Managing Risk With Financial Futures

Today's fast-changing markets are forcing financial institutions, investors and corporations to bear more risk than ever before. A miscalculation or a surprise move in interest rates or foreign currencies can wreak havoc on an institution's bottom line and competitive posture. Despite these perils, there is a shroud of mystery surrounding the very instruments designed to manage these risks - financial futures. Managing Risk with Financial Futures sheds much-needed light on financial futures. It describes how financial futures work and how they can be used to manage the risks associated with today's volatile financial markets. In a logical, step-by-step approach, noted financial futures authority Robert Daigler thoroughly explains every aspect of these fascinating instruments, from pricing to arbitrage to risk management. This book is the most comprehensive and authoritative overview of the financial futures markets ever written. Broad topics addressed include: the mechanics and regulation of the futures markets; pricing and arbitrage of financial futures; characteristics of interest rate, stock index and currency futures; and hedging and risk management strategies. After explaining the principles that underlie the financial futures markets, Dr. Daigler discusses specific risk management strategies. He shows how financial futures can be used to hedge fixed income and equity portfolios, asset/liability gaps, and corporate borrowing costs. In addition, he reveals special hedging applications for insurance companies. Managing Risk with Financial Futures goes much further than any other book in explaining how futures can be used safely to reduce risk and bolster returns. Such complex topicsas duration-based hedging, immunization and hedge ratios are addressed fully, from both a theoretical and practical point of view. Financial futures are a supremely important part of the financial world. Never before have they been written about with such depth and clarity.

Praise for The CME Group Risk Management Handbook "Wow! The CME Group Risk Management Handbook is a 'ten strike' and long overdue. A must-read and reference for the risk management industry!" —Jack Sandner, retired chairman of CME Group, member of the Executive Committee "This is a powerful book for its integration of futures and options markets with an understanding of the whole economy. It is an eye-opener to see how central these markets are to our economic lives." —Robert J. Shiller, Okun Professor of Economics, Yale University; Chief Economist, MacroMarkets LLC "Risk management is essential to successful investing, and The CME Group Risk Management Handbook provides the essentials for understanding risk management. In the wake of the financial turmoil of the last few years, managing risk should be part of any investment program. Among the key elements of risk management are stock index, bond, currency, and commodity futures as well as a growing number of futures, options, swaps, and other financial instruments built on indices tracking housing prices, weather conditions, and the economy. The CME Group Risk Management Handbook offers a comprehensive guide for using all of these to better manage financial risks." —David M. Blitzer, PhD, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee, S&P Indices "Dare we ignore the advice of a financial institution, the largest of its kind in the world, that navigated the recent financial crisis without the aid of a single TARP dollar or access to the Fed's cheap loans? For CME Group, risk management has meant risk minimization as it enters its 151st year of life and its 85th year of central counterparty clearing without a single trading debt unpaid. It has been, and continues to be, a leader by example." —Philip McBride Johnson, former CFTC chairman "For the first time, a comprehensive handbook outlining the futures market in today's world is available. The CME Group Risk Management Handbook covers futures basics for the novice trader, while the veterans will benefit from an in-depth look at options and hedging. This handbook is a necessity for any professional, investor, or other market participant seeking to manage risk in the perpetually changing futures market." —H. Jack Bouroudjian, CEO, Index Futures Group

Risk Management is one of the biggest issues facing the financial markets today. 'Managing Operational Risk in Financial Markets' outlines the major issues for risk management and focuses on operational risk as a key activity in managing risk on an enterprise-wide basis. While risk management had always been an integral part of financial activity, the 1990s has seen the requirement for risk management establish itself as a key function within banks and other financial institutions. With greater emphasis on ensuring that money is not lost through adverse market conditions, counterparty failure or inappropriate controls, systems or people, risk management has become a discipline in its own right. Managing risk is now THE paramount topic within the financial sector. Recurring major losses through the 1990s has shocked financial institutions into placing much greater emphasis on risk management and controls. The collapse of Barings and losses made by Metallgescellschaft, Orange County, Diawa and Sumitomo as a result of a lack of procedures, systems or managerial control has demonstrated to organisations the need to broaden the scope of their risk management activity from merely looking at market and credit risk. This has brought into focus the need for managing operational risk. Operational risk can only be managed on an enterprise wide basis as it includes the entire process of policies, culture, procedures, expertise and systems that an institution needs in order to manage all the risks resulting from its financial transactions. In fact, in order to effectively manage market and credit risks it is necessary to have the relevant skills and expertise in the staff, technical and organisational infrastructure, as well as monitoring and control systems. As all of these are components of operational risk, it then becomes apparent that an integrated risk management approach needs to focus on operational risk. Provides a comprehensive framework for the management of operational risk Defines the spectrum of risks faced by organisations and how they can effectively manage these Develops an enterprise-wide risk information system and defines the major challenges that need to be addressed in developing such a system

March 1995 Financial futures have become the cornerstone of financial management. The paper explains the contractual features of an array of financial futures, basic pricing relationships, and how futures can be used by investors and risk managers. Mas and Saá-Requejo explain the features of an array of futures contracts and their basic pricing relationships and describe a few applications to show how investors and risk managers can use these contracts. Futures -- and derivatives generally -- allow economic agents to fine-tune the structure of their assets and liabilities to suit their risk preferences and market expectations. Futures are not a financing or investment vehicle per se, but a tool for transferring price risks associated with fluctuations in asset values. Some may use them to spread risk, others to take on risk. Financial futures (along with options) are best viewed as building blocks. Futures have facilitated the modern trend of separating conventional financial products into their basic components. They allow not only the reduction or transformation of investment risk but also the understanding and measurement of risk. The market for derivatives has grown enormously over the past decade. The value of exchange-traded eurodollar derivatives (futures and options) is equal to roughly 13 times the value of the underlying market. The volume of trading in financial futures now dwarfs the volume in traditional agricultural contracts. As emerging markets develop, given their inherently risky nature, expect financial futures to play a prominent role in risk management. This paper -- a product of the Private Provision of Public Services Unit, Private Sector Development Department -- is part of a larger effort in the department to promote risk management techniques in emerging markets.

Books on complex hedging instruments are often more confusing than the instruments themselves. Hedging Instruments & Risk Management brings clarity to the topic, giving money managers the straightforward knowledge they need to employ hedging tools and techniques in four key markets—equity, currency, fixed income, and mortgage. Using real-world data and examples, this high-level book shows practitioners how to develop a common set of mathematical and statistical tools for hedging in various markets and then outlines several hedging strategies with the historical performance of each.

"Financial Derivatives" - Jetzt neu in der 3. komplett überarbeiteten Auflage! Dieses umfassende Nachschlagewerk bietet eine gründliche Einführung in das Thema Finanzderivate und ihre Bedeutung für das Risikomanagement im Unternehmensumfeld. Es vermittelt fundierte Kenntnisse zum Thema Finanzderivate, und zwar mit einem verständlich gehaltenen Minimum an Finanzmathematik, was Preisbildung und Bewertung angeht. Mit einer breitgefächerten Übersicht über die verschiedenen Arten von Finanzderivaten. Mit neuem Material zu Kreditderivaten und zur Kreditrisikobewertung bei Derivaten. Mit neuen und ausführlicheren Informationen zu den Themen Finanztechnik und strukturierte Finanzprodukte. "Financial Derivatives" - Ein unverzichtbarer Ratgeber für alle Finanzexperten im Bereich Risikomanagement.