This groundbreaking book extends traditional approaches of risk measurement and portfolio optimization by combining distributional models with risk or performance measures into one framework. Throughout these pages, the expert authors explain the fundamentals of probability metrics, outline new approaches to portfolio optimization, and discuss a variety of essential risk measures. Using numerous examples, they illustrate a range of applications to optimal portfolio choice and risk theory, as well as applications to the area of computational finance that may be useful to financial engineers.

This book provides an investor-friendly presentation of the premises and applications of the quantitative finance models governing investment in one asset class of publicly traded stocks, specifically real estate investment trusts (REITs). The models provide highly advanced analytics for REIT investment, including: portfolio optimization using both historic and predictive return estimation; model backtesting; a complete spectrum of risk assessment and management tools with an emphasis on early warning systems, risk budgeting, estimating tail risk, and factor analysis; derivative valuation; and incorporating ESG ratings into REIT investment. These quantitative finance models are presented in a unified framework consistent with dynamic asset pricing (rational finance). Given its scope and practical orientation, this book will appeal to investors interested in portfolio optimization and innovative tools for investment risk assessment.

Advanced Stochastic Models, Risk Assessment, and Portfolio Optimization The finance industry is seeing increased interest in new risk measures and techniques for portfolio optimization when parameters of the model are uncertain. This groundbreaking book extends traditional approaches of risk measurement and portfolio optimization by combining distributional models with risk or performance measures into one framework. Throughout these pages, the expert authors explain the fundamentals of probability metrics, outline new approaches to portfolio optimization, and discuss a variety of essential risk measures. Using numerous examples, they illustrate a range of applications to optimal portfolio choice and risk theory, as well as applications to the area of computational finance that may be useful to financial engineers. They also clearly show how stochastic models, risk assessment, and optimization are essential to mastering risk, uncertainty, and performance measurement. Advanced Stochastic Models, Risk Assessment, and Portfolio Optimization provides quantitative portfolio managers (including hedge fund managers), financial engineers, consultants, and academic researchers with answers to the key question of which risk measure is best for any given problem.

The study of heavy-tailed distributions allows researchers to represent phenomena that occasionally exhibit very large deviations from the mean. The dynamics underlying these phenomena is an interesting theoretical subject, but the study of their statistical properties is in itself a very useful endeavor from the point of view of managing assets and controlling risk. In this book, the authors are primarily concerned with the statistical properties of heavy-tailed distributions and with the processes that exhibit jumps. A detailed overview with a Matlab implementation of heavy-tailed models applied in asset management and risk managements is presented. The book is not intended as a theoretical treatise on probability or statistics, but as a tool to understand the main concepts regarding heavy-tailed random variables and processes as applied to real-world applications in finance. Accordingly, the authors review approaches and methodologies whose realization will be useful for developing new methods for forecasting of financial variables where extreme events are not treated as anomalies, but as intrinsic parts of the economic process.

Portfolio construction is fundamental to the investment management process. In the 1950s, Harry Markowitz demonstrated the benefits of efficient diversification by formulating a mathematical program for generating the "efficient frontier" to summarize optimal trade-offs between expected return and risk. The Markowitz framework continues to be used as a basis for both practical portfolio construction and emerging research in financial economics. Such concepts as the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT), for example, provide the foundation for setting benchmarks, for predicting returns and risk, and for performance measurement. This volume showcases original essays by some of today’s most prominent academics and practitioners in the field on the contemporary application of Markowitz techniques. Covering a wide spectrum of topics, including portfolio selection, data mining tests, and multi-factor risk models, the book presents a comprehensive approach to portfolio construction tools, models, frameworks, and analyses, with both practical and theoretical implications.

Crucial methods, tactics and tools for successful pension fund management Achieving Investment Excellence offers trustees and asset managers a comprehensive handbook for improving the quality of their investments. With a stated goal of substantially and sustainably improving annual returns, this book clarifies and demystifies important concepts surrounding trustee duties and responsibilities, investment strategies, analysis, evaluation and much more. Low interest rates are making the high cost of future pension payouts fraught with tension, even as the time and knowledge required to manage these funds appropriately increases — it is no wonder that pensions are increasingly seen as a financial liability. Now more than ever, it is critical that trustees understand exactly what contributes to investment success — and what detracts from it. This book details the roles, the tools and the strategies that make pension funds pay off. Understand the role of pension funds and the fiduciary duty of trustees Learn the tools and kills you need to build profound and lasting investment excellence Analyse, diagnose and improve investment quality of funds using concrete tools and instruments Study illustrative examples that demonstrate critical implementation and execution advice Packed with expert insight, crucial tools and real-life examples, this book is an important resource for those tasked with governing these. Achieving Investment Excellence provides the expert insight, clear guidance and key wisdom you need to manage these funds successfully.

“There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a tri?ing investment of fact. ” Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi The challenges in succeeding with computational science are numerous and deeply a?ect all disciplines. NSF’s 2006 Blue Ribbon Panel of Simulation-Based 1 Engineering Science (SBES) states ‘researchers and educators [agree]: com- tational and simulation engineering sciences are fundamental to the security and welfare of the United States. . . We must overcome di?culties inherent in multiscale modeling, the development of next-generation algorithms, and the design. . . of dynamic data-driven application systems. . . We must determine better ways to integrate data-intensive computing, visualization, and simulation. - portantly,wemustoverhauloureducationalsystemtofostertheinterdisciplinary study. . . The payo?sformeeting these challengesareprofound. ’The International Conference on Computational Science 2009 (ICCS 2009) explored how com- tational sciences are not only advancing the traditional hard science disciplines, but also stretching beyond, with applications in the arts, humanities, media and all aspects of research. This interdisciplinary conference drew academic and industry leaders from a variety of ?elds, including physics, astronomy, mat- matics,music,digitalmedia,biologyandengineering. Theconferencealsohosted computer and computational scientists who are designing and building the - ber infrastructure necessary for next-generation computing. Discussions focused on innovative ways to collaborate and how computational science is changing the future of research. ICCS 2009: ‘Compute. Discover. Innovate. ’ was hosted by the Center for Computation and Technology at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.