This paper uses a simple model of mean-variance asset pricing with transactions costs to analyze one of the main empirical phenomena in stock market competition in the last years, the decrease of transaction costs. We endogenize transactions costs as variables strategically influenced by stock...

This paper presents a theoretical study of how incentives affect hedge fund risk and returns and an empirical study of the performance of a large group of operating hedge funds. Most hedge fund managers receive a flat fee plus a share of the returns above a certain benchmark. We investigate how...

Weather inuences our daily lives and choices and has an enormous impact on corporate revenues andearnings. Weather derivatives dier from most derivatives in that the underlying weather cannot be tradedand their market is relatively illiquid. The weather derivative market is therefore incomplete....

We present evidence of the impact of buy-side analysts on the behavior and performanceof fund managers. Using data provided by a large global asset manager,we relate buy-side analysts’ recommendations to fund transactions on a daily basis.Our results show that buy-side analysts have a...

This paper presents a World Bank led and Russia trust fund financed work program tomeasure financial capability and the effectiveness of financial education in low and middleincome countries. The two activities and their staging have been motivated by the lessons ofhigh-income countries with...

In this paper we adopt a principal components analysis (PCA) to reduce the dimensionality of the term structure and employ autoregressive models (AR) to forecast principal components which, in turn, are used to forecast swap rates. Arguing in favor of structural variation, we propose data...

The study of natural catastrophe models plays an important role in the prevention and mitigation of disasters. After the occurrence of a natural disaster, the reconstruction can be financed with catastrophe bonds (CAT bonds) or reinsurance. This paper examines the calibration of a real...

In der Literatur wird häufig vermutet, dass eine zunehmende Anzahl Hedgefondseinen negativen Einfluss auf die Renditen dieser Fonds haben könnte. DieserVermutung wird in diesem Beitrag nachgegangen. Wir verfolgen dabei zweiZiele: Zum einen geben wir einen Überblick über die Entwicklung des...

The Sharpe ratio is adequate for evaluating investment funds when the returns ofthose funds are normally distributed and the investor intends to place all his risky assetsinto just one investment fund. Hedge fund returns differ significantly from anormal distribution. For this reason, other...

In this paper, we investigate the impact of different asset management and surplus distributionstrategies in life insurance on risk-neutral pricing and shortfall risk. In general,these feedback mechanisms affect the contract’s payoff and hence directly influence pricingand risk measurement. To...