ABSTRACT

Post the Financial Crash, the role of regulation and the impact of regulation on all aspects of the financial industry has broadened and intensified. This book offers a comprehensive review of the operations of the industry post-financial crisis from a variety of perspectives. This new edition builds upon the authors’ predecessor book, Fundamentals of Investment: An Irish Perspective.

The core of the original text is retained particularly concerning fundamental concepts such as discounted cash flow valuation techniques. Changes in this new text are driven by two important factors. First, the long shadow of the Global Financial Crisis and the ensuing Great Recession continues to impact economies and financial markets. Second, the new text adopts a more international perspective with a focus on the UK and Ireland. The authors present the reader with a clear linkage between investment theory and concepts (the ‘fundamentals’) and the practical application of these concepts to the financial planning and advisory process. This practical perspective is driven by the decades-long fund management and stockbroking experience of the authors.

Investment knowledge is a core competence required by large numbers of organisations and individuals in the financial services industry. This new edition will be an invaluable resource for financial advisers, financial planners and those engaged in advisory and/or support functions across the investment industry. Those taking investment modules in third-level educational institutes will find this book to be a useful complement to the more academically focused textbooks.

chapter 1|6 pages

Introduction

part I|197 pages

Assets and investment returns

chapter 3|34 pages

Investing in bonds

chapter 4|32 pages

Investing in equities

chapter 5|20 pages

Alternative assets

chapter 6|20 pages

Historical investment returns

chapter 7|26 pages

The real economy and the markets

chapter 8|31 pages

Derivatives

part II|78 pages

Investment risk and capital market theory

chapter 9|25 pages

Investment, investors and risk

chapter 10|28 pages

Portfolio theory

chapter 11|23 pages

Modelling prospective returns

part III|134 pages

Investment management in practice

chapter 12|32 pages

Fund management

chapter 13|39 pages

Pension fund investment

chapter 14|19 pages

Pension fund structures and regimes

chapter 15|25 pages

The retail investor’s choices

chapter 16|17 pages

Performance measurement and style analysis