This handbook provides an engaging and comprehensive analysis of social finance, a developing and important topic. In five sections, it presents social finance through a broad lens, encompassing both theoretical and practical content. Section I provides background material on social finance. Section II examines the various tools and mechanisms of social finance, providing numerous examples of its implementation. Section III examines social finance in various countries and economies, presen...

This timely book explores investment risk and return as fundamental concepts that underpin financial decision-making and portfolio management. With contributions from scholars and practitioners, it combines conceptual frameworks with real-world applications, providing insights into the consequences of past miscalculations of risk and returns and how advanced techniques help to improve decision-making.Understanding Investment Risk and Return outlines how investors can measu...

The rapidly growing fintech market reflects new technology that seeks to improve and automate the delivery and use of financial services. Regulation changes have provided new opportunities in crowdfunding and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. At the same time, technological advances have made artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) accessible to practitioners without a programming background. New markets in cryptocurrencies and digital assets promise to make finance more global wi...

All investments carry with them some degree of risk. In the financial world, individuals, professional money managers, financial institutions, and many others encounter and must deal with risk. Risk management is a process of determining what risks exist in an investment and then handling those risks in the best-suited way. This is important because it can reduce or augment risk depending on the goals of investors and portfolio managers. The main purpose of Investment Risk Management

Do you want to see your wealth grow?If so, then this easy-to-read guide that focuses on alternative investments - hedge funds, private equity, real estate, commodities, and infrastructure - is just for you.The fourth book in The H. Kent Baker Investments Series attempts to remove some of the mystery surrounding these investments so that you can determine whether any of these are right for you. If you're willing to gain the necessary knowledge, you may be able to build long-...

Sharpen your understanding of the financial markets with this incisive volumeEquity Markets, Valuation, and Analysis brings together many of the leading practitioner and academic voices in finance to produce a comprehensive and empirical examination of equity markets.Masterfully written and edited by experts in the field, Equity Markets, Valuation, and Analysis introduces the basic concepts and applications that govern the area before movi...

Do you only have a relatively small amount of money to invest?Do you think this limitation give you only a few investment choices?Well, it doesn’t.Investing experts H. Kent Baker, Greg Filbeck, and Halil Kiymaz offer an essential guide to one of the most common ways to invest: a pooled investment vehicle (PIV). A PIV is an investment fund that commingles the monies of many different investors to buy a portfolio that reflects a particular investment objective. – By u...

Hedge Funds: Structure, Strategies, and Performance provides a synthesis of the theoretical and empirical literature on this intriguing, complex, and frequently misunderstood topic. The book dispels some common misconceptions of hedge funds, showing that they are not a monolithic asset class but pursue highly diverse strategies. Furthermore, not all hedge funds are unusually risky, excessively leveraged, invest only in illiquid asses, attempt to profit from short-term market movem...

Debt Markets and Investments provides an overview of the dynamic world of markets, products, valuation, and analysis of fixed income and related securities. Experts in the field, practitioners and academics, offer both diverse and in-depth insights into basic concepts and their application to increasingly intricate and real-world situations. This volume spans the entire spectrum from theoretical to practical, while attempting to offer a useful balance of detailed and user-friendly...

People tend to be penny wise and pound foolish and cry over spilt milk, even though we are taught to do neither. Focusing on the present at the expense of the future and basing decisions on lost value are two mistakes common to decision-making that are particularly costly in the world of finance. Behavioral Finance: What Everyone Needs to KnowR provides an overview of common shortcuts and mistakes people make in managing their finances. It covers the common cognitive biases or err...

During the past few decades, private equity (PE) has attracted considerable attention from investors, practitioners, and academicians. In fact, a substantial literature on PE has emerged. PE offers benefits for institutional and private wealth management clients including diversification and enhancement of risk-adjusted returns. However, several factors such as liquidity concerns, regulatory restrictions, and the lack of transparency limit the attractiveness of some PE options to investors...

Financial Behavior: Players, Services, Products, and Markets provides a synthesis of the theoretical and empirical literature on the financial behavior of major stakeholders, financial services, investment products, and financial markets. The book offers a different way of looking at financial and emotional well-being and processing beliefs, emotions, and behaviors related to money. The book provides important insights about cognitive and emotional biases that influence various fi...