This book presents the economic foundation of international equity investments providing a practical guide to invest in international equity exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It shows how to gain exposure to foreign stock markets through both theoretical foundations of international diversification and in-depth characteristics of global, regional, country-specific, and international sector/thematic ETFs. Unlike other books in the field which broadly discuss different aspects of the ETF market, this book explores one specific market segment, offering the first in-depth and state-of-the-art analysis of international equity ETFs and including, in particular, ETFs with global, regional, single-country, and international sector/thematic exposures. The number and variety of such financial instruments are constantly growing. Hence, it seems obvious that there is an urgent need for a book that will help investors who are willing to diversify their portfolios outside the domestic market—in both developed and emerging/frontier markets. International Equity Exchange-Traded Funds presents a comprehensive review of investment possibilities offered by international ETFs for stock market investors.

This comprehensive handbook discusses the most recent advances within the field of financial engineering, focusing not only on the description of the existing areas in financial engineering research, but also on the new methodologies that have been developed for modeling and addressing financial engineering problems. The book is intended for financial engineers, researchers, applied mathematicians, and graduate students interested in real-world applications to financial engineering.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) revolutionized asset markets by using an innovative structure to make investing in a wide variety of asset classes simpler and cheaper. With their growing importance has come increasing concern that these products pose new risks to market stability and performance. This paper examines whether ETFs affect systemic risks in financial markets and, if they do, what the mechanism is by which this impact occurs and what can be done to keep the risks under control. We review current research and empirical evidence on these issues and discuss some emerging risks in ETFs. We ask whether we have the right “rules of the road” to deal with the new drivers of market behavior.

Exchange traded funds, one of the most exciting new classes of funds, provide investors with an opportunity to get the benefits of individual stocks at the lower costs associated with mutual funds. Although they are a very new type of fund (they were first introduced in 1993), ETFs have nearly 100 billion in assets under management. Written by senior editors Jim Wiandt and Will McClatchy at IndexFunds.com, Exchange Traded Funds clearly explains this exciting class of funds for savvy individual investors and investment professionals alike. The authors provide a frank appraisal of the advantages of exchange traded funds including low management fees and lower capital gains taxes. They acquaint readers with the full range of what's available, and provide valuable information on evaluating the funds' usefulness and performance. They also describe proven strategies for using exchange traded funds to balance investment portfolios and manage long-term and short-term risk. IndexFunds.com is a Web site devoted to index funds. It currently hosts more than 100,000 visitors each month.

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.

“Bali, Engle, and Murray have produced a highly accessible introduction to the techniques and evidence of modern empirical asset pricing. This book should be read and absorbed by every serious student of the field, academic and professional.” Eugene Fama, Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, University of Chicago and 2013 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences “The empirical analysis of the cross-section of stock returns is a monumental achievement of half a century of finance research. Both the established facts and the methods used to discover them have subtle complexities that can mislead casual observers and novice researchers. Bali, Engle, and Murray’s clear and careful guide to these issues provides a firm foundation for future discoveries.” John Campbell, Morton L. and Carole S. Olshan Professor of Economics, Harvard University “Bali, Engle, and Murray provide clear and accessible descriptions of many of the most important empirical techniques and results in asset pricing.” Kenneth R. French, Roth Family Distinguished Professor of Finance, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College “This exciting new book presents a thorough review of what we know about the cross-section of stock returns. Given its comprehensive nature, systematic approach, and easy-to-understand language, the book is a valuable resource for any introductory PhD class in empirical asset pricing.” Lubos Pastor, Charles P. McQuaid Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Empirical Asset Pricing: The Cross Section of Stock Returns is a comprehensive overview of the most important findings of empirical asset pricing research. The book begins with thorough expositions of the most prevalent econometric techniques with in-depth discussions of the implementation and interpretation of results illustrated through detailed examples. The second half of the book applies these techniques to demonstrate the most salient patterns observed in stock returns. The phenomena documented form the basis for a range of investment strategies as well as the foundations of contemporary empirical asset pricing research. Empirical Asset Pricing: The Cross Section of Stock Returns also includes: Discussions on the driving forces behind the patterns observed in the stock market An extensive set of results that serve as a reference for practitioners and academics alike Numerous references to both contemporary and foundational research articles Empirical Asset Pricing: The Cross Section of Stock Returns is an ideal textbook for graduate-level courses in asset pricing and portfolio management. The book is also an indispensable reference for researchers and practitioners in finance and economics. Turan G. Bali, PhD, is the Robert Parker Chair Professor of Finance in the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. The recipient of the 2014 Jack Treynor prize, he is the coauthor of Mathematical Methods for Finance: Tools for Asset and Risk Management, also published by Wiley. Robert F. Engle, PhD, is the Michael Armellino Professor of Finance in the Stern School of Business at New York University. He is the 2003 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, Director of the New York University Stern Volatility Institute, and co-founding President of the Society for Financial Econometrics. Scott Murray, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Finance in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. He is the recipient of the 2014 Jack Treynor prize.

Transform today's surplus of investment information into a high-level investment strategy In an investment climate characterized by rapidly increasing access to information, it has become a real problem to sort out the legitimate financial advice, grounded in traditional analysis, from the constant stream of useless information, or "noise." Such "noise", through technological advances such as the Internet, has become widespread. This overload of information is hurting investors, since it makes real analysis based on factual inference harder to come by. This book steers investors through the "noise" to show them where and how to find solid investment information. This step-by-step guide is based on a very popular presentation the author makes to new private clients at Merrill Lynch. Richard Bernstein (New York, NY) is First Vice President and Chief Quantitative Strategist at Merrill Lynch & Company. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, he worked for E. F. Hutton and Tucker Anthony. He has been voted to the Institutional Investor All-America Research Team in each of the last eight years, and has appeared on Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser.