Finance industry book reviews
Financial Markets and Organizational Technologies: System Architectures, Practices and Risks in the Era of Deregulation
Alexandros-Andreas Kyrtsis (Ed.), Palgrave Macmillan, July 2010
Progressive financial deregulation following abolition of the B retton Woods S ystem in the early 1970s changed the use and configuration of technologies in the organisational contexts of finance. Information systems and financial engineering have led to an unprecedented reinvention of the business of banking.
Written by experts from the social studies of finance, information systems specialists, and historians and sociologists of technology, this book explains why the management and the regulation of financial organisations, especially in periods of crises with systemic consequences, requires an understanding of the complex techno-organisational landscapes which emerged from this evolution. It shows the interconnection between the difficulty of overcoming the financial and operational risks we are facing, and the global webs of organisational and technological complexity. This volume is published in the Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions series.
ALEXANDROS-ANDREAS KYRTSIS is Professor of Sociology at the University of Athens, Greece. Previously, he worked as an adviser for banks and IT firms. His current research focuses on the analysis of the techno-organisational backstage of financial markets.
Investment Beliefs: A Positive Approach to Institutional Investing
Kees Koedijk and Alfred Slager, Palgrave Macmillan, December 2010
As an asset manager or pension trustee, you should worry less about the stocks and products you pick for your clients and more about getting your fundamental investment beliefs right. After a steep decline in the global stock markets and a recovery that is still uncertain, it is simply not enough to have a good organisation, good staff and a well-defined mission. You need to formulate your own set of investment beliefs: a clear view on how you perceive the way capital markets work, and how your fund can add value and strive for excellence. Funds that establish and implement a well-defined investment philosophy have been shown to earn consistently better results.
This practical book provides the framework for determining your own investment beliefs and guidance on how to imbed, communicate and monitor them. Its research is based on a survey of the world‘s leading fund managers, viewed as excellent companies in the asset management industry.
The book provides a timely overview of the major debates in the industry and an introduction to the issues that matter for long-term survival in financial markets. With investment beliefs firmly in place, you will be able to more easily navigate the investment options available, knowing that your choices and decisions are in accordance with your values and objectives. Successful implementation of investment beliefs might well be one of the decisive factors in becoming a winner or loser in the investment management industry in 2020.
KEES KOEDIJK is Professor of Financial Management and Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business administration at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He has won several awards for his research on sustainable development. He has published extensively on finance, European integration, and monetary policy.
ALFRED SLAGER is Chief Investment Officer at Stork Pension Fund and affiliated to Tilburg University, the Netherlands. His expertise includes international financial services, with a particular interest in asset management, pension fund and banking strategies. He publishes regularly on pension and investment management subjects.
