• Selected
• Entire List

Abstract:
The globalization of financial markets has led to an integrated world market. Emerging economies such as China and India have opened up their markets to foreign investors. New instruments such as exchange-traded funds are being created, and current instruments are being expanded to include real asset investments such as natural resources and real estate investments.

To better understand the full range of investments available, this book identifies different asset classes and current hot topics such as new financial instruments, innovations, and strategies in a changing global environment. Asset class, which can be labeled as either traditional or alternative investments, is examined in three areas: (1) trends - description of the current topic/instrument/strategy in the chosen asset class; (2) opportunities - identification of what is new and/or where to invest or arbitrage, i.e., location; and (3) risks - determination of the risks (peculiar to the location) and how international investors can manage/reduce/eliminate them.

Global Investment, Traditional and Alternative Investments, Equity Investments, Fixed Income Investments, Portfolio Management, Derivatives, Risk Management

Abstract:
MBS hedge funds have outperformed the Lehman MBS Index by an average of 210 basis points annually from 1992 through 2003. By comparison, MBS mutual funds have underperformed the Lehman MBS Index by an average of 141 basis points per year. This contrast in performance persists even after adjusting for total risk, as measured by Sharpe ratios. It also persists on a market risk-adjusted basis. Using CAPM single-index, illiquidity-adjusted, market-timing, and various multi-index and multi-factor models, we find that Jensens alpha is consistently negative and significant for MBS mutual funds but positive and significant for MBS hedge funds.

Mortgage-backed securities, mutual funds, hedge funds, portfolio performance

Abstract:
This paper examines volume and volatility dynamics by accounting for market activity measured by the time duration between two consecutive transactions. A time-consistent vector autoregressive model (VAR) is employed to test the dynamic relationship between return volatility and trades using intraday irregularly spaced transaction data. The model is used to identify the informed and uninformed components of return volatility and to estimate the speed of price adjustment to new information. It is found that volatility and volume are persistent and highly correlated with past volatility and volume. The time duration between trades has a negative effect on the volatility response to trades and correlation between trades. Consistent with microstructure theory, shorter time duration between trades implies higher probability of news arrival and higher volatility. Furthermore, bid-ask spreads are serially dependent and strongly affected by the informed trading and inventory costs.

Time duration, Volatility-volume dynamics, Informed trading, Bid-ask spreads

Abstract:
Using a vector autoregressive (VAR) model with monthly data from 1988 through 2001, this study investigates factors that drive the excess returns on a widely followed mortgage-backed securities (MBS) index. We find that eight important economic variables (industrial productions, new home sales, bond horizon premium, bond quality premium, mortgage rate, refinancing proxy, general stock market index, and world bond market index) appear to move the excess returns on MBS. Impulse response analysis and variance decomposition further indicate a strong dynamic relationship between MBS excess returns and changes in these economic variables. Additional analysis of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae MBS also indicates that risk of the MBS guarantor is an important determinant of the MBS return dynamics after the creation of Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO).

mortgage-backed securities, vector autoregressive model, excess returns, and economic factors

Abstract:
We examined the performance of 115 global equity-based hedge funds with reference to their target geographical markets in the seven-year period 1994-2000. Several results are noteworthy. First, global hedge fund managers do not show positive market-timing ability but do demonstrate superior security-selection ability; the Jensen's alphas we found, before and after controlling for market timing, are sizable and positive. Second, incentive fees and leverage both have a significant positive impact on a hedge fund's risk-adjusted return (as demonstrated by Sharpe ratios and Jensen's alphas) but not on a fund's "selectivity index" (i.e., its performance after controlling for market-timing effects). Third, incentive fees can lower the hedge fund's up-market and down-market systematic risk. Fourth, the size of a hedge fund is consistently related to its return performance. Finally, contrary to the general perception, leverage does not significantly affect the systematic risk of hedge funds.

Alternative Investments: Hedge funds, Performance Measurement and evaluation: Performance measurement