Chester Dale (May 3, 1883 – December 16, 1962) was an American banker and art collector . Dale earned his wealth from the New York Stock Exchange , which then allowed him to become a major collector of nineteenth- and twentieth-century French paintings . Major works from his collection were donated to the National Gallery of Art in 1941, as well as via bequest in 1963.
99-560: Dale began his career in finance at the age of fifteen in his native New York City as a runner for the New York Stock Exchange . In time, he acquired assets that included utilities , railroads , and municipal bonds in both the United States and Canada . In 1910, Dale married Maud Murray, a painter and art critic , who introduced him to the idea of collecting modern art . She had her portrait painted by
198-583: A 14% increase in the previous year and was due both to the recovery in equity markets during the year and an inflow of new funds. As of 2011 the US remained by far the biggest source of funds, accounting for around a half of conventional assets under management or some $ 36 trillion. The UK was the second-largest centre in the world and by far the largest in Europe with around 8% of the global total. The 3-P's (Philosophy, Process, and People) are often used to describe
297-428: A broad range of subfields exists within finance. Asset- , money- , risk- and investment management aim to maximize value and minimize volatility . Financial analysis assesses the viability, stability, and profitability of an action or entity. Some fields are multidisciplinary, such as mathematical finance , financial law , financial economics , financial engineering and financial technology . These fields are
396-550: A few months, two galleries of French Impressionist paintings. Four years later, he donated another group of works to the museum . Upon his bequest in 1963, Dale gifted the National Gallery major works by artists such as Paul Cézanne , Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot , Salvador Dalí , Henri Matisse , Amedeo Modigliani , Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec , as well as the Both Members of This Club by George Bellows ,
495-431: A high degree of computational complexity and are slow to converge to a solution on classical computers. In particular, when it comes to option pricing, there is additional complexity resulting from the need to respond to quickly changing markets. For example, in order to take advantage of inaccurately priced stock options, the computation must complete before the next change in the almost continuously changing stock market. As
594-492: A loan or other debt obligations. The main areas of personal finance are considered to be income, spending, saving, investing, and protection. The following steps, as outlined by the Financial Planning Standards Board, suggest that an individual will understand a potentially secure personal finance plan after: Corporate finance deals with the actions that managers take to increase the value of
693-676: A long-term strategic perspective regarding investment decisions that affect public entities. These long-term strategic periods typically encompass five or more years. Public finance is primarily concerned with: Central banks, such as the Federal Reserve System banks in the United States and the Bank of England in the United Kingdom , are strong players in public finance. They act as lenders of last resort as well as strong influences on monetary and credit conditions in
792-414: A mix of an art and science , and there are ongoing related efforts to organize a list of unsolved problems in finance . Managerial finance is the branch of finance that deals with the financial aspects of the management of a company, and the financial dimension of managerial decision-making more broadly. It provides the theoretical underpin for the practice described above , concerning itself with
891-552: A personal and business perspective. Greater money management can be achieved by establishing budgets and analyzing costs and income etc. In stock and futures trading , money management plays an important role in every success of a trading system. This is closely related with trading expectancy: “Expectancy” which is the average amount you can expect to win or lose per dollar at risk. Mathematically: Expectancy = (Trading system Winning probability * Average Win) – (Trading system losing probability * Average Loss) So for example even if
990-514: A poor choice of benchmark. Meanwhile, it does not allow the separation of the performance of the market in which the portfolio is invested from that of the manager. The information ratio is a more general form of the Sharpe ratio in which the risk-free asset is replaced by a benchmark portfolio. This measure is relative, as it evaluates portfolio performance about a benchmark, making the result strongly dependent on this benchmark choice. Portfolio alpha
1089-424: A reasonable price (GARP), market neutral , small capitalisation, indexed, etc. Each of these approaches has its distinctive features, adherents, and in any particular financial environment, distinctive risk characteristics. For example, there is evidence that growth styles (buying rapidly growing earnings) are especially effective when the companies able to generate such growth are scarce; conversely, when such growth
SECTION 10
#17327832284261188-447: A result, the finance community is always looking for ways to overcome the resulting performance issues that arise when pricing options. This has led to research that applies alternative computing techniques to finance. Most commonly used quantum financial models are quantum continuous model, quantum binomial model, multi-step quantum binomial model etc. The origin of finance can be traced to the beginning of state formation and trade during
1287-446: A sophisticated mathematical model is required, and thus overlaps several of the above. As a specialized practice area, quantitative finance comprises primarily three sub-disciplines; the underlying theory and techniques are discussed in the next section: DCF valuation formula widely applied in business and finance, since articulated in 1938 . Here, to get the value of the firm , its forecasted free cash flows are discounted to
1386-411: A specialist bachelor's degree , with title in "Investment Management" or in "Asset Management" or in "Financial Markets". Increasingly, those with aspirations to work as an investment manager, require further education beyond a bachelor's degree in business, finance, or economics. There is much discussion as to the various factors that can affect the performance of an investment manager, including
1485-428: A three-factor model to describe portfolio normal returns ( Fama–French three-factor model ). Carhart (1997) proposed adding momentum as a fourth factor to allow the short-term persistence of returns to be taken into account. Also of interest for performance measurement is Sharpe's (1992) style analysis model, in which factors are style indices. This model allows a custom benchmark for each portfolio to be developed, using
1584-405: A trading system has 60% losing probability and only 40% winning of all trades, using money management a trader can set his average win substantially higher compared to his average loss in order to produce a profitable trading system. If he set his average win at around $ 400 per trade (this can be done using proper exit strategy) and managing/limiting the losses to around $ 100 per trade; the expectancy
1683-398: A well-diversified portfolio, achieved investment performance will, in general, largely be a function of the asset mix selected, while the individual securities are less impactful. The specific approach or philosophy will also be significant, depending on the extent to which it is complementary with the market cycle . Risk management here is discussed immediately below. A quantitative fund
1782-653: Is a strategic technique to make money yield the highest interest-output value for any amount spent. Spending money to satisfy cravings (regardless of whether they can justifiably be included in a budget) is a natural human phenomenon. The idea of money management techniques has been developed to reduce the amount that individuals, firms, and institutions spend on items that add no significant value to their living standards, long-term portfolios, and assets. Warren Buffett , in one of his documentaries, admonished prospective investors to embrace his highly esteemed "frugality" ideology. This involves making every financial transaction worth
1881-482: Is about performing valuation and asset allocation today, based on the risk and uncertainty of future outcomes while appropriately incorporating the time value of money . Determining the present value of these future values, "discounting", must be at the risk-appropriate discount rate , in turn, a major focus of finance-theory. As financial theory has roots in many disciplines, including mathematics, statistics, economics, physics, and psychology, it can be considered
1980-415: Is around: Expectancy = (Trading system Winning probability * Average Win) – (Trading system losing probability * Average Loss) Expectancy = (0.4 x 400) - (0.6 x 100)=$ 160 - $ 60 = $ 100 net average profit per trade (of course commissions are not included in the computations). Therefore, the key to successful money management is maximizing every winning trades and minimizing losses (regardless whether you have
2079-467: Is because equities are riskier (more volatile) than bonds which are themselves riskier than cash. Against the background of the asset allocation, fund managers consider the degree of diversification that makes sense for a given client (given its risk preferences) and construct a list of planned holdings accordingly. The list will indicate what percentage of the fund should be invested in each particular stock or bond. The theory of portfolio diversification
SECTION 20
#17327832284262178-436: Is managed using computer-based mathematical techniques (increasingly, machine learning ) instead of human judgment. The actual trading is typically automated via sophisticated algorithms . Risk management , in general, is the study of how to control risks and balance the possibility of gains; it is the process of measuring risk and then developing and implementing strategies to manage that risk. Financial risk management
2277-444: Is mathematics that is actually important in this new scenario Finance theory is heavily based on financial instrument pricing such as stock option pricing. Many of the problems facing the finance community have no known analytical solution. As a result, numerical methods and computer simulations for solving these problems have proliferated. This research area is known as computational finance . Many computational finance problems have
2376-418: Is obtained by measuring the difference between the return of the portfolio and that of a benchmark portfolio. This measure appears to be the only reliable performance measure to evaluate active management. we have to distinguish between normal returns, provided by the fair reward for portfolio exposure to different risks, and obtained through passive management, from abnormal performance (or outperformance) due to
2475-657: Is often indirect, through a financial intermediary such as a bank , or via the purchase of notes or bonds ( corporate bonds , government bonds , or mutual bonds) in the bond market . The lender receives interest, the borrower pays a higher interest than the lender receives, and the financial intermediary earns the difference for arranging the loan. A bank aggregates the activities of many borrowers and lenders. A bank accepts deposits from lenders, on which it pays interest. The bank then lends these deposits to borrowers. Banks allow borrowers and lenders, of different sizes, to coordinate their activity. Investing typically entails
2574-422: Is often used to refer to the management of investment funds , most often specializing in private and public equity , real assets , alternative assets , and/or bonds. The more generic term asset management may refer to management of assets not necessarily primarily held for investment purposes. Most investment management clients can be classified as either institutional or retail/advisory , depending on if
2673-404: Is plentiful, then there is evidence that value styles tend to outperform the indices particularly successfully. Large asset managers are increasingly profiling their equity portfolio managers to trade their orders more effectively. While this strategy is less effective with small-cap trades, it has been effective for portfolios with large-cap companies. Fund performance is often thought to be
2772-497: Is referred to as "wholesale finance". Institutions here extend the products offered , with related trading, to include bespoke options , swaps , and structured products , as well as specialized financing ; this " financial engineering " is inherently mathematical , and these institutions are then the major employers of "quants" (see below ). In these institutions, risk management , regulatory capital , and compliance play major roles. As outlined, finance comprises, broadly,
2871-437: Is that the investment manager prefers a closer, more open, and honest relationship with a company's management team than would exist if they exercised control; allowing them to make a better investment decision. The national context in which shareholder representation considerations are set is variable and important. The USA is a litigious society and shareholders use the law as a lever to pressure management teams. In Japan, it
2970-471: Is the branch of economics that studies the interrelation of financial variables , such as prices , interest rates and shares, as opposed to real economic variables, i.e. goods and services . It thus centers on pricing, decision making, and risk management in the financial markets , and produces many of the commonly employed financial models . ( Financial econometrics is the branch of financial economics that uses econometric techniques to parameterize
3069-557: Is the case when a large active manager sells his position in a company, leading to (possibly) a decline in the stock price, but more importantly a loss of confidence by the markets in the management of the company, thus precipitating changes in the management team. Some institutions have been more vocal and active in pursuing such matters; for instance, some firms believe that there are investment advantages to accumulating substantial minority shareholdings (i.e. 10% or more) and putting pressure on management to implement significant changes in
Chester Dale - Misplaced Pages Continue
3168-485: Is the practice of protecting corporate value against financial risks , often by "hedging" exposure to these using financial instruments. The focus is particularly on credit and market risk, and in banks, through regulatory capital, includes operational risk. Financial risk management is related to corporate finance in two ways. Firstly, firm exposure to market risk is a direct result of previous capital investments and funding decisions; while credit risk arises from
3267-400: Is then often referred to as "business finance". Typically, "corporate finance" relates to the long term objective of maximizing the value of the entity's assets , its stock , and its return to shareholders , while also balancing risk and profitability . This entails three primary areas: The latter creates the link with investment banking and securities trading , as above, in that
3366-422: Is to report the after-tax position of some standard taxpayer. Performance measurement should not be reduced to the evaluation of fund returns alone, but must also integrate other fund elements that would be of interest to investors, such as the measure of risk taken. Several other aspects are also part of performance measurement: evaluating if managers have succeeded in reaching their objective, i.e. if their return
3465-439: Is traditional for shareholders to be below in the 'pecking order', which often allows management and labor to ignore the rights of the ultimate owners. Whereas US firms generally cater to shareholders, Japanese businesses generally exhibit a stakeholder mentality, in which they seek consensus amongst all interested parties (against a background of strong unions and labor legislation ). Conventional assets under management of
3564-413: Is what investment management firms are paid for. Asset classes exhibit different market dynamics, and different interaction effects; thus, the allocation of money among asset classes will have a significant effect on the performance of the fund. Some research suggests that allocation among asset classes has more predictive power than the choice of individual holdings in determining portfolio return. Arguably,
3663-589: The Portrait of Louis Guillaume by Paul Cézanne and the Family of Saltimbanques by Pablo Picasso . The paintings were obtained from the Dale residence at Plaza Hotel . The entire bequest included over two-hundred paintings, seven sculptures , twenty-two prints , over one-thousand sales catalogs, and over one-thousand books. Additionally, three fellowships were established through a $ 500,000 endowment. From 1955 to
3762-665: The Bronze Age . The earliest historical evidence of finance is dated to around 3000 BCE. Banking originated in West Asia, where temples and palaces were used as safe places for the storage of valuables. Initially, the only valuable that could be deposited was grain, but cattle and precious materials were eventually included. During the same period, the Sumerian city of Uruk in Mesopotamia supported trade by lending as well as
3861-454: The CAPM , allowing a better description of portfolio risks and a more accurate evaluation of a portfolio's performance. For example, Fama and French (1993) have highlighted two important factors that characterize a company's risk in addition to market risk. These factors are the book-to-market ratio and the company's size as measured by its market capitalization. Fama and French-, therefore proposed
3960-698: The Roman Republic , interest was outlawed by the Lex Genucia reforms in 342 BCE, though the provision went largely unenforced. Under Julius Caesar , a ceiling on interest rates of 12% was set, and much later under Justinian it was lowered even further to between 4% and 8%. Money management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as asset management ) is the professional asset management of various securities , including shareholdings, bonds , and other assets , such as real estate , to meet specified investment goals for
4059-446: The managerial application of the various finance techniques . Academics working in this area are typically based in business school finance departments, in accounting , or in management science . The tools addressed and developed relate in the main to managerial accounting and corporate finance : the former allow management to better understand, and hence act on, financial information relating to profitability and performance;
Chester Dale - Misplaced Pages Continue
4158-724: The numerical methods applied here. Experimental finance aims to establish different market settings and environments to experimentally observe and provide a lens through which science can analyze agents' behavior and the resulting characteristics of trading flows, information diffusion, and aggregation, price setting mechanisms, and returns processes. Researchers in experimental finance can study to what extent existing financial economics theory makes valid predictions and therefore prove them, as well as attempt to discover new principles on which such theory can be extended and be applied to future financial decisions. Research may proceed by conducting trading simulations or by establishing and studying
4257-545: The US or BI-SAM in Europe) compile aggregate industry data, e.g., showing how funds in general performed against given performance indices and peer groups over various periods. In a typical case (let us say an equity fund ), the calculation would be made (as far as the client is concerned) every quarter and would show a percentage change compared with the prior quarter (e.g., +4.6% total return in US dollars). This figure would be compared with other similar funds managed within
4356-589: The United States and less so in Europe. However, as of 2019, the lines were becoming blurred. Money management is used in investment management and deals with the question of how much risk a decision maker should take in situations where uncertainty is present. More precisely what percentage or what part of the decision maker's wealth should be put into risk in order to maximize the decision maker's utility function . Money management can mean gaining greater control over outgoings and incomings, both in
4455-545: The United States, refers to both a firm that provides investment management services and to the individual who directs fund management decisions. The five largest asset managers are holding 22.7 percent of the externally held assets. Nevertheless, the market concentration, measured via the Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index , could be estimated at 173.4 in 2018, showing that the industry is not very concentrated. The business of investment has several facets,
4554-478: The above " Fundamental theorem of asset pricing ". The subject has a close relationship with financial economics, which, as outlined, is concerned with much of the underlying theory that is involved in financial mathematics: generally, financial mathematics will derive and extend the mathematical models suggested. Computational finance is the branch of (applied) computer science that deals with problems of practical interest in finance, and especially emphasizes
4653-429: The acid test of fund management, and in the institutional context, accurate measurement is a necessity. For that purpose, institutions measure the performance of each fund (and usually for internal purposes components of each fund) under their management, and performance is also measured by external firms that specialize in performance measurement. The leading performance measurement firms (e.g. Russell Investment Group in
4752-501: The behavior of people in artificial, competitive, market-like settings. Behavioral finance studies how the psychology of investors or managers affects financial decisions and markets and is relevant when making a decision that can impact either negatively or positively on one of their areas. With more in-depth research into behavioral finance, it is possible to bridge what actually happens in financial markets with analysis based on financial theory. Behavioral finance has grown over
4851-439: The benefit of investors . Investors may be institutions , such as insurance companies, pension funds, corporations, charities, educational establishments, or private investors, either directly via investment contracts/mandates or via collective investment schemes like mutual funds , exchange-traded funds , or Real estate investment trusts . Source: Venture the board includes expertly overseeing speculation portfolios for
4950-589: The benefit of clients to accomplish their monetary objectives. This incorporates key resource designation, developing broadened portfolios, and effectively observing execution while relieving gambles. Speculation administrators use exploration and examination to recognize valuable open doors and pursue informed choices, guaranteeing portfolios line up with client targets and hazard resilience. In addition, successful investment management requires adherence to ethical standards, compliance with regulations, and effective communication with clients. The term investment management
5049-579: The business's credit policy and is often addressed through credit insurance and provisioning . Secondly, both disciplines share the goal of enhancing or at least preserving, the firm's economic value , and in this context overlaps also enterprise risk management , typically the domain of strategic management . Here, businesses devote much time and effort to forecasting , analytics and performance monitoring . (See ALM and treasury management .) For banks and other wholesale institutions, risk management focuses on managing, and as necessary hedging,
SECTION 50
#17327832284265148-467: The business. In some cases, institutions with minority holdings work together to force management change. Perhaps more frequent is the sustained pressure that large institutions bring to bear on management teams through persuasive discourse and PR. On the other hand, some of the largest investment managers—such as BlackRock and Vanguard —advocate simply owning every company, reducing the incentive to influence management teams. A reason for this last strategy
5247-891: The capital raised will generically comprise debt, i.e. corporate bonds , and equity , often listed shares . Re risk management within corporates, see below . Financial managers—i.e. as distinct from corporate financiers—focus more on the short term elements of profitability, cash flow, and " working capital management " ( inventory , credit and debtors ), ensuring that the firm can safely and profitably carry out its financial and operational objectives; i.e. that it: (1) can service both maturing short-term debt repayments, and scheduled long-term debt payments, and (2) has sufficient cash flow for ongoing and upcoming operational expenses . (See Financial management and Financial planning and analysis .) Public finance describes finance as related to sovereign states, sub-national entities, and related public entities or agencies. It generally encompasses
5346-514: The client is an institution or private individual/ family trust . Investment managers who specialize in advisory or discretionary management on behalf of (normally wealthy) private investors may often refer to their services as money management or portfolio management within the context of " private banking ". Wealth management by financial advisors takes a more holistic view of a client, with allocations to particular asset management strategies. The term fund manager, or investment adviser in
5445-472: The companies in which they hold shares (e.g., to hold managers to account, to ensure Board's effective functioning). Such action would add a pressure group to those (the regulators and the Board) overseeing management. However, there is the problem of how the institution should exercise this power. One way is for the institution to decide, the other is for the institution to poll its beneficiaries. Assuming that
5544-441: The companies via the voting rights the shares carry and the consequent ability to pressure managements, and if necessary out-vote them at annual and other meetings. In practice, the ultimate owners of shares often do not exercise the power they collectively hold (because the owners are many, each with small holdings); financial institutions (as agents) sometimes do. Institutional shareholders should exercise more active influence over
5643-461: The economy. Development finance , which is related, concerns investment in economic development projects provided by a (quasi) governmental institution on a non-commercial basis; these projects would otherwise not be able to get financing . A public–private partnership is primarily used for infrastructure projects: a private sector corporate provides the financing up-front, and then draws profits from taxpayers or users. Climate finance , and
5742-616: The employment of professional fund managers, research (of individual assets and asset classes ), dealing, settlement, marketing, internal auditing , and the preparation of reports for clients. The largest financial fund managers are firms that exhibit all the complexity their size demands. Apart from the people who bring in the money (marketers) and the people who direct investment (the fund managers), there are compliance staff (to ensure accord with legislative and regulatory constraints), internal auditors of various kinds (to examine internal systems and controls), financial controllers (to account for
5841-672: The excess, intending to earn a fair return. Correspondingly, an entity where income is less than expenditure can raise capital usually in one of two ways: (i) by borrowing in the form of a loan (private individuals), or by selling government or corporate bonds ; (ii) by a corporation selling equity , also called stock or shares (which may take various forms: preferred stock or common stock ). The owners of both bonds and stock may be institutional investors —financial institutions such as investment banks and pension funds —or private individuals, called private investors or retail investors. (See Financial market participants .) The lending
5940-800: The expense: 1. avoid any expense that appeals to vanity or snobbery 2. always go for the most cost-effective alternative (establishing small quality-variance benchmarks, if any) 3. favor expenditures on interest-bearing items over all others 4. establish the expected benefits of every desired expenditure using the canon of plus/minus/nil to the standard of living value system. These techniques are investment-boosting and portfolio-multiplying. There are certain companies as well that offer services, provide counseling and different models for managing money. These are designed to manage grace assets and make them grow. Wealth management , where financial advisors perform financial planning for clients, has traditionally served as an intermediary to investment managers in
6039-510: The field is referred to as quantitative finance and / or mathematical finance, and comprises primarily the three areas discussed. The main mathematical tools and techniques are, correspondingly: Mathematically, these separate into two analytic branches : derivatives pricing uses risk-neutral probability (or arbitrage-pricing probability), denoted by "Q"; while risk and portfolio management generally use physical (or actual or actuarial) probability, denoted by "P". These are interrelated through
SECTION 60
#17327832284266138-416: The field. Quantum finance is an interdisciplinary field, in which theories and methods developed by quantum physicists and economists are applied to solve financial problems. It represents a branch known as econophysics. Although quantum computational methods have been around for quite some time and use the basic principles of physics to better understand the ways to implement and manage cash flows, it
6237-410: The firm to the shareholders, the sources of funding and the capital structure of corporations, and the tools and analysis used to allocate financial resources. While corporate finance is in principle different from managerial finance , which studies the financial management of all firms rather than corporations alone, the concepts are applicable to the financial problems of all firms, and this area
6336-451: The first scholarly work in this area. The field is largely focused on the modeling of derivatives —with much emphasis on interest rate- and credit risk modeling —while other important areas include insurance mathematics and quantitative portfolio management . Relatedly, the techniques developed are applied to pricing and hedging a wide range of asset-backed , government , and corporate -securities. As above , in terms of practice,
6435-627: The flows of capital that take place between individuals and households ( personal finance ), governments ( public finance ), and businesses ( corporate finance ). "Finance" thus studies the process of channeling money from savers and investors to entities that need it. Savers and investors have money available which could earn interest or dividends if put to productive use. Individuals, companies and governments must obtain money from some external source, such as loans or credit, when they lack sufficient funds to run their operations. In general, an entity whose income exceeds its expenditure can lend or invest
6534-400: The foundation of business and accounting . In some cases, theories in finance can be tested using the scientific method , covered by experimental finance . The early history of finance parallels the early history of money , which is prehistoric . Ancient and medieval civilizations incorporated basic functions of finance, such as banking, trading and accounting, into their economies. In
6633-712: The fundamental risk mitigant here, investment managers will apply various hedging techniques as appropriate, these may relate to the portfolio as a whole or to individual stocks . Bond portfolios are often (instead) managed via cash flow matching or immunization , while for derivative portfolios and positions, traders use "the Greeks" to measure and then offset sensitivities. In parallel, managers — active and passive — will monitor tracking error , thereby minimizing and preempting any underperformance vs their "benchmark" . Quantitative finance—also referred to as "mathematical finance"—includes those finance activities where
6732-479: The global fund management industry increased by 10% in 2010, to $ 79.3 trillion. Pension assets accounted for $ 29.9 trillion of the total, with $ 24.7 trillion invested in mutual funds and $ 24.6 trillion in insurance funds. Together with alternative assets (sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, and exchange-traded funds) and funds of wealthy individuals, assets of the global fund management industry totalled around $ 117 trillion. Growth in 2010 followed
6831-506: The heart of investment management is asset allocation — diversifying the exposure among these asset classes , and among individual securities within each asset class—as appropriate to the client's investment policy , in turn, a function of risk profile, investment goals, and investment horizon (see Investor profile ). Here: Overlaid is the portfolio manager's investment style —broadly, active vs passive , value vs growth , and small cap vs. large cap —and investment strategy . In
6930-577: The heart of the investment management industry are the managers who invest and divest client investments. A certified company investment advisor should conduct an assessment of each client's individual needs and risk profile. The advisor then recommends appropriate investments. The different asset class definitions are widely debated, but four common divisions are cash and fixed income (such as certificates of deposit), stocks , bonds and real estate . The exercise of allocating funds among these assets (and among individual securities within each asset class)
7029-410: The influence of the business cycle. This can be difficult however and, industry-wide, there is a serious preoccupation with short-term numbers and the effect on the relationship with clients (and resultant business risks for the institutions). One effective solution to this problem is to include a minimum evaluation period in the investment management agreement, whereby the minimum evaluation period equals
7128-566: The institution (for purposes of monitoring internal controls), with performance data for peer group funds, and with relevant indices (where available) or tailor-made performance benchmarks where appropriate. The specialist performance measurement firms calculate quartile and decile data and close attention would be paid to the (percentile) ranking of any fund. It is probably appropriate for an investment firm to persuade its clients to assess performance over longer periods (e.g., 3 to 5 years) to smooth out very short-term fluctuations in performance and
7227-414: The institution polls, should it then: (i) Vote the entire holding as directed by the majority of votes cast? (ii) Split the vote (where this is allowed) according to the proportions of the vote? (iii) Or respect the abstainers and only vote the respondents' holdings? The price signals generated by large active managers holding or not holding the stock may contribute to management change. For example, this
7326-413: The institutions' own money and costs), computer experts, and "back office" employees (to track and record transactions and fund valuations for up to thousands of clients per institution). Key problems include: Institutions often control huge shareholdings. In most cases, they are acting as fiduciary agents rather than principals (direct owners). The owners of shares theoretically have great power to alter
7425-485: The investment manager's investment horizon. An enduring problem is whether to measure before-tax or after-tax performance. After-tax measurement represents the benefit to the investor, but investors' tax positions may vary. Before-tax measurement can be misleading, especially in regimens that tax realised capital gains (and not unrealised). It is thus possible that successful active managers (measured before tax) may produce miserable after-tax results. One possible solution
7524-444: The last few decades to become an integral aspect of finance. Behavioral finance includes such topics as: A strand of behavioral finance has been dubbed quantitative behavioral finance , which uses mathematical and statistical methodology to understand behavioral biases in conjunction with valuation. Quantum finance involves applying quantum mechanical approaches to financial theory, providing novel methods and perspectives in
7623-423: The late 19th century, the global financial system was formed. In the middle of the 20th century, finance emerged as a distinct academic discipline, separate from economics. The earliest doctoral programs in finance were established in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, finance is also widely studied through career -focused undergraduate and master's level programs. As outlined, the financial system consists of
7722-427: The latter, as above, are about optimizing the overall financial structure, including its impact on working capital. Key aspects of managerial finance thus include: The discussion, however, extends to business strategy more broadly, emphasizing alignment with the company's overall strategic objectives; and similarly incorporates the managerial perspectives of planning, directing, and controlling. Financial economics
7821-454: The linear combination of style indices that best replicate portfolio style allocation, and leads to an accurate evaluation of portfolio alpha. However, certain research indicates that internet data may not necessarily enhance the precision of predictive models. At the undergraduate level, several business schools and universities internationally offer "Investments" as a subject within their degree; further, some universities, in fact, confer
7920-548: The manager's qualifications. Some conclude that there is no evidence that any particular qualification enhances the manager's ability to select investments that result in above-average returns. But see also Chartered Financial Analyst § Efficacy of the CFA program re related research. Money management is the process of expense tracking, investing, budgeting, banking and evaluating taxes of one's money, which includes investment management and wealth management . Money management
8019-413: The manager's skill (or luck), whether through market timing , stock picking , or good fortune. The first component is related to allocation and style investment choices, which may not be under the sole control of the manager, and depends on the economic context, while the second component is an evaluation of the success of the manager's decisions. Only the latter, measured by alpha, allows the evaluation of
8118-515: The manager's true performance (but then, only if you assume that any outperformance is due to the skill and not luck). Portfolio returns may be evaluated using factor models. The first model, proposed by Jensen (1968), relies on the CAPM and explains portfolio returns with the market index as the only factor. It quickly becomes clear, however, that one factor is not enough to explain the returns very well and that other factors have to be considered. Multi-factor models were developed as an alternative to
8217-564: The noted artist George Bellows in 1919, and is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art . Dale followed suit and sat for the artist three years later, and is now in the National Gallery of Art . Dale can be seen holding a golf club , and both he and the artist were semi-professional athletes in their youth. When the National Gallery of Art opened its doors in 1937, Dale lent twenty-two American paintings , and within
8316-486: The notion of rewarding risk and produced the first performance indicators, be they risk-adjusted ratios ( Sharpe ratio , information ratio) or differential returns compared to benchmarks (alphas). The Sharpe ratio is the simplest and best-known performance measure. It measures the return of a portfolio over above the risk-free rate, compared to the total risk of the portfolio. This measure is said to be absolute, as it does not refer to any benchmark, avoiding drawbacks related to
8415-444: The present using the weighted average cost of capital for the discount factor. For share valuation investors use the related dividend discount model . Financial theory is studied and developed within the disciplines of management , (financial) economics , accountancy and applied mathematics . Abstractly, finance is concerned with the investment and deployment of assets and liabilities over "space and time"; i.e., it
8514-409: The purchase of stock , either individual securities or via a mutual fund , for example. Stocks are usually sold by corporations to investors so as to raise required capital in the form of " equity financing ", as distinct from the debt financing described above. The financial intermediaries here are the investment banks . The investment banks find the initial investors and facilitate the listing of
8613-749: The rate of 20 percent per year. By 1200 BCE, cowrie shells were used as a form of money in China . The use of coins as a means of representing money began in the years between 700 and 500 BCE. Herodotus mentions the use of crude coins in Lydia around 687 BCE and, by 640 BCE, the Lydians had started to use coin money more widely and opened permanent retail shops. Shortly after, cities in Classical Greece , such as Aegina , Athens , and Corinth , started minting their own coins between 595 and 570 BCE. During
8712-471: The reasons why the manager can produce above-average results. Ethical or religious principles may be used to determine or guide the way in which money is invested. Christians tend to follow the Biblical scripture . Several religions follow Mosaic law which proscribed the charging of interest . The Quakers forbade involvement in the slave trade and so started the concept of ethical investment . At
8811-724: The related Environmental finance , address the financial strategies, resources and instruments used in climate change mitigation . Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities—typically shares and bonds, but also other assets, such as real estate, commodities and alternative investments —in order to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. As above, investors may be institutions, such as insurance companies, pension funds, corporations, charities, educational establishments, or private investors, either directly via investment contracts or, more commonly, via collective investment schemes like mutual funds, exchange-traded funds , or REITs . At
8910-413: The relationships suggested.) The discipline has two main areas of focus: asset pricing and corporate finance; the first being the perspective of providers of capital, i.e. investors, and the second of users of capital; respectively: Financial mathematics is the field of applied mathematics concerned with financial markets ; Louis Bachelier's doctoral thesis , defended in 1900, is considered to be
9009-514: The scope of financial activities in financial systems , the discipline can be divided into personal , corporate , and public finance . In these financial systems, assets are bought, sold, or traded as financial instruments , such as currencies , loans , bonds , shares , stocks , options , futures , etc. Assets can also be banked , invested , and insured to maximize value and minimize loss. In practice, risks are always present in any financial action and entities. Due to its wide scope,
9108-475: The securities, typically shares and bonds. Additionally, they facilitate the securities exchanges , which allow their trade thereafter, as well as the various service providers which manage the performance or risk of these investments. These latter include mutual funds , pension funds , wealth managers , and stock brokers , typically servicing retail investors (private individuals). Inter-institutional trade and investment, and fund-management at this scale ,
9207-639: The skill of a successful investment manager resides in constructing the asset allocation, and separating individual holdings, to outperform certain benchmarks (e.g., the peer group of competing funds, bonds, and stock indices). It is important to look at the evidence on the long-term returns to different assets, and to holding period returns (the returns that accrue on average over different lengths of investment). For example, over very long holding periods (e.g. 10+ years) in most countries, equities have generated higher returns than bonds, and bonds have generated higher returns than cash. According to financial theory, this
9306-623: The three areas of personal finance, corporate finance, and public finance. These, in turn, overlap and employ various activities and sub-disciplines—chiefly investments , risk management, and quantitative finance . Personal finance refers to the practice of budgeting to ensure enough funds are available to meet basic needs, while ensuring there is only a reasonable level of risk to lose said capital. Personal finance may involve paying for education, financing durable goods such as real estate and cars, buying insurance , investing, and saving for retirement . Personal finance may also involve paying for
9405-446: The use of interest. In Sumerian, "interest" was mas , which translates to "calf". In Greece and Egypt, the words used for interest, tokos and ms respectively, meant "to give birth". In these cultures, interest indicated a valuable increase, and seemed to consider it from the lender's point of view. The Code of Hammurabi (1792–1750 BCE) included laws governing banking operations. The Babylonians were accustomed to charging interest at
9504-635: The various positions held by the institution—both trading positions and long term exposures —and on calculating and monitoring the resultant economic capital , and regulatory capital under Basel III . The calculations here are mathematically sophisticated, and within the domain of quantitative finance as below. Credit risk is inherent in the business of banking, but additionally, these institutions are exposed to counterparty credit risk . Banks typically employ Middle office "Risk Groups" , whereas front office risk teams provide risk "services" (or "solutions") to customers. Additional to diversification ,
9603-415: The year of his death in 1962, Dale served as president of the National Gallery of Art. Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and discipline of money , currency , assets and liabilities . As a subject of study, it is related to but distinct from economics , which is the study of the production , distribution , and consumption of goods and services . Based on
9702-413: Was originated by Markowitz (and many others). Effective diversification requires management of the correlation between the asset returns and the liability returns, issues internal to the portfolio (individual holdings volatility), and cross-correlations between the returns. There is a range of different styles of fund management that the institution can implement. For example, growth , value, growth at
9801-527: Was sufficiently high to reward the risks taken; how they compare to their peers; and finally, whether the portfolio management results were due to luck or the manager's skill. The need to answer all these questions has led to the development of more sophisticated performance measures, many of which originate in modern portfolio theory . Modern portfolio theory established the quantitative link that exists between portfolio risk and returns. The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) developed by Sharpe (1964) highlighted
#425574