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The world of welfare has changed radically. As the poor trade welfare checks for low-wage jobs, their low earnings qualify them for a hefty check come tax time—a combination of the earned income tax credit and other refunds. For many working parents this one check is like hitting the lottery, offering several months' wages as well as the hope of investing in a better future. Drawing on interviews with 115 families, the authors look at how parents plan to use this annual cash windfall to build up savings, go back to school, and send their kids to college. However, these dreams of upward mobility are often dashed by the difficulty of trying to get by on meager wages. In accessible and engaging prose, It's Not Like I'm Poor examines the costs and benefits of the new work-based safety net, suggesting ways to augment its strengths so that more of the working poor can realize the promise of a middle-class life.

Commodities are back following a stellar run of price performance, attracting financial investor attention. What are the fundamental reasons to hold commodities? One reason is the exposure offered to underlying risk factors. In this paper, I assess the macro risk exposure offered by commodity futures and test whether these risks are priced, using Merton's (1973) intertemporal capital asset pricing model for a sample of commodity prices covering the period January 1973 - February 2008. I find that commodity futures offer a hedge against lower interest rates and that investors are willing to accept lower expected returns for this position. Although some commodities are also a hedge against U.S. dollar depreciation, this risk is not priced.

Hedge fund managers who survived and profited through the 2008 financial crisis share their secrets In light of the colossal losses and amidst the resulting confusion that still lingers, it is time to rethink money management in the broadest of terms. Drastic changes still need to be made, and managers who actually made money during 2008 make for a logical starting place. This updated and revised edition of The Invisible Hands provides investors and traders with the latest thinking from some of the best and the most successful players in money management, highlighting the specific risk and return objectives of each, and discussing the evolution of certain styles and beliefs in money management. * Divulges how top financial professionals are looking forward by thinking clearly, managing risk, and seeking a new paradigm of profit making opportunities in the post-crisis world * Outlines investments and strategies for the rocky road ahead * Gives guidance on how traditional investors such as pensions, endowments, foundations and family offices should rethink how they approach asset allocation and portfolio construction * Written by respected industry expert Steven Drobny Page by page, the professionals found in this book reveal their own approaches to markets, risk, and the broader world in which we live, as well as their advice on how investors should be approaching money management in today's uncertain world.

This paper examines the role of the derivatives market in South Africa and provides policy options for promoting the development of derivatives markets in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa's derivatives market has grown rapidly in recent years, supporting capital inflows and helping market participants to price, unbundle and transfer risk. There are tight regulations on asset allocations by insurance and pension funds to prevent excessive risk taking. The development of derivatives markets in sub-Saharan African countries could enable market participants to self-insure against volatile capital flows. Theiroverdependence on bank credit as a source of funding could be reduced and their management of seasonal risk could be improved through the introduction of commodity futures. However, these markets must be appropriately regulated and supervised. Since such markets would likely be small, consideration should be given to the establishment of a regional derivatives market.

Purpose - The hedging effectiveness of real estate investment trust (REIT) futures as a critical issue in response to the global REIT market has been extremely volatile in recent years, however few studies have been placed on this area. This study aims to fill in this gap and examine the hedging effectiveness of Australian and Japanese REIT futures over 2002-2010.Design methodology approach - The analysis of this study involves two stages. The first stage is to estimate optimal hedge ratios. A variety of hedging methods is employed, including a traditional hedge, an ordinary least squares (OLS) model and a bivariate GARCH model. Thereafter, the hedging effectiveness of these strategies is assessed individually.Findings - The empirical results show REIT futures are effective hedging instruments in which a risk reduction of 37 per cent-78 per cent (34 per cent-52 per cent) for Australian (Japanese) REITs is evident. Importantly, the results also reveal that REIT futures outperform other hedging instruments in which a weaker risk reduction is found by stock, interest rate and foreign currency futures contracts. Moreover, the hedging effectiveness of REIT futures is dynamic and varies over time.Practical implications - The findings enable more informed and practical investment decision-making regarding the role of REIT futures in risk management.Originality value - This paper, as far as the authors are aware, is the first study to offer empirical evidence of the risk-reduction effectiveness of REIT futures. The hedging effectiveness of REIT futures is also compared to other hedging instruments for the first time.

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.

Many investors believe that success in investing is either luck or clairvoyance. InRational Investing, finance professor Hugues Langlois and asset manager Jacques Lussier present the current state of asset management and clarify the conundrum of luck versus skill. The core ofRational Investingis a framework for smart investing built around three performance drivers: balancing exposure to risk factors, efficiently diversifying bad luck, and taking advantage of relative mispricings in financial markets. With clear examples from model multi-asset-class portfolios, Langlois and Lussier show how to implement performance drivers like institutional investors with access to extensive resources, as well as nonprofessional investors who are constrained to small-scale transactions. There are few investment products, whether traditional or alternative, discretionary or systematic, fundamental or quantitative, whose performance cannot be analyzed through this framework. Langlois and Lussier illuminate the structure of financial markets and the mechanics of sustainable investing so any investor can become a rational player, from the nonprofessional investor with a basic knowledge of statistics all the way to seasoned investment professionals wishing to challenge their understanding of the asset management industry.

Despite recent turmoil, spreads on emerging market countries' sovereign bonds have fallen dramatically since mid-2002. Some have attributed the fall to improved economic fundamentals while others to ample global liquidity. The paper models spreads and attempts to empirically distinguish between the two factors. The results indicate that fundamentals, as embedded in credit ratings, are very important, but that expectations of future U.S. interest rates and volatility in those expectations are also a key determinant of emerging market spreads.

Updated edition of the book that gives investors, advisors, and managers the tools they need to launch and maintain a hedge fund in today's economy The hedge fund industry has gone through dramatic changes in recent years. Investors of all types continue to want to place their assets into these investment vehicles even in the wake of the credit crisis, massive frauds, and insider trading scandals. Once the forbidden fruit of Wall Street, hedge funds are now considered \"must have\" investments in any diversified portfolio. Now in its second edition, The Fundamentals of Hedge Fund Management is revised and updated to address how the credit crisis, legislation, fraud, technology, investor demand, global markets, and the economic landscape have affected the industry. Providing readers with a detailed and in-depth analysis of the world of hedge funds, the people working in it, and a look at where it's headed, the book is a timely and indispensable reference and research tool for helping professional money managers, traders, and others to launch and grow successful hedge fund businesses. * Addresses how the credit crisis and its fallout has affected the hedge fund industry and what this means for the future * Provides the essential information needed to launch and maintain a successful hedge fund in the new global economy * Walks the reader through running a hedge fund, helping you to gain success over years, not just months An essential resource for anyone looking to invest in these much-discussed investment products, The Fundamentals of Hedge Fund Management, Second Edition is now fully revised and updated.

\"A critical look at the risk measurement tool that has repeatedly, and severely, hurt the financial world. The credit crisis that erupted in 2007 is by no means the only shock to have shaken the financial markets throughout the years. But these market tribulations seem to wreak more havoc than ever before. Author Pablo Triana, as well as other experts in the financial field, think that a specific number is to blame. As it turns out, the very number financial institutions and regulators use to measure risk (Vale at Risk/VaR) has masked it, allowing firms to leverage up their speculative bets to unimaginable levels. VaR sanctioned and allowed the monstrously geared toxic punts that sank Wall Street, and the world, during the latest crisis. We can confidently say that VaR was the culprit. In 'The Number That Killed Us', derivatives expert Pablo Triana takes you through the development of VaR and shows how its inevitable structural flaws allowed banks to take on even greater risks to their never-ending delight. The precise role of VaR in igniting the credit crisis is thoroughly covered, including in-depth analysis of how and why regulators, by falling in love with the tool, condemned us to chaos. Uncritically embraced worldwide for way too long, VaR is, in the face of such destruction, just starting to be examined as problematic, and in this book Triana (long an open critic of the tool's role in encouraging malaise) uncovers exactly why it makes our financial world a more dangerous place. If we care for our safety, we should let VaR go. Contains controversial analysis of the hotly debated risk metric Value at Risk (VaR) and its central role in the credit crisis. Denounces the role of regulators and academics in forcing the presence of the inevitably malfunctioning in financeland. Describes how bonus-hungry traders can use VaR as an alibi to take on the most reckless of bets. Reveals how the most recent financial crisis will simply repeat itself if the problems behind VaR are not unmasked. Pablo Triana is also the author of 'Lecturing Birds on Flying.' The very risk measurement tool that was intended to contain risk allowed financial firms to blindly take on more. The Number That Killed Us reveals how this has happened and what needs to be done to correct the situation\"