Upon completion of this course, you will be able to understand: An introduction to financial markets, the attributes of financial assets, and the link between financial markets and the real economy. An overview of risk that covers the difference between risk and uncertainty, the key elements of financial risk management, the identification and quantification of financial risks, the various types of investment risk faced by investors, and the various types of funding risk faced by entities seeking to raise capital. An overview of market participants, and the special role of those classified as financial intermediaries. The roles of government in the regulation of financial markets, credit rating agencies, and international entities such as the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. Depository institutions. Insurance companies and defined benefit pension plans. Collective investment vehicles, or investment products managed by asset management firms. The wide range of activities performed by investment banking firms. The fundamentals of primary and secondary markets. Different types of financial derivatives, the elements of their pricing, and how they are used to control various types of financial risks. The role of securitisation in financial markets, and its use by corporations and governments as a risk management tool. The different types of distributions that financial asset returns can be assumed to follow, different measures of dependence between asset returns, attributes of portfolio risk measures, and alternative ratios of reward to risk. Portfolio theory and asset pricing, and their limitations. The classical theory of interest rates, and how all other interest rates differ from it. How debt obligations should be priced in the market, and how to determine the calculation of a bond’s yield. The relationship between the yield on a bond and its maturity, referred to as the term structure of interest rates.

A quién va dirigido: Financial regulators; individual and institutional investors and borrowers; those who wish to understand financial product innovation with an emphasis on risk management and regulatory reform; those who wish to understand the wide range of instruments for financing, investing, and controlling risk in today’s financial markets.