Understand the investment template that dominates the pension industry Liability-Driven Investment is the practitioner’s guide to this increasingly popular investment template. Already the dominant framework for pension schemes in Europe and the UK, the LDI market is expected to grow significantly with the shift from Defined Benefit to Defined Contribution, and then into Digital Asset Management — or Robo-Advice. With an aging population and significant under-saving globally, more and more finance professionals will need to know how to work within and around the LDI framework; this book provides clear explanations for the framework's usefulness and growing popularity to help practitioners find their bearings in and around the LDI space. The ultimate goal of LDI is to move beyond simple asset value maximisation and ensure that investors have sufficient funds to pay liabilities. This informative guide digs into that basic premise to show the various mechanisms, guidelines and practices that make up the framework's "working parts." Discover the optimal investment strategies in multiple assets classes Understand the key characteristics of the instruments used, including bonds, interest rate derivatives, and inflation linked products Learn why pension companies and individual investors are moving toward LDI Explore the ways in which the explosive growth of Robo-Advice will change retail investment Finance professionals have long been accustomed to shifting landscapes — it is taken as a given that prevailing thought and attendant practices will change over time — but the rapid expansion of LDI has taken many by surprise. Having already been established as the dominant framework for pensions, it is clear that the emphasis on LDI will only continue to grow. Liability-Driven Investment tells you what you need to know in order to work effectively with LDI.

The first book to close the perilous gaps in—and enhance the performance of—asset allocation Asset allocation is one of today’s bestknown investment approaches. Problem is, its major precept—that a magic-number, fixed-percentage asset mix will provide superior results for investors who have dramatically different goals and needs—is scientifically unproven and fundamentally flawed. Asset Dedication updates the asset allocation model, outlining a seven-step process designed to more effectively meet the real needs of real investors. Showing investors how to design low-risk portfolios that more accurately and successfully dedicate assets, this breakthrough book helps investors fill in the gaps inherent to asset allocation by demonstrating: Techniques for ascertaining the best asset mix by determining individual needs and goals How asset dedication provides superior protection against inflation and market risk Investing strategies for the three investment life phases—accumulation, distribution, and transfer

The goal of Asset-Liability Management (ALM) of a Defined Benefit Pension Scheme (DB) is to properly manage the risks related to variation in its building blocks on both sides of the balance sheet whilst maintaining the same expected return. This book provides a step-by-step methodology to maximize the complete restructuring and monitoring of the ALM of DB schemes. It is a product of the author's 25 years of experience and technical knowledge in ALM of Pension Funds, portfolio management, investment banking and, specifically, more than 700 meetings with investment experts in the Pension Industry. It includes 400 figures and tables to help the reader make appropriate decisions and identify hidden tricks. It provides an in-depth understanding of how an Asset-Liability structure works, how to assess the efficiency of an investment strategy, and how to maximize the management of cash. Liabilities and Liability Driven Investment techniques (LDI) are explained through numerous examples. The book shows the reader how to select the right LDI manager, and how to define a liability hedging strategy and monitor its efficiency. It demonstrates how to build efficient investment portfolios and select the appropriate asset classes, as well as how to build and monitor an efficient risks and performances report. In addition, it shows how the most common financial instruments work, their roles, the basics of statistics, and the principles of portfolio construction. Finally, it provides introduction to Buy-in, Buyout, and Longevity risk management.

A practical guide to getting personal investing right Somewhere along the way, something has gone very wrong with the way individuals save and invest. Too often, households are drawn in by promotional suggestions masquerading as impartial investment advice. Consumers get saddled with more risk than they realize. Authors Zvi Bodie and Rachelle Taqqu understand the dilemma that today's investors face, and with Risk Less and Prosper they will help you find your financial footing. Written in an accessible style, this practical guide skillfully explains why personal investing is all about you—your goals, your values and your career path. It shows how to understand investment risk and choose the particular blend of risk and safety that is right for you. And it lays out several simple yet powerful ways for small investors to cast a reliable safety net to achieve their financial goals and truly prosper. Coauthors Bodie and Taqqu challenge the myth that all investments require risk, then highlight some important risks that families often disregard when deciding where to put their money. Later, they connect the dots between investment and investor, showing us all how to grasp our own investment risk profiles and how we may use these insights to make more fitting investment choices. Outlines a straightforward way to invest by aligning your investments with your goals and the risk levels you can bear Provides basic investment abc's for readers who are otherwise literate Lays out a simple, actionable plan for achieving your goals Explains the role of risk-free assets and investment insurance in assuring that you reach your most essential goals Contrary to popular belief, investing doesn't have to be complicated. You can build wealth without taking great risks. Risk Less and Prosper will show you how to make investment decisions that will make your financial life less stressful and more profitable.

A process-driven approach to investment management that lets you achieve the same high gains as the most successful portfolio managers, but at half the cost What do you pay for when you hire a portfolio manager? Is it his or her unique experience and expertise, a set of specialized analytical skills possessed by only a few? The truth, according to industry insider Jacques Lussier, is that, despite their often grandiose claims, most successful investment managers, themselves, can't properly explain their successes. In this book Lussier argues convincingly that most of the gains achieved by professional portfolio managers can be accounted for not by special knowledge or arcane analytical methodologies, but proper portfolio management processes whether they are aware of this or not. More importantly, Lussier lays out a formal process-oriented approach proven to consistently garner most of the excess gains generated by traditional analysis-intensive approaches, but at a fraction of the cost since it could be fully implemented internally. Profit from more than a half-century's theoretical and empirical literature, as well as the author's own experiences as a top investment strategist Learn an approach, combining several formal management processes, that simplifies portfolio management and makes its underlying qualities more transparent, while lowering costs significantly Discover proven methods for exploiting the inefficiencies of traditional benchmarks, as well as the behavioral biases of investors and corporate management, for consistently high returns Learn to use highly-efficient portfolio management and rebalancing methodologies and an approach to diversification that yields returns far greater than traditional investment programs

Pension plans around the world are in a state of crisis. U.S. plans alone are facing a total accrued liability funding deficit of almost $4 trillion (of the same order of magnitude as the federal debt), a potential financial catastrophe that ranks among the largest ever seen. It has become clear that many government, corporate, and multi-employer pension sponsors will not be able to cope with this crippling debt and may default on promised benefits. And many of those sponsors that might be able to cope are exasperated by continuous, ongoing negative surprises-large unexpected deficits and higher-than-expected required contributions and pension expense-and are choosing to terminate their plans. But it need not be so. Pension Finance: Putting the Risks and Costs of Defined Benefit Plans Back under Your Control walks the reader through the conventional actuarial and accounting approaches to financing pension benefits and investing plan assets, showing that the problems described happen as a natural consequence of the dated methods still in use. It shows in detail how modern methods based on market value will easily minimize these risks: Pension plans can in fact be comfortable for employers to sponsor and safe for employees to contribute todepend on for their retirement needs. This book is must-read for defined benefit pension plan sponsors and employee representatives, plan executives, board members, accountants, fund managers, consultants, and regulators., Research sponsored by the CFA Institute, this book demystifies pension finance, previously accessible only to actuaries. It teaches the topic in lay terms by drawing complete analogies to ordinary transactions such as paying off a mortgage or saving for college. Armed with this book, anyone comfortable with finance and investments in any other context can be comfortable with pension finance and pension investment policy. And further armed with a handheld financial calculator, any layperson can quickly estimate the contributions needed to keep a given plan comfortably solvent, giving them a powerful tool for oversight.