end loads, or level loads. The various fund categories used by the Investment Company Institute, Morningstar, and Lipper. The roles played by fund managers, investment advisors, custodial banks, distributors, transfer agents, and other third-party service providers. If you want a definitive reference on the mutual fund industry, this is the book for you.




Investing in Closed-end Funds


Book Description

This book is the only up-to-date comprehensive book on the subject written for investors as well as stock brokers and financial planners.




The Complete Guide to Investing in Bonds and Bond Funds


Book Description

Bonds have long been a stalwart of investment. More than $100 billion was invested in municipal bonds alone in 2006. Now, with the economy a little less certain than it has been in recent decades, the demand for a secure place to invest money has lead to resurgence in interest in the use of bonds for many investors. Because there are many peculiarities in bond investment, you must have a basic understanding of the market, the bond issuer, how to measure rates of return and how to maximize those rates. This book provides anyone who has never invested in bonds before the ideal handbook to start investing in and earning massive returns from bonds. You will learn everything the savvy investor needs to effectively turn a high risk portfolio into a constantly growing, steadily developing source of wealth. You will learn how bonds operate on a very basic level, including the numerous different kinds of bonds and how bond funds can be a highly lucrative option. You will learn the fundamental differences between government, municipal, and corporate bonds and how much of a return you can expect from each. You will learn the basic methods of valuation and yield that bonds are measured by and how you can evaluate bonds with three basic steps. You will be guided through determining the face value, coupon rate, and sale price of a bond, as well as the ratings, insurance, maturity, callability, and taxes that might be associated with it. The importance of interest rates, inflation, and supply and demand in affecting the yield of your bonds will be detailed as well to ensure you make a careful investment. In addition to a comprehensive guide on the many options and methods of investing in bonds, dozens of interviews with financial gurus from around the nation have been conducted to provide critical, real world advice on how to successfully invest your money into bonds. You will be shown the risk free methods by which to invest in bonds, making low interest returns on U.S. government bonds, as well as the higher risk methods that will allow you to make great returns by investing in industrial and corporate bonds. You will learn how to look overseas for even more lucrative options and how to measure the risk of your bonds based on the debt in which you are investing and the callability of any one bond issuer. You will be shown how to effectively balance your portfolio to include bonds without ignoring the necessity and place for other investments. For any investor who has been agonizing over how to safely invest money for a high return, this book is for you, guiding you through the complex, but rewarding, world of bond investments. Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company presidentâe(tm)s garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.




Fundamentals of Fund Administration


Book Description

Fundamentals of Fund Administration fills a gap in the lack of books that cover the administration and operations functions related to funds. With the growth of hedge funds globally there is more and more requirement for fund administration services, and the success of the fund administration is crucial to the success of the funds themselves in a highly competitive market. As the focus on operational risk, cost effective support and administration of trading and investment and the ability to design, develop and deliver added-value services for clients grows there is a need for a comprehensive analysis of what happens from trade to settlement and beyond and the exact role that the fund administrator may be required to provide. The book helps those responsible for managing and supervising fund administration services by examining the decisions, actions and problems at the various stages as well as explaining the products and infrastructure that services support. - Concise, easy to read format explains extensive and complicated procedures with lively, easy to follow road maps - Comprehensive reference work with extensive glossary of terms, useful website addresses and further reading recommendations - Covers all the major stages with detailed explanations of what is required for effective completion and regulatory compliance




The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You'll Ever Need


Book Description

The rewards of carefully chosen alternative investments can be great. But many investors don’t know enough about unfamiliar investments to make wise choices. For that reason, financial advisers Larry Swedroe and Jared Kizer designed this book to bring investors up to speed on the twenty most popular alternative investments: Real estate, Inflation-protected securities, Commodities, International equities, Fixed annuities, Stable-value funds, High-yield (junk) bonds, Private equity (venture capital), Covered calls, Socially responsible mutual funds, Precious metals equities, Preferred stocks, Convertible bonds, Emerging market bonds, Hedge funds, Leveraged buyouts, Variable annuities, Equity-indexed annuities, Structured investment products, Leveraged funds The authors describe how the investments work, the pros and cons of each, which to consider, which to avoid, and how to get started. Swedroe and Kizer evaluate each investment in terms of: Expected returns Volatility Distribution of returns Diversification potential Fees Trading and operating expenses Liquidity Tax efficiency Account location Role in an asset-allocation program Any investor who is considering or just curious about investment opportunities outside the traditional world of stocks, bonds, and bank certificates of deposit would be well-advised to read this book.




A Comprehensive Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)


Book Description

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have become in their 25-year history one of the fastest growing segments of the investment management business. These funds provide liquid access to virtually every financial market and allow large and small investors to build institutional-caliber portfolios. Yet, their management fees are significantly lower than those typical of mutual funds. High levels of transparency in ETFs for holdings and investment strategy help investors evaluate an ETF’s potential returns and risks. This book covers the evolution of ETFs as products and in their uses in investment strategies. It details how ETFs work, their unique investment and trading features, their regulatory structure, how they are used in tactical and strategic portfolio management in a broad range of asset classes, and how to evaluate them individually.




The Fund Industry


Book Description

A guide to how your money is managed, with foreword by Nobel laureate Robert Shiller The Fund Industry offers a comprehensive look at mutual funds and the investment management industry, for fund investors, those working in the fund industry, service providers to the industry and students of financial institutions or capital markets. Industry experts Robert Pozen and Theresa Hamacher take readers on a tour of the business of asset management. Readers will learn how to research a fund and assess whether it's right for them; then they'll go behind the scenes to see how funds are invested, sold and regulated. This updated edition expands coverage of the segments of the industry where growth is hottest, including hedge funds, liquid alternatives, ETFs and target date funds—and adds an introduction to derivatives. Mutual funds are a key component of financial planning for 96 million Americans. Nearly a quarter of U.S. household savings are invested in funds, which give individual investors affordable access to professional management. This book provides a detailed look at how firms in the industry: Invest those savings in stocks and bonds Evaluate the risks and returns of funds Distribute funds directly to consumers or through financial advisors or retirement plans Handle the complex operational and regulatory requirements of mutual funds Vote proxies at the annual meetings of public companies Expand their operations across borders Along the way, the authors describe the latest trends and discuss the biggest controversies—all in straightforward and engaging prose. The Fund Industry is the essential guide to navigating the mutual fund industry.