An Introduction to Behavioural Risk

An Introduction to Behavioural Risk

A Guide to Fund Management

£265.00

To capture revenue opportunities, senior executives in fund management companies have to apply best practice and understand operational issues. This is not as easy as it sounds. Executives have numerous calls on their time and their core focus should always be investment performance. This guide allows senior executives to manage their time as effectively as possible and maximise its effectiveness.


This book gathers together accepted industry best practice for structure, operations and procedures. With A Guide to Fund Management you the reader can spend less time rummaging through industry white papers and more time on the strategic direction of the firm adding more value to your clients.

Availability: In stock
ISBN
9781906348182

The fund management industry manages and administers investment assets on behalf of their clients. In 2010 some US$62 trillion of assets were under management, generating fee revenues of over US$500bn illustrating how large and important this financial industry segment is.

In order to capture the revenue opportunity senior officers in fund management companies have to apply best practice and understand operational issues.  This is not as easy as it sounds. They have numerous calls on their time and their core focus should always be investment performance.  It was to address the resultant time optimisation dilemma that this guide was compiled. 

This book gathers together accepted industry best practice, structure, operations and procedures.   As a result, readers can spend less time rummaging through industry white papers and more time on the strategic direction of the firm.

The guide is up to date, which is something that immediately makes it more relevant than the multitude of papers and operational notes that senior management is confronted with.  It aims to offer one stop shopping on how to run a firm. 

More Information
ISBN 9781906348182
Navision code MGFM
Publication date 6/8/10
Size 155mm x 235mm
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Dr. Daniel Broby

As a senior figure in the asset management industry, Daniel Broby is a champion of capital markets. His focus on high level principals, integrity and best practice underlie his professional success.

Daniel built his career on the back of a strong grounding in finance theory. He has an MPhil in economics and an MSc in investment analysis. He was elected an individual member of the London Stock Exchange in 1990; is a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment; a Fellow of CFA UK; and a Visiting Fellow at Durham University. He was presented with the CFA Institute’s Society Leader Award in 2006.

Daniel has had a number of C’ level positions at the largest asset managers in Scandinavia and Russia. These include chief executive officer, chief investment officer and chief portfolio manager. His career, however, has revolved around the London market. He was a board member of CFA UK, and it predecessor, for over 10 years.

Daniel’s focus has always been active asset management. His success in investment performance was recognised by Morningstar who rated the flagship fund he managed for eight years with five stars

Daniel has pioneered a number of investment solutions. He introduced the first regulated hedge fund and pioneered structured products in the Danish market. He has launched various investment funds, including a number focused on frontier markets such as Africa.

Daniel has written two highly recognised books on the profession and numerous articles for industry journals. He was commissioned by the Financial Times to write The Changing Face of European Fund Management.

Daniel has also contributed to the body of financial knowledge by writing A Guide to Equity Index Construction for Risk Books. Securities & Investment Review observed that it “explores in intricate detail the various workings of modern portfolio theory, choosing a benchmark, measuring risk and sampling and selection procedures.“ Professional Investor magazine opinioned that “rarely does a book genuinely represent a first in its field."

Preface

About the Author

Introduction

Definitions

1 The Business Model

Introduction

How the fund management industry evolved

The drivers of growth

The threats to growth

The profit dynamics

The cost dynamics

The productivity dynamics

Overcoming the downward pressure on fees

Taking advantage of the economies of scale

Delivering ?value added’ to clients

Implementing structured decision making

Developing strong distribution capabilities

Starting up a new fund management venture

Conclusion

2 The Industry

Introduction

Recent evolution

Growth markets

The Alpha industry

Active return

The Beta Industry

Systemic return

The Asset Class Spectrum

Examples of different house styles

Segregated funds

Comingled, Pooled or Collective funds

Industry codes and standards

Asset Manager Code of Professional Conduct

Research Objectivity Standards

Trade Management Guidelines

3 The client spectrum

Introduction

Targeting the right segment

Overview of Institutional investors

Pension funds

Investment goals

Endowments and Foundations

Investment goals

Insurance companies

Investment goals

Private Investors

Investment goals

Safeguarding client assets

Conclusion

4 Legal and regulatory landscape

Introduction

Rules versus principles based compliance

Regulatory trade-offs

Self regulation versus government regulation

How to operate and maintain adequate compliance functions and procedures

Understanding the key regulatory concepts

Integrity

Skill, care and diligence

Fiduciary responsibility

Prudence

Market conduct

Money laundering

Chinese Walls

Fit and Proper

The geographic differences in regulation

US

UK

Europe

Far East

Offshore domiciles

Compliance, operations and procedure manuals

What should be included in an operations manual?

The importance of adequate capital

Conclusion

5 Investment process and philosophy

Introduction

Stating the investment Philosophy

Defining an investment process

The Investment Policy Checklist

Understanding the mathematical relationship between risk and return (CAPM)

Alternatives to CAPM

Active or passive management?

Accommodating style tilts and factors

Implementation of the investment process

Incorporation of models into the investment process

How to Index an investment fund

Conclusion

6 Skills and Structure in the front office (Portfolio construction and support)

Introduction

Setting a vision

Team or star manager approach

Avoiding groupthink

Incorporating the process driven value proposition into daily activities

Top-down

Bottom-up

Quantitative analysis

Qualitative analysis

What systems are required by the front office?

Front office systems providers

What Skills does a portfolio manager require?

Training

Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct

How the chain of command works in practice

Personality type

Competence

Composition and role of the trading team

Conclusion

7 Skills and structure in the middle office (Risk and oversight)

Introduction

Integrating the structure of the middle office with the rest of the firm

Risk oversight policy implementation

Middle office Risk and Performance systems

Monitoring style drift

Staff, Skills and Shared Values

Responsibility for operational risk

Responsibility for business continuity risk

Preparing a Business Continuity Plan

Counterparty risk

Portfolio Risk Control

Backtesting and stress-testing portfolios

Using factor models and optimization software

Undertaking competitor and peer group analysis

Monitoring fund leverage

Conclusion

8 Skill and structure in the back office (Operations and support)

Introduction

Having robust systems and database

Handling derivative instruments

Handing day to day fund accounting

Ensuring efficient pre and post trade processing

Trade processing vendors

Implementing Straight-Through Processing (STP)

Establishing a records retention policy

Integrating the accounts function

Outsourcing

Fund administrators

Prime brokerage

Adapting to accommodate short selling and securities lending

Back-office personnel issues

Conclusion

9 Job functions

Introduction

How to write internal and external job descriptions

Criteria for ’good’ and ’bad’ remuneration policies

How to decide on compensation

Performance-related compensation

The Chief Executive Officer

Transitioning to a New Chief Executive

The Chief Operating Officer

The Chief Financial Officer

The Chief Investment Officer

The Head of Trading

The Head of Technology

The Compliance Officer

The Risk manager

The Marketing manager

The relationship manager

Head of Performance

Establishing and employee review process

Maintaining an employee handbook

How to build a team spirit

Conclusion

10 Client acquisition

Introduction

Business development as a means to win new clients

Basic Foundations of client relationships

Communicating the right message

The role of Investment Consultants

Answering Request for Proposals

Writing Fact Sheets

Equity fact sheets

Debt fact sheets

Lead management and the importance of monitoring client contact

Marketing analytics

How to undertake systematic brand management

Building reputation

Addressing poor performance from a communications perspective

Having a public relations strategy

Employing third party marketeers

Drafting investment mandates

Adding constraints to an investment mandate

The internets role in client acquisition.

How to ensure efficient ?Client on-boarding’

Conclusion

11 Client retention

Introduction

Communicating with clients

Communicating with Consultants

Using open architecture as a distribution channel

Understanding core-satellite asset allocation and its implications for client retention

The ?Know your client’ requirement

Handling tracking error and investment constraints

Understand and surpassing expectations

Obtaining feedback from existing clients

Fostering good press and media relations

Goals and Objectives when dealing with the media

Crisis management when things go wrong

Managing client functions

Preparing performance reviews and client visits

How to treat the competition

Buying a fund management company7

Due diligence: Organization and Good Standing

Due diligence: Financial Information

Due diligence: Physical Assets

Due diligence: Employees and Employee Benefits

Due diligence: Mandates and funds

Due diligence: Taxes

Due diligence: Material Contracts

Due diligence: Open Ended Funds and Closed Ended Funds

Due diligence: Customer Information

Due diligence: Litigation

Due diligence: Incidentals

Conclusion

12 Performance reporting and valuation

Introduction

Choosing appropriate benchmarks

Understanding attribution analysis

The Brinson Hood Beebower Model

Building a Reporting interface

Fair reporting

Accurate reporting

Timely reporting

Utilising factor models in reporting

Value at Risk as a tool to understand risk

The performance report format

The asset allocation report format

The transaction report format

Pricing and valuation

Global Investment Performance Standards

Soft Dollar Standards

Conclusion

13 Product design

Introduction

Building the Product

Composition and structure of the product team

Establishing a timeline for product intorduction

Determining fee levels for new products

When to use performance fees.

Choosing the legal structure for new products

Open ended

Closed ended

Master feeder funds

Multi-Class Funds

Taking taxation into consideration

Design considerations

When to incorporate leverage

Handling the liquidity of the underlying instruments

Taking capacity into account

Clearly stating fees

What to put in the ?Prospectus’

Recent product innovations

How to structure solutions for clients

Wrap funds

Offshore products

How to design Index Funds

How to address investment fund board independence

Conclusion

14 Alternatives

Introduction

Socially Responsible Investment (SRI)

Shari’ah Compliant Investment

The use of leverage

The use of derivatives

Structured products

Hedge funds

Counterparty credit risk exposure

Trading practices of hedge funds

Hedge fund fees

Commitment Period (lock-ups)

The use of side letters

Selecting a Maximum Fund Size

Imposing redemption terms (gates)

Types of hedge fund

Convertible Arbitrage funds

Distressed Securities funds

Fixed Income Arbitrage funds

Long/Short funds

Macro funds

Risk/Merger Arbitrage funds

Private Equity

The role of Limited Partnerships

Property

Closed-ended funds

Open-ended funds

Investment trusts

Conclusion

References