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The Investment Environment. CHAPTER 1. Real Assets Versus Financial Assets. Essential nature of investment Reduced current consumption Planned later consumption Real Assets Assets used to produce goods and services Financial Assets Claims on real assets.
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The Investment Environment CHAPTER 1
Real Assets Versus Financial Assets Essential nature of investment Reduced current consumption Planned later consumption Real Assets Assets used to produce goods and services Financial Assets Claims on real assets
A Taxonomy of Financial Assets • Fixed income or debt • Money market instruments • Bank certificates of deposit • Capital market instruments • Bonds • Common stock or equity • Derivative securities
Financial Markets and the Economy Information Role The Google effect Consumption Timing Allocation of Risk Separation of Ownership and Management Agency Issues
Financial Markets and the Economy Continued Corporate Governance and Corporate Ethics Accounting Scandals Examples – Enron, Rite Aid, HealthSouth Auditors—watchdogs of the firms Analyst Scandals Arthur Andersen Sarbanes-Oxley Act Tighten the rules of corporate governance
The Investment Process Asset allocation Choice among broad asset classes like stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities Security selection Choice of which securities to hold within asset class Security analysis
Markets are Competitive Risk-Return Trade-Off (no free lunch) Efficient Markets: price reflects all info. Active Management Finding mispriced securities Timing the market Passive Management No attempt to find undervalued securities No attempt to time the market Holding a highly diversified portfolio
The Players Business Firms– net borrowers Households – net savers Governments – can be both borrowers and savers Financial Intermediaries Investment Companies; invests mainly in securities Banks Insurance companies Credit unions
The Players Continued Investment Bankers:Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, J.P.Morgan Perform specialized services for businesses such as issuing securities for firms Markets in the primary market
Recent Trends—Globalization American Depository Receipts (ADRs) claim in shares of a foreign company Foreign securities offered in dollars Mutual funds that invest internationally Variant of ADR: Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) ,diversified investment in foreign shares, e.g. iSHAREs, WEBS
Recent Trends—Securitization Mortgage pass-through securities Other pass-through arrangements Car, student, home equity, credit card loans Offers opportunities for investors and originators
Recent Trends—Financial Engineering Use of mathematical models and computer-based trading technology to synthesize new financial products Bundling and unbundling of cash flows
Figure 1.4 Unbundling of Mortgages into Principal- and Interest-Only Securities
Recent Trends—Computer Networks Online information dissemination customer's direct access to an on-line broker Information is made cheaply and widely available to the public Automated trade crossing Direct trading among investors