The idea of comparing the performance of different risky investments, for example investment funds, on a quantitative basis dates back to the beginnings of the asset management industry and has been an important field of research in finance since then. Performance measures serve as valuable quantitative evidence for the portfolio manager's performance as well as for the evaluation of investment decisions ex post. Based on the idea of the capital asset pricing model proposed by Treynor, Sharpe and Lintner, Treynor developed the first quantitative performance measure intended to rate mutual funds, the Treynor Ratio. Since then, a large number of performance measures with very different characteristics have been developed. In addition to their power of rating investments ex post, their ability to predict future performance has been thoroughly analyzed by Grinblatt & Titman, Brown & Goetzmann, Carhart and others. Besides academia, the driving force behind the development of more sophisticated performance measures has always been the investors. This is understandable, as "the truly poor managers are afraid, the unlucky managers will be unjustly condemned, and the new managers have no track record. Only the skilled (or lucky) managers are enthusiastic." By combining and applying the results of previous research to a new sample of nearly 10,000 mutual funds that invest in different countries and asset classes, this thesis clarifies its central research question: Is the Information Ratio a useful and reliable performance measure? In order to answer this central question, it has been split up into the following sub-parts: What are the characteristics of a useful and reliable performance measure? What actually is "good" performance? Is the "good" performance a result of luck or of skilled decisions and does it persist over time? How does the Information Ratio compare to other performance measures, and what are its strengths and weaknesses? This empirical study aims at answeri

This volume draws together contemporary topics, themes and methodologies in the field of sustainability reporting and assurance to reveal how sustainability information is actually used, interpreted and processed by internal and external users.

Mutual Funds and Exchange-Traded Funds: Building Blocks to Wealth provides a fresh look at this intriguing but often complex subject. Its coverage spans the gamut from theoretical to practical coverage.

Ebook: Investments, Global Edition

This book illustrates the impact that a focus on environmental and social issues has on both de-risking assets and fostering innovation. Including impact as a new cornerstone of the investment triangle requires investors and clients to align interests and values and understand needs. This alignment process functions as a catalyst for transforming organizational culture within an organization and therefore initiates the external impact of the organization, but also its internal transformation, which in turn escalates the creation of impact. Describing how culture is the social glue permeating all disciplines of an organization, the book demonstrates how organizational alignment can be achieved in order to allow strategic speed, innovation and learning, and provides examples of how impact can be achieved and staff mobilized It particularly focuses on impact investing, impact entrepreneurship, innovation, de-risking asset, green investment solutions and investor movements to counteract climate change and implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting culture, communication, and strategy.

This book combines academic research and practical expertise on alternative assets and trading strategies in a unique way. The asset classes that are discussed include : credit risk, cross-asset derivatives, energy, private equity, freight agreements, alternative real assets (ARA), and socially responsible investments (SRI). The coverage on trading and investment strategies are directed at portfolio insurance, especially constant proportion portfolio insurance (CPPI) and constant proportion debt obligation (CPDO) strategies, robust portfolio optimization, and hedging strategies for exotic options.