An Analytical Approach to Investments, Finance and Credit (First Edition)


Book Description

An Analytical Approach to Investments, Finance, and Credit provides a highly practical and relevant guide to graduating students beginning their careers in investment banking. The author applies his 30 plus years of experience in banking and 15 years of teaching as an adjunct finance professor to effectively combine the core principals of an academic textbook with the practical training that major investment banks provide to first-year analysts. Part I introduces the student to investment portfolio concepts including volatility risk, alpha, beta, Sharpe ratio, and efficient frontiers. Part II covers the primary markets where companies access the equity, bond, and loan markets. Part III explains these markets from the investor's point of view, covering the secondary trading markets of stocks, bonds, loans, and derivatives. Part IV comprises corporate finance fundamentals that many investment banks require for valuation, financial, and credit analysis for private and publicly traded companies. Part V provides students with step-by-step financial modeling for analyzing leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, and other complex financial models. These models are accessible via the Cognella Active Learning platform. Throughout the text, the author provides multiple case studies that bridge the gap between academic concepts and practical application, which reinforces critical thinking.







Systematic Investing in Credit


Book Description

Praise for SYSTEMATIC INVESTING in CREDIT "Lev and QPS continue to shed light on the most important questions facing credit investors. This book focuses on their latest cutting-edge research into the appropriate role of credit as an asset class, the dynamics of credit benchmarks, and potential ways to benefit from equity information to construct effective credit portfolios. It is must-read material for all serious credit investors." —Richard Donick, President and Chief Risk Officer, DCI, LLC, USA "Lev Dynkin and his team continue to spoil us; this book is yet another example of intuitive, insightful, and pertinent research, which builds on the team's previous research. As such, the relationship with this team is one of the best lifetime learning experiences I have had." —Eduard van Gelderen, Chief Investment Officer, Public Sector Pension Investment Board, Canada "The rise of a systematic approach in credit is a logical extension of the market's evolution and long overdue. Barclays QPS team does a great job of presenting its latest research in a practical manner." —David Horowitz, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Agilon Capital, USA "Systematization reduces human biases and wasteful reinventing of past solutions. It improves the chances of investing success. This book, by a team of experts, shows you the way. You will gain insights into the advanced methodologies of combining fundamental and market data. I recommend this book for all credit investors." —Lim Chow Kiat, Chief Executive Officer, GIC Asset Management, Singapore "For nearly two decades, QPS conducted extensive and sound research to help investors meet industry challenges. The proprietary research in this volume gives a global overview of cutting-edge developments in alpha generation for credit investors, from signal extraction and ESG considerations to portfolio implementation. The book blazes a trail for enhanced risk adjusted returns by exploring the cross-asset relation between stocks and bonds and adding relevant information for credit portfolio construction. Our core belief at Ostrum AM, is that a robust quantamental approach, yields superior investment outcomes. Indeed, this book is a valuable read for the savvy investor." —Ibrahima Kobar, CFA, Global Chief Investment Officer, Ostrum AM, France "This book offers a highly engaging account of the current work by the Barclays QPS Group. It is a fascinating mix of original ideas, rigorous analytical techniques, and fundamental insights informed by a long history of frontline work in this area. This is a must-read from the long-time leaders in the field." —Professor Leonid Kogan, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Professor of Management and Finance, MIT "This book provides corporate bond portfolio managers with an abundance of relevant, comprehensive, data-driven research for the implementation of superior investment performance strategies." —Professor Stanley J. Kon, Editor, Journal of Fixed income "This book is a treasure trove for both pension investors and trustees seeking to improve performance through credit. It provides a wealth of empirical evidence to guide long-term allocation to credit, optimize portfolio construction and harvest returns from systematic credit factors. By extending their research to ESG ratings, the authors also provide timely insights in the expanding field of sustainable finance." —Eloy Lindeijer, former Chief of Investment Management, PGGM, Netherlands "Over more than a decade, Lev Dynkin and his QPS team has provided me and APG with numerous innovative insights in credit markets. Their work gave us valuable quantitative substantiation of some of our investment beliefs. This book covers new and under-researched areas of our markets, like ESG and factor investing, next to the rigorous and practical work akin to the earlier work of the group. I'd say read this book—and learn from one of the best." —Herman Slooijer, Managing Director, Head of Fixed Income, APG Asset Management, Netherlands




Contemporary Financial Intermediation


Book Description

Contemporary Financial Intermediation, 4th Edition by Greenbaum, Thakor, and Boot continues to offer a distinctive approach to the study of financial markets and institutions by presenting an integrated portrait that puts information and economic reasoning at the core. Instead of primarily naming and describing markets, regulations, and institutions as is common, Contemporary Financial Intermediation explores the subtlety, plasticity and fragility of financial institutions and credit markets. In this new edition every chapter has been updated and pedagogical supplements have been enhanced. For the financial sector, the best preprofessional training explains the reasons why markets, institutions, and regulators evolve they do, why we suffer recurring financial crises occur and how we typically react to them. Our textbook demands more in terms of quantitative skills and analysis, but its ability to teach about the forces shaping the financial world is unmatched. - Updates and expands a legacy title in a valuable field - Holds a prominent position in a growing portfolio of finance textbooks - Teaches tactics on how to recognize and forecast fluctuations in financial markets




Financial Modeling and Valuation


Book Description

Written by the Founder and CEO of the prestigious New York School of Finance, this book schools you in the fundamental tools for accurately assessing the soundness of a stock investment. Built around a full-length case study of Wal-Mart, it shows you how to perform an in-depth analysis of that company's financial standing, walking you through all the steps of developing a sophisticated financial model as done by professional Wall Street analysts. You will construct a full scale financial model and valuation step-by-step as you page through the book. When we ran this analysis in January of 2012, we estimated the stock was undervalued. Since the first run of the analysis, the stock has increased 35 percent. Re-evaluating Wal-Mart 9months later, we will step through the techniques utilized by Wall Street analysts to build models on and properly value business entities. Step-by-step financial modeling - taught using downloadable Wall Street models, you will construct the model step by step as you page through the book. Hot keys and explicit Excel instructions aid even the novice excel modeler. Model built complete with Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, Balance Sheet, Balance Sheet Balancing Techniques, Depreciation Schedule (complete with accelerating depreciation and deferring taxes), working capital schedule, debt schedule, handling circular references, and automatic debt pay downs. Illustrative concepts including detailing model flows help aid in conceptual understanding. Concepts are reiterated and honed, perfect for a novice yet detailed enough for a professional. Model built direct from Wal-Mart public filings, searching through notes, performing research, and illustrating techniques to formulate projections. Includes in-depth coverage of valuation techniques commonly used by Wall Street professionals. Illustrative comparable company analyses - built the right way, direct from historical financials, calculating LTM (Last Twelve Month) data, calendarization, and properly smoothing EBITDA and Net Income. Precedent transactions analysis - detailing how to extract proper metrics from relevant proxy statements Discounted cash flow analysis - simplifying and illustrating how a DCF is utilized, how unlevered free cash flow is derived, and the meaning of weighted average cost of capital (WACC) Step-by-step we will come up with a valuation on Wal-Mart Chapter end questions, practice models, additional case studies and common interview questions (found in the companion website) help solidify the techniques honed in the book; ideal for universities or business students looking to break into the investment banking field.




Investment Manager Analysis


Book Description

Praise for Investment Manager Analysis "This is a book that should have been written years ago. It provides a practical, thorough, and completely objective method to analyze and select an investment manager. It takes the mystery (and the consultants) out of the equation. Without question, this book belongs on every Plan Sponsor's desk." —Dave Davenport, Assistant Treasurer, Lord Corporation, author of The Equity Manager Search "An insightful compendium of the issues that challenge those responsible for hiring and firing investment managers. Frank Travers does a good job of taking complicated analytical tools and methodologies and explaining them in a simple, yet practical manner. Anyone responsible for conducting investment manager due diligence should have a copy on their bookshelf." —Leon G. Cooperman, Chairman and CEO, Omega Advisors, Inc. "Investment Manager Analysis provides a good overview of the important areas that purchasers of institutional investment management services need to consider. It is a good instructional guide, from which search policies and procedures can be developed, as well as a handy reference guide." —David Spaulding, President, The Spaulding Group, Inc. "This book is the definitive work on the investment manager selection process. It is comprehensive in scope and well organized for both the layman and the professional. It should be required reading for any organization or individual seeking talent to manage their assets." —Scott Johnston, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, Sterling Johnston Capital Management, LP "Investment Manager Analysis is a much-needed, comprehensive review of the manager selection process. While the industry is riddled with information about selecting individual stocks, comparatively little has been written on the important subject of manager selection for fund sponsors. This is a particularly useful guide for the less experienced practitioner and offers considerable value to the veteran decisionmaker as well." —Dennis J. Trittin, CFA, Portfolio Manager, Russell Investment Group




Value Investing


Book Description

Die hier vorgestellte Methode des 'Value Investing' (Investitionsentscheidungen nach der Wertanalyse) lost die traditionelle Praxis ubertriebener Preisbeobachtungen ab. Die moderne Unternehmensbewertung wird von einem echten Value-Investor vorgestellt, der bekannt ist fur seine Treffsicherheit beim Kauf von unterbewerteten Unternehmen, die er spater wieder mit betrachtlichem Gewinn verkauft. "Value Investing" zeigt Ihnen, wie Sie von der Informationsvielfalt profitieren, z.B. von Fusionen und Akquisitionen und Unternehmens- oder offentlichen Finanzierungen. Whitman definiert die grundlegenden Faktoren, die den Unternehmenswert und ganze Markte beeinflussen konnen und befurwortet die Abkehr von der herkommlichen Analyse der Preisbewegungen und kurzfristigen Handelszielen.




Asset Management


Book Description

Stocks and bonds? Real estate? Hedge funds? Private equity? If you think those are the things to focus on in building an investment portfolio, Andrew Ang has accumulated a body of research that will prove otherwise. In this book, Ang upends the conventional wisdom about asset allocation by showing that what matters aren't asset class labels but the bundles of overlapping risks they represent.




Pioneering Portfolio Management


Book Description

In the years since the now-classic Pioneering Portfolio Management was first published, the global investment landscape has changed dramatically -- but the results of David Swensen's investment strategy for the Yale University endowment have remained as impressive as ever. Year after year, Yale's portfolio has trumped the marketplace by a wide margin, and, with over $20 billion added to the endowment under his twenty-three-year tenure, Swensen has contributed more to Yale's finances than anyone ever has to any university in the country. What may have seemed like one among many success stories in the era before the Internet bubble burst emerges now as a completely unprecedented institutional investment achievement. In this fully revised and updated edition, Swensen, author of the bestselling personal finance guide Unconventional Success, describes the investment process that underpins Yale's endowment. He provides lucid and penetrating insight into the world of institutional funds management, illuminating topics ranging from asset-allocation structures to active fund management. Swensen employs an array of vivid real-world examples, many drawn from his own formidable experience, to address critical concepts such as handling risk, selecting advisors, and weathering market pitfalls. Swensen offers clear and incisive advice, especially when describing a counterintuitive path. Conventional investing too often leads to buying high and selling low. Trust is more important than flash-in-the-pan success. Expertise, fortitude, and the long view produce positive results where gimmicks and trend following do not. The original Pioneering Portfolio Management outlined a commonsense template for structuring a well-diversified equity-oriented portfolio. This new edition provides fund managers and students of the market an up-to-date guide for actively managed investment portfolios.




Quantitative Strategies for Achieving Alpha


Book Description

Alpha, higher-than-expected returns generated by an investment strategy, is the holy grail of the investment world. Achieve alpha, and you've beaten the market on a risk-adjusted basis. Quantitative Strategies for Achieving Alpha was borne from equity analyst Richard Tortoriello's efforts to create a series of quantitative stock selection models for his company, Standard & Poor's, and produce a “road map” of the market from a quantitative point of view. With this practical guide, you will gain an effective instrument that can be used to improve your investment process, whether you invest qualitatively, quantitatively, or seek to combine both. Each alpha-achieving strategy has been extensively back-tested using Standard & Poor's Compustat Point in Time database and has proven to deliver alpha over the long term. Quantitative Strategies for Achieving Alpha presents a wide variety of individual and combined investment strategies that consistently predict above-market returns. The result is a comprehensive investment mosaic that illustrates clearly those qualities and characteristics that make an investment attractive or unattractive. This valuable work contains: A wide variety of investment strategies built around the seven basics that drive future stock market returns: profitability, valuation, cash flow generation, growth, capital allocation, price momentum, and red flags (risk) A building-block approach to quantitative analysis based on 42 single-factor and nearly 70 two- and three-factor backtests, which show the investor how to effectively combine individual factors into robust investment screens and models More than 20 proven investment screens for generating winning investment ideas Suggestions for using quantitative strategies to manage risk and for structuring your own quantitative portfolios Advice on using quantitative principles to do qualitative investment research, including sample spreadsheets This powerful, data intensive book will help you clearly see what empirically drives the market, while providing the tools to make more profitable investment decisions based on that knowledge--through both bull and bear markets.