Risk-Return Analysis: The Theory and Practice of Rational Investing (Volume One)


Book Description

The Nobel Prize-winning Father of Modern Portfolio Theory re-introduces his theories for the current world of investing Legendary economist Harry M. Markowitz provides the insight and methods you need to build a portfolio that generates strong returns for the long run In Risk-Return Analysis, Markowitz corrects common misunderstandings about Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) to help advanced financial practitioners dramatically improve their decision making. In this first volume of a groundbreaking four-part series sure to draw the attention of anyone interested in MPT, Markowitz provides the criteria necessary for judging among risk-measures; surveys a half-century of literature (nearly all of which has been ignored by textbooks) on the applicability of MPT; and presents an empirical study of which functions of mean and some risk-measure is best for those who seek to maximize return in the long run. Harry M. Markowitz is a Nobel Laureate and the father of Modern Portfolio Theory.




High Returns from Low Risk


Book Description

Believing "high-risk equals high-reward" is holding your portfolio hostage High Returns from Low Risk proves that low-volatility, low-risk portfolios beat high-volatility portfolios hands down, and shows you how to take advantage of this paradox to dramatically improve your returns. Investors traditionally view low-risk stocks as safe but unprofitable, but this old canard is based on a flawed premise; it fails to see beyond the monthly horizon, and ignores compounding returns. This book updates the thinking and brings reality to modelling to show how low-risk stocks actually outperform high-risk stocks by an order of magnitude. Easy to read and easy to implement, the plan presented here will help you construct a portfolio that delivers higher returns per unit of risk, and explains how to achieve excellent investment results over the long term. Do you still believe that investors are rewarded for bearing risk, and that the higher the risk, the greater the reward? That old axiom is holding you back, and it is time to start seeing the whole picture. This book shows you, through deep historical simulation, how to reap the rewards of smarter investing. Learn how and why low-risk, low-volatility stocks beat the market Discover the formula that outperforms Greenblatt's Construct your own low-risk portfolio Select the right ETF or low-risk fund to manage your money Great returns and lower risk sound like a winning combination — what happens once everyone is doing it? The beauty of the low-risk strategy is that it continues to work even after the paradox is widely known; long-term investment success is possible for anyone who can shake off the entrenched wisdom and go low-risk. High Returns from Low Risk provides the proof, model and strategy to reign in your exposure while raking in the profit.




Plight of the Fortune Tellers


Book Description

Today's top financial-risk professionals have come to rely on ever-more sophisticated mathematics in their attempts to come to grips with financial risk. But this excessive reliance on quantitative precision is misleading--and it puts us all at risk. This is the case that Riccardo Rebonato makes in Plight of the Fortune Tellers--and coming from someone who is both an experienced market professional and an academic, this heresy is worth listening to. Rebonato forcefully argues that we must restore genuine decision making to our financial planning, and he shows us how to do it using probability, experimental psychology, and decision theory. This is the only way to effectively manage financial risk in a manner congruent with how human beings actually react to chance. Rebonato challenges us to rethink the standard wisdom about probability in financial-risk management. Risk managers have become obsessed with measuring risk and believe that these quantitative results by themselves can guide sound financial choices--but they can't. In this book, Rebonato offers a radical yet surprisingly commonsense solution, one that seeks to remind us that managing risk comes down to real people making decisions under uncertainty. Plight of the Fortune Tellers is not only a book for the decision makers of Wall Street, it's a must-read for anyone concerned about how today's financial markets are run. The stakes have never been higher--can you risk it?




Risk, Uncertainty and Profit


Book Description

A timeless classic of economic theory that remains fascinating and pertinent today, this is Frank Knight's famous explanation of why perfect competition cannot eliminate profits, the important differences between "risk" and "uncertainty," and the vital role of the entrepreneur in profitmaking. Based on Knight's PhD dissertation, this 1921 work, balancing theory with fact to come to stunning insights, is a distinct pleasure to read. FRANK H. KNIGHT (1885-1972) is considered by some the greatest American scholar of economics of the 20th century. An economics professor at the University of Chicago from 1927 until 1955, he was one of the founders of the Chicago school of economics, which influenced Milton Friedman and George Stigler.




Growth Or Glamour?


Book Description

The cash flows of growth stocks are particularly sensitive to temporary movements in aggregate stock prices (driven by movements in the equity risk premium), while the cash flows of value stocks are particularly sensitive to permanent movements in aggregate stock prices (driven by market-wide shocks to cash flows.) Thus the high betas of growth stocks with the market's discount-rate shocks, and of value stocks with the market's cash-flow shocks, are determined by the cash-flow fundamentals of growth and value companies. Growth stocks are not merely "glamour stocks" whose systematic risks are purely driven by investor sentiment. More generally, accounting measures of firm-level risk have predictive power for firms' betas with market-wide cash flows, and this predictive power arises from the behavior of firms' cash flows. The systematic risks of stocks with similar accounting characteristics are primarily driven by the systematic risks of their fundamentals.







Private Equity


Book Description

A comprehensive look at the private equity arena With private equity differing from other asset classes, it requires a whole new approach for those trained in more traditional investments such as stocks and bonds. But with the right guidance, you can gain a firm understanding of everything private equity has to offer. This reliable resource provides a comprehensive view of private equity by describing the current state of research and best practices in this arena. Issues addressed include the structure of private equity funds and fundraising, the financial and real returns of private equity, and the structure of private equity investments with investees, to name a few. Discusses the role of private equity in today's financial environment Provides international perspectives on private equity Details the regulation of private equity markets Filled with in-depth insights and expert advice, this book will provide you with a better understanding of private equity structures and put you in a better position to measure and analyze their performance.




Portfolio Risk Analysis


Book Description

Portfolio risk forecasting has been and continues to be an active research field for both academics and practitioners. Almost all institutional investment management firms use quantitative models for their portfolio forecasting, and researchers have explored models' econometric foundations, relative performance, and implications for capital market behavior and asset pricing equilibrium. Portfolio Risk Analysis provides an insightful and thorough overview of financial risk modeling, with an emphasis on practical applications, empirical reality, and historical perspective. Beginning with mean-variance analysis and the capital asset pricing model, the authors give a comprehensive and detailed account of factor models, which are the key to successful risk analysis in every economic climate. Topics range from the relative merits of fundamental, statistical, and macroeconomic models, to GARCH and other time series models, to the properties of the VIX volatility index. The book covers both mainstream and alternative asset classes, and includes in-depth treatments of model integration and evaluation. Credit and liquidity risk and the uncertainty of extreme events are examined in an intuitive and rigorous way. An extensive literature review accompanies each topic. The authors complement basic modeling techniques with references to applications, empirical studies, and advanced mathematical texts. This book is essential for financial practitioners, researchers, scholars, and students who want to understand the nature of financial markets or work toward improving them.




Moving Beyond Modern Portfolio Theory


Book Description

Moving Beyond Modern Portfolio Theory: Investing That Matters tells the story of how Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) revolutionized the investing world and the real economy, but is now showing its age. MPT has no mechanism to understand its impacts on the environmental, social and financial systems, nor any tools for investors to mitigate the havoc that systemic risks can wreck on their portfolios. It’s time for MPT to evolve. The authors propose a new imperative to improve finance’s ability to fulfil its twin main purposes: providing adequate returns to individuals and directing capital to where it is needed in the economy. They show how some of the largest investors in the world focus not on picking stocks, but on mitigating systemic risks, such as climate change and a lack of gender diversity, so as to improve the risk/return of the market as a whole, despite current theory saying that should be impossible. "Moving beyond MPT" recognizes the complex relations between investing and the systems on which capital markets rely, "Investing that matters" embraces MPT’s focus on diversification and risk adjusted return, but understands them in the context of the real economy and the total return needs of investors. Whether an investor, an MBA student, a Finance Professor or a sustainability professional, Moving Beyond Modern Portfolio Theory: Investing That Matters is thought-provoking and relevant. Its bold critique shows how the real world already is moving beyond investing orthodoxy.




Risk-Based and Factor Investing


Book Description

This book is a compilation of recent articles written by leading academics and practitioners in the area of risk-based and factor investing (RBFI). The articles are intended to introduce readers to some of the latest, cutting edge research encountered by academics and professionals dealing with RBFI solutions. Together the authors detail both alternative non-return based portfolio construction techniques and investing style risk premia strategies. Each chapter deals with new methods of building strategic and tactical risk-based portfolios, constructing and combining systematic factor strategies and assessing the related rules-based investment performances. This book can assist portfolio managers, asset owners, consultants, academics and students who wish to further their understanding of the science and art of risk-based and factor investing. - Contains up-to-date research from the areas of RBFI - Features contributions from leading academics and practitioners in this field - Features discussions of new methods of building strategic and tactical risk-based portfolios for practitioners, academics and students